The Indiana basketball team has had a quiet offseason and that could prove to be a very good thing for the 2020-21 season.
The Hoosier’s biggest concern right now is if Khristian Lander will, in fact, reclassify and be in Bloomington next year. Considering how crazy the rest of the Big Ten has been that is a very good thing.
The top teams in the Big Ten have all taken hits or potential hits from key players leaving. Think about this for a minute of what has been lost or could be going into next season.
Michigan State – Cassius Winston graduation and Xavier Tillman draft
Illinois – Kofi Cockburn and Ayo Dosunmu both declared for the draft
Purdue – Matt Haarms transferred
Michigan – David DeJulius and Collin Castleton transferred, Isaiah Livers declared for the draft and they missed out on two 5-star recruits in 12 hours
Ohio State – Kaleb Wesson declared for the draft, DJ Carton and Luther Muhammad transferred
Penn State – Lamar Stevens graduated
Iowa – Luka Garza declared for the draft
Maryland – Anthony Cowan Jr graduated and Jalen Smith declared for the draft
Minnesota – Daniel Oturu declared for the draft
There are nine teams that have taken a huge hit losing some of their best players. Obviously the players that have declared could come back, but they all won’t be back.
The Hoosiers, on the other hand, haven’t had anyone transfer and just lost Devonte Green out of their main rotation. They did also lose De’Ron Davis, but he wasn’t a big part of their offense.
The Hoosiers will have back around 85% of their scoring for last year and that is a staggering number. Couple that with the fact that they are bringing Anthony Leal (Indiana Mr. Basketball), Trey Galloway who was an Indiana Senior All-Star, and Jordan Geronimo a 4-star small forward and the Hoosiers are in great shape.
They were already going to be in good shape this year, but because of all the changes in the other teams in the Big Ten, the Hoosiers are trending up. Trayce Jackson-Davis was great this year and will be an early conference player of the year candidate next year. This could be a very exciting team next year and with the uncertainty with the other top teams, could the Hoosiers compete for a conference title?
It is still very early to make any predictions for next year, but the lack of movement from the Hoosiers has to make many fans thinking big. Outside of Wisconsin, the Hoosiers could possibly have the most experience coming back.
If Lander makes it official and enrolls at Indiana next year, this could honestly be a top-three team in the conference. Almost every other top team will be having to find their rotation while the Hoosiers should be almost set heading into the next season.
Usually, you want to see some change, but for the Hoosiers, it might be better if they stay the same.