Team Proves to be B1G's Deepest
From top to bottom, this club is flat out deep. Trey Galloway, the team's top guard last year who hung 28 on Kansas, now seems poised to trickle down to 3rd in the Hoosier's backcourt pecking order. Gabe Cupps, arguably the team's 2nd best guard a season ago who also started 22 games as a true freshman, now finds himself poised for a dog fight with the explosive Jakai Newton for 3&D guard minutes off the pine.
That is just a prime example of how stacked this squad is, as it is in no way either of Galloway or Cupps's faults for their seemingly inevitable "demotions". The cream and crimson could/should run 10-11 deep.
Team Earns 4-Seed or Better in 2024-2025 NCAA Tournament
After the turmoil that unfolded in 2023-2024, many forget that just 1 season prior yielded a 4 seed in the 2023 NCAA tournament. It is not difficult to envision the campaign to come producing similar postseason recognition to that run.
Mgbako came into his own as a freshman, and seems destined to pick up right where he left off in terms of his progression as a top shelf wing. Aside from him, there are at least 3 other legitimate threats to overthrow the team's returning scorer Malik Reneau (15.4 PPG last year) on top of the scoring charts.
The offense should have plenty of firepower right out of the gate, but it could take some time for the defense to come together as a cohesive unit. It certainly took the defense some time to come around last season, but they became a formidable resistance by year's end. And that was a team with no where near the amount of offensive ammo that the active Hoosiers boast.
Mike Woodson Earns B1G Coach of the Year Award
Regardless of how much talent a team has, it will only go as far as it's leadership will guide them. We have already previously delved into our bid for Woody being recognized as the top coach in the B1G conference. You can refer to our previous sentiments on this matter at the link in that previous sentence, and you can refer to the work that Mike Woodson and his staff put in this offseason as the cause with the forthcoming bounce back season serving as the effect.