With five seniors graduating, Romeo Langford leaving for the NBA, and many players transferring to other programs, who will step up for Indiana basketball?
After losing the teams top two scorers and leaders in minutes played, there will be a massive change up with the roster and players can expect to get more playing time than ever before.
Heading into next year, there are a couple of Hoosiers that may have that breakout season, but who will actually produce at a high level throughout the entire season?
Good candidates are Rob Phinisee, Justin Smith, and Devonte Green, but we look into Al Durham as the Indiana men’s basketball player with the most potential to breakout and have vastly improved his game.
During his freshman season, Durham played an average of 18.8 minutes a game and scored 4.8 points on the season. However, during his sphomore campaign, those numbers increased to 28.8 minutes and 8.3 points respectively and he became a regular starter for the Hoosiers.
While the stats may seem a bit underwhelming, it is the improvement in Durham’s play in just one offseason that Indiana fans should be excited about.
As the second leading scorer among expected returning players, Durham should receive some feedback on his game from NBA scouts and use that during this upcoming offseason to fix any weaknesses in his game.
Before diving into some of his improved stats, one major help will be the departure of Romeo Langford.
Durham was often times hidden in the corner and forced into a three-and-D type player when that’t not his game. With the opportunity to have the ball in his hands more this coming year, we will be able to see the results.
Look no further than the NIT opener this season when Durham exploded for a career-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. That was not only a high in shot attempts, but also only his sixth time with double-digit shot attempts in his career. Averaging just 6.9 shots per game, expect that number to jump up near 10 a game next season, giving him ample opportunities to score.
One area that he greatly improved in was his shooting. Durham shot a poor 28 percent from the three point line and made only 14 threes as a freshman but his sophomore year he shot a respectable 35 percent from three while making 40 threes, both good for second on the team.
Three point shooting was not the only area in which he improved in, as he improved his shooting from the free throw line from 71 percent to 74 percent, all while getting to the charity stripe 2.1 times per game. While his free throw rate decreased from his freshman season, down nearly 17 percent, most of that has to deal with what can be described as the Romeo Langford effect, as touched on before.
His overall field goal percentage stayed virtually the same, hovering at about 40 percent, but he made twice as many shots while shooting at a respectable percentage.
With his usage rate only around 16 percent last season, a number that will surely increase, Durham’s increased efficiency as the season came to a close will hopefully start off next season, where it ended this March.
With many players expected to be gone next season, Indiana will look for the next player to step up and lead the program and no one fits the bill better than shooting guard Al Durham.
Expect him to return next season having taken his game to the next level and help the Hoosiers in all aspects of the game.