Projecting Who's Staying, Who's Leaving from Indiana After Missing NCAA Tournament
Following a lopsided loss to Nebraska in the Big Ten tournament, the 2023-24 college basketball season is over for Indiana.
Though the 19-14 team could've landed an invitation to the NIT, the program has elected to not play in a postseason tournament. Instead, head coach Mike Woodson will shift his focus toward a hectic offseason.
Indiana is expected to lose several key contributors, and a much-anticipated recruit just backed out of his pledge.
This preview includes a look at who's staying in Bloomington, who's leaving and who's on the way to IU.
Who's Staying
Emotions run high in the aftermath of a season ending, but Malik Reneau set off alarm bells. After the loss to Nebraska, per Michael Niziloek of the Bloomington Herald-Times, the Hoosiers' No. 2 scorer said he has some "thinking to do" about his future. I'll say Reneau is back, but that's clearly a situation to monitor.
Although star freshman Mackenzie Mgbako may declare for the NBA draft, he'd benefit from another year in college.
Veteran guards Trey Galloway—a two-year starter—and Anthony Leal recently announced they will return for a fifth season. Gabe Cupps opened 22 games as a freshman, while rising juniors CJ Gunn and Kaleb Banks have a track to more minutes next year.
Payton Sparks, a transfer from Ball State last offseason, averaged only 7.3 minutes but is a prime candidate for an increased role.
Who's Leaving
The full expectation is that center Kel'el Ware will enter the 2024 NBA draft. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman, in his latest mock, listed Ware as the No. 11 overall pick.
Ware's production will be difficult to replace, considering he averaged team-high marks of 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.
Two certain departures are Xavier Johnson and Anthony Walker, who both exhausted their eligibility. Johnson dealt with injuries over the last two seasons but was a good passer in the backcourt, and Walker provided some frontcourt depth this season after transferring from Miami.
In all likelihood—though I won't list anyone specifically—the Hoosiers will see multiple players hit the transfer portal.
Who's on the Way
Well, not 5-star Liam McNeeley.
After committing to Indiana in October, he signed with the Hoosiers during the early window in November. However, he recently asked to be (and was) released from his letter of intent.
McNeeley's decommitment leaves IU with zero commits in the 2024 class, so expect a heavy push in the transfer portal.
Indiana's top priority should be adding perimeter threats. This season, the Hoosiers managed exactly five made threes per game—a truly horrendous number that ranked 351st out of 362 teams nationally.
From there, IU's focus presumably will shift to finding size to replace both the 7-foot Ware and 6'9" Walker in the frontcourt.