Indiana Basketball: New name emerges for possible 2020 target

The Indiana basketball program was on the road on Monday night as some of the staff was in to watch an emerging 2020 prospect.

The holidays are quickly approaching but with a week off until Indiana basketball takes the floor again, the staff has been putting in work on the recruiting trail, and on Monday it was a 2020 target that had their attention.

After missing out on five-star big man Dawson Garcia, there were a lot of questions about whether or not Indiana would add another member to its 2020 recruiting class, or stick with the three member class as currently constructed.

While Archie Miller has been adamant about wanting to add at least one more player to the class, there have been very few names that have come up in recent weeks.

On Monday, however, part of the Indiana staff was on sight at the Hardwood Classic to see 2020 guard Aquan Smart, a new name to emerge.

The Niles North (IL) combo guard was an Eastern Tennessee State commit who recently opened up his recruitment and has heard from power-five programs such as Texas, DePaul, Iowa State and Nebraska since. In the past couple of days, however, Indiana has expressed interested as well.

Smart has been a late bloomer and is easily one of the most explosive guards in the country and that showed in front of the Indiana staff. On Monday, Smart put up 30 points, three assists and six steals en route to a 28-point blowout win.

At 6-foot-3, Smart is an athletically gifted guard who loves to play above the rim on offense, as well as in your face on the defensive end. With his length and size, he is a handful on both ends for opposing guards.

While he is more of a scoring guard than playmaker for his teammates, his ability to get in the lane does bring a lot of opportunities for other players on the floor if he can develop a passing mentality as well.

With Indiana’s lack of ability to create for themselves at times, outside of Devonte Green, Smart would fill that hole immediately. While he is still much more of a driver and slasher than shooter, his quickness and athleticism mask his inconsistencies from deep.

Right now, Anthony Leal, Trey Galloway, and Jordan Geronimo make up Archie Miller’s 2020 class, which is ranked No. 28 in the country.