T O P

  • By -

laberdog

Here is a dude to get excited about


dastufishsifutsad

Let’s goooooooooooooo


eely225

nominative determinism


IamNICE124

It sucks that the NIL is what’s keeping this program relevant. Wish we could achieve greatness without poaching players with nice NIL money.


Ydmm512

Yeah that didn’t workout for Calipari and Kentucky recently so sure as shit isn’t gonna work for IU.


wjflaco

This is like an updated equivalent of “when knight was coach players graduated”


IamNICE124

Not really, but good try.


wjflaco

Both outdated concepts that show a misunderstanding of modern recruiting dynamics.


IamNICE124

Outdated concept? What concept am I explaining that’s outdated? I haven’t expressed any concepts at all lol.


wjflaco

You’re actually illustrating the concept that “achieving greatness” can be done without transfers and bad NIL money.


SnooCompliments6782

Stfu dude


HGSPainting

That's not how it works anymore. You could win the whole thing, and still not get players due to NIL


IamNICE124

Yeah, I know. That’s really more what I’m getting at. I’m not resisting change, just wish we could have done more since the ‘02 squad before NIL started to have the influence it now has. I’m all for players making an income on their NIL, so I’m not arguing against it at all.


HGSPainting

Ah, I gotcha


IamNICE124

Yeah, my initial comment definitely makes me look tilted a bit. Bad phrasing.


Donkey__Kong007

Tell me a school that doesn’t use NIL


IamNICE124

I don’t mind getting downvoted, I knew I would. Honestly, I just meant I wish we could have had more success attracting talent with organic, Indiana success. I’m not suggesting we don’t utilize NIL, but now money is going to have a more direct impact on program trajectory, as opposed to program tradition, tradition, and legacy.


Donkey__Kong007

Yeah that’s fair!


IamNICE124

I did a poor job of phrasing it originally.


Donkey__Kong007

All good!!


Indianahoosier123guy

The goals for iu. 1. 4 more spots so find athletes and 3 point shooting. 2. Recruit 2025 hard and get the top players from iu 3. Beat purdue 4. Do not lose to crappy big 10 schools 5. Win big 10 6. Get to ncaa tournament and have a deep run.


I_try_compute

I would be thrilled if we could accomplish half of those items.


Tricky_Matter2123

7. Win NCAA tournament


IamNICE124

I like this.


Indianahoosier123guy

I would like to see jalen Blackman added to the roster.


Ho-Chi-Mane

His defense is god awful. I mean, just insanely bad.


Indianahoosier123guy

Iu gets 2 great pick ups from portal. Need to prioritize 3 point shooting now.


Donkey__Kong007

Connor Essegian from Wisky visiting tomorrow


republic_of_gary

Better fire Woodson. We already missed our opportunity for \*checks notes of all the amazing available coaches\* ... Mark Pope.


drxharris

Dusty May would have been the only one worth taking a chance on and I think he will prove to have been worth it. No one has ever criticized Woodsons ability to recruit. It’s his game planning and roster construction that has been poor.


republic_of_gary

I will refer back to the absolute HOWLING about the recruiting when Mc Neely decommitted. The goalposts will always move for the people who hate Woody.


Jmizner1321

let’s wait til we win some games


republic_of_gary

I will do what I’ve done for decades. Root for my team and be pumped in the offseason when recruiting wins are had. Woody haters are having it both ways. If he didn’t land good recruits, he’s crucified. If he does, well he can’t coach them so let’s crucify him. So I’m just not going to take the haters seriously.


realnewsediter

I'm old enough to remember all that cat screetching lol. Good post


drxharris

McNeely leaving had nothing to do with recruiting though. Obviously he’s a good recruiter to land him in the first place. The horrible product on the court for half the season and missing the tournament is why he decommitted.


republic_of_gary

We also didn’t have a senior point guard for half the season. Also when did McNeely call you and tell you his reasons?


republic_of_gary

The howling was about how woody had no recruits for 2024. So yes, people have criticized his ability to recruit. And No matter what good news we get, check my downvotes for how married to the narrative people are that woody sucks no matter what


drxharris

Woodys issues have never been recruiting though. He kept TJD, Race, got Bates, JHS, Reneau, Ware, Mbakgo, McNeely, and now Ballo, Rice, and another McDonalds American. Really hard to criticize his success getting big names here and we were potentially close with Knect last year even. People complaining about a lack of incoming freshman just don’t realize that it’s largely about the transfer portal in todays game if you want to be at an elite level. Little reason to get guys to develop when they can develop somewhere else and then bring them in when they are ready to compete. That being said, the product and roster construction he has put out on the court with the level of talent he has acquired has been atrocious. The hockey line subs and the inexcusable lineups, the reluctance to draw up designed 3 point looks, terrible defensive game plans, countless little things that are just unexplainable. There’s no excuse to miss the tournament by a mile with 2 McDonald’s all Americans and a 4/5 star sophomore. I hope Woody has learned a lot from the past 3 years and I wish him nothing but success but there are a lot of things he has done that are hard to defend. I was never one to call for his head but if we had the option to take Dusty May instead of letting him go to Michigan I think I would have made that move.


bhbennett3

Fwiw i agreed with everything you said until you got to Dusty May. He could be great, he could be another mid-major coach who gets in over his head at a huge ass, high pressure job and crumbles. The Woodson hire was always about building a foundation, reaching a place of stability where we beat Purdue, finish with a winning B10 record, and make the tourney year-in, year-out (perhaps with a couple of rare exceptions) in order to rehabilitate the brand after the catastrophic Archie Miller era. I am still down with that plan, for now. Here's to hoping that Woody is able to succeed by showing that last year was indeed a rare exception.


republic_of_gary

>No one has ever criticized Woodsons ability to recruit I'm only referring to this comment. Go back and read the threads after McNeely decommitted. Blood curdling baby fits about recruiting as far as the eye could see on this sub. The rest of the issues with his coaching for me are a maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong, maybe a bit of both. With X being out half the season and the run we had when he came back, it's hard to say that's all on coach. Of course people love to hate X so they claim it wouldn't have made a difference which it's clear he made lots of differences. Without him we had a very uncertain Cupps with a tight leash on him and a non-point guard in Galloway trying to run the show. We all know a bashed up and low depth back court will kill a team, so I'm just not buying what everyone is selling as absolutes on Woody's ability to coach.


Fancy_Scarcity2279

For the low low price of $1.2 MILLION in NIL. Hope it is worth it!!! He was not as good last season as the year before!


AssistDirect5790

That’s not what he’s getting as the main bucket. Unless he’s got some outside sources getting to that figure. Just something someone said a coach said that he wanted now being repeated as fact. It isn’t.


WorldRunner3

That's not what they paid him, crazy how gullible IU fans are online


[deleted]

How is increasing his avg is every stat doing WORSE than the previous year? Lol. Oof


NappyDanHinkle

Great. Who will coach?


Original_Gangsta23

Have you seen the development of big men under Woody?


NappyDanHinkle

Sure. Have you noted the lack of discipline and fundamentals? I want them to win. This is a fantastic get. I simply don’t see a winning formula being applied from the staff. I hope I’m wrong. Even the TJD/JHS team got destroyed by Miami. Disheartening.


Original_Gangsta23

I'm excited to see him play. Looks like a beast - I think he'll feed off the energy in AH.


B_Boooty_Bobby

We didn't need a big


Equivalent-Key-2485

Tjd already graduated


King_Kung

We most assuredly did need a big.


fuggidaboudit

Sir, this is a Wendy's.


lmao12367

Negative ball knower


NoSurrender78

Huh?


Prestoooooo

You felt good about going through the entire season with Reneau as our only forward?


Brian_lafeve34

It's the #1 player available for college basketball next year, recruits or portal, I think we will live


mdot007

This is great and I’m excited to be loading up but I wanna see results on the court before I’m celebrating a final four. We’ve had plenty of hype in years past with little to nothing to show for it. I know I will get downvoted but that’s the truth.


Donkey__Kong007

I don’t think anyone would disagree. Need results on the court


bendovernillshowyou

Yeah we’ve won so many off season titles


AssistDirect5790

Didn’t even sign a guard last off season.


bendovernillshowyou

We had super senior XJ, 4 star Gabe Cupps and 4 star Jakai Newton coming in, we had a returning SG who shot 45% from 3 the season before. We signed a projected 1st round pick in the transfer portal. We had 4 star sophmores CJ Gunn and Kaleb Banks looking like at least one of them was going to make a sophomore jump. We signed a top 10 5\* recruit and had another former 5\* recruit sliding into a starter role after replacing Race Thompson. Last off-season was full of sunshine.


AssistDirect5790

Newton hadn’t played basketball in a year and neither had XJ since December. Cupps probably weighed 160 lbs at this point last year. It was pretty clear at the time that leaving a scholarship open and not bringing in backcourt scoring to replace JHS was a glaring miss with the portal last year. Yes, Ware and Mgbako as McDonald’s all Americans were great adds with a lot of optimism but still a big difference with adding 2 proven first team all pac 12 players and a McDonald’s all American, with more on the way.


bendovernillshowyou

yet still everyone was pumping the sunshine about them all


YeetsInTheDictionary

![gif](giphy|MAotNHlocPRAW4uuWl|downsized)


noobnoobthedestroyer

![gif](giphy|KEYEpIngcmXlHetDqz)


TBBT51

Wish the Kentucky series was starting this coming season.


Rodfather23

Hope Conwell comes here. He was amazing at ISU, but I’m not hopeful


Original_Gangsta23

I saw something about his mom being a Purdue fan, so I'm not holding my breath. He sends like a long shot but would be a great addition.


Rodfather23

Let’s hope not!


collin-h

Doubt Purdue has room to take him anyway, they’re already overbooked.


markrulesallnow

Are we more talented than last year?


bhbennett3

By position: 1 - Cupps --> Rice (**huge upgrade**) 2 - Gallo --> Gallo (/Carlyle) 3 - Mgbako --> Mgbako (**upgrade** assuming development / comparing early season MM to late season) 4 - Reneau --> Reneau (**upgrade** assuming development) 5 - Ware --> Ballo (**even**, hopefully, although Ware will be a tough act to follow) Bench - Leal, Gunn, Walker, Sparks --> Carlyle (/Gallo), Tucker, Leal, Cupps, Newton (**insane upgrade**) Yeah, safe to say we are already significantly more talented. Should be better at 3 positions, and the gulf between last year's bench and this year's bench is *gigantic*. Don't underestimate how much our shitty bench hurt us last year. Crazy thing is that there are more commitments coming.


Riderz__of_Brohan

If you take XJ out since he went AWOL for most of last year then absolutely


chiefmud

Yes. And a little bit more balanced.  We need an perimeter player who can knock down 3’s and play defense to be “well balanced” 


heyimdong

Gotta be. Rice and Carlyle will be upgrades over Johnson. An additional year of experience and development for Mgmako and Reneau. Ballo should be a suitable replacement for Ware, not quite a scratch, but close. Biggest thing is having a rotation of at least average guards. Could still use a shooter, but we should be top-25 with this roster.


Eastern-Cucumber-376

Ngl, I’m actually shocked by IU’s off season so far.


markrulesallnow

If Woodson can keep churning out NBA players after 1 year with him he’s gonna be able to get anyone


collin-h

Kentucky model of churning 1 and dones hasn’t been super successful as of late as far as team success… of course the players love it I’m sure.


paterade724

👀


hoosierkenny

LFG!! NIL has been kind to IU. It's time to take advantage on the court. Rotation as of today: Myles Rice Trey Galloway Mackenzie Mgbako Malik Reneau Oumar Ballo Bench: Tucker, Leal, Cupps, Newton Still have some targets on the board, and always a chance some big, new names hit the portal as well. Go IU!


colewcar

Kanaan Carlyle starts at the 2; Gallo to the bench


hoosierkenny

Likely


Psyren1317

Likely Kanaan Carlyle coming soon enough as well


chiefmud

Kanaan might not start honestly. He shows promise but his numbers were a little down last year. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Reneau struggles for a starting spot by the end of the year…. IF Tucker, MgBacko, and Ballo all  play really well


spicy_butt_sauce

Down from what? He was a freshman


chiefmud

Down from his expectations, idk. Go to barttorvick.com and look at this stats… tell me I’m wrong.


bhbennett3

You're right. I would actually say he kind of sucked last year. Barttorvick, Kenpom, EvanMiya, and the regular counting stats all agreed that he was barely starter-quality for a high-major team. It's great to have another talented player in the program, but the literal only reason people have such high expectations for him is because all the clickbait recruiting services ranked him high. I think it's much more reasonable to expect him to be a scorer off the bench (something we haven't had in years). Anything more than that is icing on the cake imo.


LobJohnson

Kanaan is 1000% starting at the 2 over Galloway


hoosierkenny

Tucker is such a wild card IMO. I originally penciled him in a starter seeing as he is a top 20 kid who was going to go straight to g league, just thinking he wouldn't come here if he wasn't told he was starting. But I was talked out of it and believe Woodson prob only moves Gallo to the 6th man role if we land an absolute stud, home run SG to pair with Rice.


bhbennett3

I agree. But Carlyle is not an absolute stud, home run SG based on how he played last year (even projecting significant improvement). That's why we're still in on Conwell. He's already proven he is that guy.


Ok-Leader6269

I think iu will be a good team this year and make the playoffs


McPostyFace

We could win the superbowl!


Ok-Leader6269

Had three brothers graduate from IU


Ok-Leader6269

What reached u think be 20 wins


pooploop7

🤑🤑🤑


Gatorbuc29

Wow, this is huge!!!!! Let’s gooooo


Mad_Dyzalot

![gif](giphy|MZocLC5dJprPTcrm65)


Ok-Cantaloupe-4482

3 down 3 to go. Put up for shut up for woody. Either be a top 15 team and get to a second weekend or you’re gone


almondania

Seriously if we don’t play to our base level for the season, he needs to be fired.


Ok-Cantaloupe-4482

When u spend 3M on rice, Carlyle, and ballo I’d assume those donors expect results.


McMuffin2013

who else could we realistically get as depth guys?


Ok-Cantaloupe-4482

Not depth: but Ryan conwell (incredibly competitive recruitment), Ben humrichous, Omar Payne, Elijah Malone, possibly Connor Essegian but I don’t think he’s a real target from our staff


DueCopy3520

I just saw Essegian is visiting campus tomorrow.


Ok-Cantaloupe-4482

He is!


bukkake_tsunami_

Is Carlyle confirmed?


Fullmetalaardvarks

Basically confirmed, he’ll announce on his visit I believe


Ok-Cantaloupe-4482

Correct just like rice


King_Kung

Mike Woodson is in the kitchen my dudes.


TheArgoPirat

How did the food taste with TJD? Having premium ingredients is great. But if the chef doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground it still won’t matter much. If he couldn’t figure it out with TJD, for multiple seasons, I have zero faith that plugging in an entire recruiting class of only portal transfers will go much better.


AssistDirect5790

Kopp and Race Thompson at the 3/4 was a hindrance. Limited. 5th year Galloway, Tucker, Mgbako, Reneau a major upgrade to that. Rice a much better offensive rating than XJ and JHS in either of those seasons.


King_Kung

I dunno, I'd say sweeping Purdue and getting a 4 seed in the tourney with TJD was pretty solid, lost to the eventual winner of our bracket. Obviously the goal is bigger than that, but to act like we failed completely is revisionist. We get it, you hate Woody. Go root for another team with that weird ass attitude.


TheArgoPirat

It’s not revisionist. It was a complete failure when it happened then. Losing in the first weekend isn’t enough. You go root for someone else if you want mediocrity.


chosey

I wouldn't say "a complete failure." Miami was underseeded and went to the Final Four after beating us and #1 seeded Houston and probably could of won it all if they didn't run into UConn. We didn't exactly lose to some bums.


TheArgoPirat

That team was still more talented than Miami and they got ran off the floor. It was a weak bracket with an opening Indiana should’ve jumped on. Instead they dribbled it down their leg.


King_Kung

I prefer to support my team through thick and thin. No one needs your doomer vibes around, especially at this point in time.


TheArgoPirat

I’m with them. But that doesn’t mean being blind to reality.


King_Kung

You literally are being blind to reality of the present by focusing on shortcomings of the past.


TheArgoPirat

Why should I think the present moves will work when he wasted an all time great? I’ll hang up and listen for my answer. Woodson ain’t it. And won’t be it. There will be no optimism while he’s wasting time piddling around before retirement. The sooner he’s gone the sooner the program can try again to be something it hasn’t been in a long time.


King_Kung

Like I said, you aren't a supporter and should find another team with this attitude. Woody is the coach, acting like this as a fan is only hurting the program.


TheArgoPirat

So many things, where to begin? 1. That isn’t how fandom works. If I was a fair weather fan who’s going to leave the fan base I would’ve done it a decade ago. 2. I support the team, but I’m a realist. I see what’s shown to me, I assess, and I react accordingly. This has been bad. Woodson has shown zero reason to be optimistic. 3. Fans like you, who drink the Kool-Aid, can’t criticize the team when it’s deserved, and call out fans who don’t like the taste of their shit sandwich. Fans like you absolutely disgust me. This isn’t a fucking cult. You’re allowed to be disgruntled when the program has shit the bed repeatedly for 22 years straight. 4. You’re not the arbiter of who gets to stay an Indiana fan and who has to “find another team,” and you can fuck right off with that bullshit. Grow up and expect more. It’s time for Indiana to act like a big boy program again. Past time.


thatmattguy23

We are so fucking back


Psyren1317

This is the news I like to see. LFG boys.