The Indiana basketball team is looking to make a jump in 2020 and Al Durham is a big piece of the puzzle as he looks to cap his Hoosier career with a big year.
The Hoosiers were robbed of what looked like a return to the big dance last year and they are ready to make sure they get back there this year. A perceived bubble team, Indiana looked to be in good shape to make the tournament for the first time in three years after winning their opening game of the Big Ten tournament against Nebraska, but then the season was shut down.
The 2020-21 season is still up in the air and will no doubt look a lot different but the Hoosiers are ready for it. One of the key players to the success of the season is Al Durham and he is ready.
Durham posted a hype video of himself on Twitter late Monday night and if you didn’t think he was ready before then you know now.
https://twitter.com/aldurham01/status/1303136355124424705?s=20
Titled simply Year 4, Durham is clearly excited about this coming year and ready to help IU make a splash in the Big Ten.
Durham returns for his Senior year as the second leading returning scorer behind Trayce Jackson-Davis. He averaged 9.8 points per game, up from 8.3 his sophomore year. If he can at the very worst duplicate that progression, he will be a big weapon for the Hoosiers this year.
Indiana and Archie Miller brought in a great group of freshman guards that will push Durham, but he still brings the experience and toughness to the Hoosier team that the incoming guys haven’t shown yet.
Each year Durham has improved his shooting from deep and that is a huge key for Indiana’s success this year. The Hoosiers haven’t been the best shooting team from deep, but if Durham can take another step they could be in for a huge turnaround.
If he along with the shooters they brought in, including Anthony Leal, can light it up from deep it will just open up the inside for Jackson-Davis even more. We all saw what TJD can do inside when he is open. If he can get even more open looks that is a scary proposition for the opposing defenses.
There was no doubt that the Hoosiers were ready to go this upcoming season, but Durham just put another log on the fire. Indiana is ready, it is just a question on when they will get to show everybody.