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Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
BLOOMINGTON – Indiana center Logan Duncomb played in just nine games as a freshman last season and did not see the court for more than four minutes in any contest.
With All-Big Ten honorees Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson, emerging star Jordan Geronimo and freshmen Malik Reneau and Kaleb Banks clogging Indiana’s frontcourt depth chart, Duncomb seemed likely to be on the outside of the regular rotation again this year.
It was a surprise, then, when Jackson-Davis mentioned Thursday during Indiana basketball media day at Assembly Hall that Duncomb might get significant minutes at center this year if Thompson gets in foul trouble. Jackson-Davis could slide to power forward in such scenarios, the All-American said.
“Logan is playing at a really high level right now,” Jackson-Davis said. “He’s rebounding the ball and he’s defending really well, especially just playing against me, and I’m just seeing it on the floor when I’m playing against him.
“I think Logan’s going to provide a lot for us this year.”
Indiana’s frontcourt veterans were able to push Duncomb around in the paint when they faced off last season, according to Thompson. This summer, however, Jackson-Davis and Thompson had the same realization: the skinny freshman from last year was gone. In his place was a far sturdier force.
“Beginning of the summer, I got pushed in the back by Logan,” Thompson said. “I was wondering who pushed me and it was Logan standing there. It was like, ‘All right Logan, here we go.’
“I think (getting pushed around) bothered him a little bit and he really locked in this summer and focused on his body and took the weight room serious and took the protein shakes serious and putting on that weight serious. Now he knows he can hold his own.”
Duncomb’s freshman season consisted mostly of a series of false starts. A shoulder strain kept him out during a portion of summer practice and Indiana’s exhibition games in the Bahamas, he was suspended for three games for a violation of team rules early in the campaign and he was often sick, according to Jackson-Davis, which made it difficult for him to put on weight.
That changed this summer.
“In May he got his tonsils out so he was down to 215 (pounds),” Jackson-Davis said. “At the end of the summer, all of a sudden he was 245 and I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ I’m trying to move him back and he’s just holding his ground and I’m like, ‘All right.’ ”
Duncomb, a top-75 recruit in the 2021 recruiting class, according to 247 Sports, came in expecting to contribute right away and was left wondering at times if he belonged at a top-tier program when it didn’t happen.
Holding his own physically with Jackson-Davis and Thompson this summer has brought Duncomb’s confidence back. Geronimo raved about Duncomb’s energy – “He has a motor like I’ve never seen before” – and the 6-foot-10 Cincinnati native plans to use that intensity to carve out minutes on a team with Big Ten championship aspirations.
“I’ve always thought if there’s one thing I can do it’s hustle,” said Duncomb, who averaged 13.5 points and 9.1 rebounds as a senior in high school. “If I’m not getting shots to fall or I’m struggling offensively, I know I can always work my hardest to do what I can. If that’s playing defense, getting rebounds, putting my body out there, setting screens, whatever I can do to help the team.”
Duncomb’s frontcourt mates have noticed a change in his demeanor as he’s become more sure of himself.
“You can see it on the court,” Thompson said. “He’s smiling, he’s playing hard, he’s talking a little bit of trash. It’s just a lot of fun to watch him grow and get better.”