Like 100% of fans on here, I’m excited to see Indiana basketball will field a team in the fall. Nice work everyone. Woody left us in an enviable spot.
Okay, some sarcasm there…
Anyway, just to spark some discussion on a deathly quiet board, I’ll say after looking at all the newcomers… I’m keeping expectations for DD year one kinda mellow. Here’s my devil’s advocate take… (hopefully there are some big dudes soon to be added to this list because basketball)…
And before you start shouting about all those fancy shoooterz… IU has sucked so historically/nationally bad in this dept. lately that literally anything will excite us. Tempering…
So…
Tucker D - Okay, digging through game stats, this kid can ball against elite competition. Clear team leader.
Wilkerson - By all accounts this kid gets buckets. But most of them were in Sam Houston’s league. And a few vs. Woody. So there will be a drop-off.
Enright - 6th leading scorer on a team that went 4-16 in conference, a team led by IU legend CJ Gunn. Tempering…
Sam Alexis - Kid was on a NC team, but sure didn’t play much. Experience counts for something for sure.
Beyond these four, it’s all kids that didn’t play for high majors. So, sure, maybe there may be hidden diamonds in there, water is still finding its level and all that… but jumping from Elon, Drexel, Troy, UNF, Davidson…. to banging in the B10 is a JUMP. Peyton Sparks says hi. Heck, a number of notable flops from high majors last year say hi.
Just some comparisons on other transfers around the league…
UM is bringing kids from - UNC, UCLA, NC
Maryland - Four kids from Texas A&M alone, Villanova, Kansas, IU, Washington State
Iowa is shipping over its miracle D2 roster from Drake (Can it get 30 Ws in the B10? Doubt it.) - but filling in with kids from KState and Miami
Washington - USC, IU (Tucker), Rutgers, plus four top-100 high school recruits
UCLA - MSU (Booker), and Donovan Dent (New Mexico, but a monster player)
Here’s a weird stat that shows the new world… per 247… NORTHWESTERN has the #2 high school class in the B10 for 2025. Five kids. They also nabbed a 5 from Cincinnati.
A million reasons to temper expectations and just see what happens. And I suspect one thing to be genuinely excited about… Bigfoot is nowhere to be seen… as per usual.
Okay, some sarcasm there…
Anyway, just to spark some discussion on a deathly quiet board, I’ll say after looking at all the newcomers… I’m keeping expectations for DD year one kinda mellow. Here’s my devil’s advocate take… (hopefully there are some big dudes soon to be added to this list because basketball)…
And before you start shouting about all those fancy shoooterz… IU has sucked so historically/nationally bad in this dept. lately that literally anything will excite us. Tempering…
So…
Tucker D - Okay, digging through game stats, this kid can ball against elite competition. Clear team leader.
Wilkerson - By all accounts this kid gets buckets. But most of them were in Sam Houston’s league. And a few vs. Woody. So there will be a drop-off.
Enright - 6th leading scorer on a team that went 4-16 in conference, a team led by IU legend CJ Gunn. Tempering…
Sam Alexis - Kid was on a NC team, but sure didn’t play much. Experience counts for something for sure.
Beyond these four, it’s all kids that didn’t play for high majors. So, sure, maybe there may be hidden diamonds in there, water is still finding its level and all that… but jumping from Elon, Drexel, Troy, UNF, Davidson…. to banging in the B10 is a JUMP. Peyton Sparks says hi. Heck, a number of notable flops from high majors last year say hi.
Just some comparisons on other transfers around the league…
UM is bringing kids from - UNC, UCLA, NC
Maryland - Four kids from Texas A&M alone, Villanova, Kansas, IU, Washington State
Iowa is shipping over its miracle D2 roster from Drake (Can it get 30 Ws in the B10? Doubt it.) - but filling in with kids from KState and Miami
Washington - USC, IU (Tucker), Rutgers, plus four top-100 high school recruits
UCLA - MSU (Booker), and Donovan Dent (New Mexico, but a monster player)
Here’s a weird stat that shows the new world… per 247… NORTHWESTERN has the #2 high school class in the B10 for 2025. Five kids. They also nabbed a 5 from Cincinnati.
A million reasons to temper expectations and just see what happens. And I suspect one thing to be genuinely excited about… Bigfoot is nowhere to be seen… as per usual.
