The Indiana Hoosiers finally got their backup big man for the 2024-2025 season.
Bellarmine transfer big man Langdon Hatton just announced a commitment to Indiana. #iubb pic.twitter.com/MOo8iH0SdT
— Mike Schumann @ The Daily Hoosier (@daily_hoosier) May 15, 2024
Langdon Hatton is a 6'10", 240 pound forward/center who is preparing for his senior campaign at the collegiate ranks. He can do a little bit of everything in the frontcourt, and is fresh off of his junior season at Bellarmine in which he dropped 10.5 PPG and 7.1 RPG in 27.8 MPG of action a night across 31 games (all starts). He also shot a not spectacular but serviceable 48% from the field, 33.3% from deep (15-45 in 2023-2024), and 67.5% from the charity stripe.
His arrival may not be as hyped as some of the other recent commitments who have joined Mike Woodson's depth chart for next season, but we all know that Woody has a way of working his magic on big fellas. He transformed Trayce Jackson-Davis into the legitimate NBA big man that we see today, and was the catalyst behind the resurrection of Kel'el Ware's reputation. Between Hatton and fellow incoming transfer big Oumar Ballo, Woody has his two latest frontcourt experiments.
With Ballo and Malik Reneau being the only other two true big men currently on this roster, Hatton will have everything opportunity to earn minutes in his inaugural season at Indiana. When you look at the updated depth chart projection, it would not be crazy to see him carving out roughly 12-15 MPG as Ballo's primary substitute. It would not even by nuts to envision the two sharing the floor together sporadically depending on matchups/foul trouble/etc.
Here is how things could/should look in terms of a formal depth chart following Hatton's decision to return to his roots.
PG | Myles Rice (6'3", 180 lbs | Sophomore), Kanaan Carlyle (6'3", 185 lbs | Sophomore), Gabe Cupps (6'2", 175 lbs | Sophomore)
SG | Trey Galloway (6'5", 205 lbs | Senior), Jakai Newton (6'3", 205 lbs | Sophomore)
SF | Mackenzie Mgbako (6'8", 220 lbs | Sophomore), Bryson Tucker (6'7", 185 lbs | Freshman), Anthony Leal (6'5", 200 lbs | Senior)
PF | Malik Reneau (6'9", 235 lbs | Junior), Luke Goode (6'7", 210 lbs | Senior)
C | Oumar Ballo (7'0", 260 lbs | Senior), Langdon Hatton (6'10", 240 lbs | Senior)
Payton Sparks was abysmal as the backup center in 2023-2024 after coming over from Ball State (2.1 PPG and 1.8 RPG in 7.4 MPG of action a night across 24 games played and a number of DNP - Coaching Decision's). The hope is that history will not repeat itself in the form of Langdon Hatton next season, and Hoosier Nation should be excited to see everything he brings to the table. Hatton is a much more dynamic player than his predecessor Sparks.
Is this a championship caliber team? Time will tell on that, and with 1 more scholarship spot to fill we will see what type of player Woodson and his staff select to complete this team.
Welcome home, Langdon!