Mike Woodson and Indiana Basketball face a major rebuild during the offseason.

Recruit the Locker Room First

College recruiting is different. Coaches deal with the transfer portal and NIL, in addition to high school recruiting. Because of the former, it is imperative that Coach Woodson recruits the locker room. Kel'el Ware is likely a one-and-done. HIs play the last seven games of the season answered many questions about his toughness, motor, and all-court ability.

Trey Galloway and Anthony Leal announced their returns for their fifth seasons. That leaves two starters from this season, Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako with uncertain futures. Reneau was Indiana's most improved player this season, averaging 15.6 points, six rebounds, and nearly three assists per game.

Reneau is a tweener, so it is not likely he'd jump to the NBA. However, he's a Miami native and the hometown Hurricanes could come calling. Jim Larranaga's squad could use his low-post prowess. Reneau has been hush-hush about his future, however.

"Teams had a lot of ups and downs this year, lot of injuries, we had a lot of stuff not go our way," Reneau said, fighting back tears in the locker room. "I love all my teammates. We had a great season and I'm going to leave it at that for now."

Mgbako, could join Ware in the NBA draft. However, he's still very raw and could benefit from continued learning under Woodson. His improvement throughout the season is proof of that. It is likely the New Jersey native enter the draft, receive his information and make a decision then.

While it is likely that Ware is gone, Woodson and his staff need to do everything they can to keep Mgbako and Reneau. Hoosiers Connect is one of the better NIL collectives in the Big Ten, and they have to keep both players on campus any way they can.

The Portal Calls

The Hoosiers lose three seniors from their roster, so they need to add depth. The most efficient way to do that is the transfer portal. There are some solid players available in the portal now, but more will be available after the NCAA Tournament. Players have until May 1 to enter the portal, so Woodson and his staff have some time to find players.

Woodson's prime targets should be guards. They need guards who can defend, take care of the basketball, and shoot. Those were the three issues with guard play this year.

What about High School?

Indiana currently has no high school recruits. Liam McNeely decomitted, but Indiana is still on the board. Right now the Hoosiers are competing with Kansas for the Monteverde High School product. The Hoosiers lost out on Derik Queen, who committed to Maryland.

While the Hoosiers don't have a high school signee, they do have two offers out for players not committed to any school currently. Three-star power forward William Jobe and four-star small forward Bryson Tucker have not committed anywhere.

What's troubling is that Indiana offered just one in state prospect. In addition, they did not sign any of the top prospects in the state. There are six top-300 hundred players in the state and only two are staying in-state; neither with Indiana.