Big Ten Basketball

Indiana and men's basketball head coach Mike Woodson will part ways after the 2024-25 season, according to Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68.

The news comes after Goodman reported that Woodson was contemplating stepping down and retiring. He noted in that report that if Woodson chooses to retire, he would finish out the season before doing so at the end of the Hoosiers' 2024-25 campaign.

ESPN's Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello reported that Indiana and Woodson are "in discussions" surrounding his future at the school and the coach is "unlikely" to return for the 2025-26 season.

Woodson has been with the Hoosiers since 2021.

Indiana currently sits at 14-9 and has struggled as of late, losing six of its past seven games.

The Hoosiers are coming off a 76-64 defeat against Wisconsin that wasn't as close as the final score indicated, as the Hoosiers instantly faced a 22-point deficit just over seven minutes into the first half.

"We're just not a tough team right now," Woodson said after the loss, per Steve Megargee of the Associated Press. "We're not. Mentally we're not tough."

"Right now our backs are against the wall," he added. "We're not playing great basketball. We're playing in spurts."

Woodson owns an overall record of 77-49 with Indiana, making NCAA Tournament appearances in both of his first two years at the school. The Hoosiers couldn't secure a March Madness spot after finishing with a 19-14 record during the 2023-24 season, and their recent losing stretch has put a 2025 tournament appearance in serious doubt.

Indiana has struggled against Big Ten opponents, owning a 15-17 record against conference foes since the start of its 2023-24 campaign.

Before joining the Hoosiers, Woodson was an assistant coach for six different NBA teams and also had head-coaching stints with the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks.

Now, his tenure with Indiana may be coming to a close at the end of the season.

One of the most enticing NBA draft prospects will miss his team's game on Wednesday.

Per ESPN's Jeff Borzello, Rutgers star freshman Dylan Harper is out of the Scarlet Knight's matchup against Northwestern. Brian Fonseca of the Star-Ledger added that Harper has been seen wearing a walking boot multiple times since Saturday and is evaluated as day-to-day.

Harper has been tremendous this season, putting up 18.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. He's had a pair of 30-point-plus outings, dropping 36 against Notre Dame before posting 37 against Alabama.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projects Harper to go to the Utah Jazz with the No. 2 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, only behind Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg.

Harper was a 5-star prospect and the No. 3 player in the country, according to 247Sports Composite. The New Jersey native picked Rutgers over Duke, Auburn and a handful of other top programs.

As good as Harper has been, it hasn't translated to wins for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are 10-10 on the year and 3-6 to start conference play, sitting in 13th in the Big Ten. They're coming off back-to-back losses to Penn State and Michigan State and are hoping to get back on track against Northwestern.

Without Harper, Rutgers will lean heavily on their other star freshman, Ace Bailey. The former No. 2 player in the nation is leading the Big Ten in scoring at 19.8 points per game while hauling in 7.9 boards.

Wasserman projects Bailey to go after Harper with the No. 3 pick in this year's draft.

LeBron James is a fan of Rutgers freshman guard Dylan Harper.

"I've been watching him for quite a while," James said Monday about the son of former Chicago Bulls star Ron Harper (h/t Brandon 'Scoop B' Robinson.) "He calls me unc, I call him nephew."

The Los Angeles Lakers star continued: "Special kid, special talent. He's going to be really good in this league."

"Comes from a great family, obviously. Me and Harp, his pops, go back, a while back," James said. "So, I'm excited for what he's doing right now at Rutgers, and what he's going to continue to do in the future."

Harper is averaging 18.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals through 19 games at Rutgers. He sits at No. 2 in the latest 2025 NBA Mock Draft by Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman.

Wasserman wrote about Harper in his latest mock:

Harper has made a strong impression this season with how well he's able to get to spots and finish in traffic. He's been lethal so far from off the ball in catch-and-shoot situations, and despite underwhelming pull-up percentages, he's demonstrated enough shotmaking capability for an 18-year-old to keep scouts' hopeful.

Lottery teams will ultimately view Harper as a scoring lead guard whose creativity and gravity should result in sufficient playmaking for an offense's primary ball-handler.

Harper even impressed when most recently sitting out most of the second half of a Saturday loss to Michigan State.

Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said after the game that Harper was dealing with an ankle sprain suffered earlier that week (h/t NJ.com's Brian Fonseca.)

But both Pikiell and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo praised Harper for the 13 minutes he recorded in the the loss.

"He's tough as nails. I'm proud of him," Pikiell said, per Fonseca. "He was in that training room, lived there practically for a couple days. I honestly did not think he was going to play. He said 'let me give it a whirl' and he gave us 13 minutes. That says a lot about him."

"That kid is a hell of a player," Izzo said, per Fonseca. "Your quarterback is your quarterback. He makes all the other players better."

Rutgers forward Ace Bailey, who is listed at No. 3 in Wasserman's latest draft, has also lived up to the hype during his freshman season.

That hasn't been enough to put the Scarlet Knights on track for the NCAA Tournament. Rutgers is currently 10-10 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten.

Harper potentially being injured will make it even more difficult to improve those records. Rutgers will hope for him to return soon as possible for the sake of their tournament hopes, while Harper will look to solidify his standing as a top option behind Duke standout Cooper Flagg down the stretch of his freshman season.

Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant is maintaining a keen eye on the young players who are knocking on the door of the NBA.

Asked about Rutgers freshman Ace Bailey, Durant said he's a "pure, pure talent" who uses his 6'10" frame to be unguardable as a scorer at times. The 14-time All-Star added that Bailey and Scarlet Knights teammate Dylan Harper "are playing some great ball."

Rutgers scored a major coup when it signed Bailey and Harper, who were second and third respectively in 247Sports' composite rankings for the 2024 class. They're also the two highest-ranked recruits for the program dating back to 2000.

Talent alone doesn't guarantee success, especially when a team is leaning on freshmen to the extent the Scarlet Knights are. Sure enough, they've started the season 7-5 and split their first two Big Ten contests.

But Bailey and Harper have affirmed their status as two of the top talents eligible for the 2025 NBA draft.

Harper is the team's leading scorer with 23.3 points per game on 52.1 percent shooting, and he's dishing out 4.2 assists per game. Bailey is averaging 17.6 points and displaying some solid range for his size with 1.4 made three-pointer per contest at a 33.3 percent clip.

Harper was the No. 2 overall pick in the most recent mock draft from Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman, while Bailey went one pick later.

On Harper, Wasserman wrote he "has begun to separate himself from the No. 3 prospect, whoever it may be come draft night" and is "at least putting pressure on Cooper Flagg in the No. 1 overall discussion." When it comes to Bailey, the Bleacher Report draft expert wrote his "shotmaking has looked as advertised, with the 6'10" wing consistently able to create and make high-difficulty jumpers off the dribble or from the post."

Now, the duo has Durant's seal of approval as well.

Ace Bailey has arrived.

Bailey was impressive in his college debut, leading No. 24 Rutgers to a 98-81 win over Monmouth on Friday night.

He finished with 17 points, six rebounds, and two steals in 30 minutes of action while shooting 5-10 from the field and showcasing his athleticism on several occasions. He also connected on one of his three attempts from behind the arc.

The Scarlet Knights cruised to the victory, leading 47-30 at halftime and extending their lead beyond 20 points multiple times in the second half.

Fellow freshman Dylan Harper also made an impact, scoring a team-high 20 points and racking up six assists while shooting 66.7 percent from the field.

Bailey missed the first two games of the season due to a hip issue, but the injury didn't appear to hamper the No. 2 prospect in the 2024 recruiting class against Monmouth.

Fans were amazed by Bailey's performance.

Bailey will look to build upon his promising start as the Scarlet Knights wrap up a four-game homestand in their next contest, a matchup with Merrimack on Wednesday.

Legendary Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo doesn't plan on stepping down anytime soon, but he has a few alums in mind as his future replacement.

"I got no interest in getting out of it," Izzo said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast, per Fan Duel's Jon Rothstein. "When I'm done, I'm going to talk to Mateen Cleaves, Steve Smith, Magic Johnson, and Draymond Green. I don't want to lose the culture that I've seen for 40 years as a GA on up. I think it's being lost somewhat now in college sports. Not just for me, but the players who come back and are a part of things. At least here at Michigan State, it's important. It may not be that way at other places."

Izzo first joined Michigan State's program in 1983 as an assistant and took over as head coach of the Spartans in 1995. The team has played in every NCAA tournament since the 1997-98 season, winning the national championship in 2000.

While some believe that Green is a natural fit for a future head coach, the Golden State Warriors star recently revealed that he doesn't see himself going down that path.

"Man I love Michigan State so much… I will always be a part of the program, but I'm just not sure I can coach Michigan State," he said. "Chasing around high school kids whose parents think they are the best thing since sliced bread and trying to tell me what I should do for their kid… I'm not sure I can really do that."

Izzo's successor will have big shoes to fill, so it will be interesting to see who eventually gets the honor of replacing the Hall of Famer.

5-star guard prospect Trey McKenney has committed to Michigan, he announced on Saturday on a livestream with 247Sports.

McKenney chose the Wolverines over his other top choices of USC and Georgetown.

The 6-foot-4 guard out of St. Mary's Prep in Orchard Lake, Michigan is ranked as the No. 3 combo guard and the No. 24 overall prospect by 247Sports' composite rankings.

He will now join Michigan's incoming class of 2025 alongside 4-star prospect Winters Grady and top international prospect Oscar Goodman.

McKenney is originally from Flint, Michigan, which is about an hour drive from Ann Arbor. He wore a Detroit Red Wings jersey during his announcement.

He had also previously been linked to Michigan State, but the Spartans did not make his list of finalists.

Instead, McKenney will join Dusty May, who was hired as the Wolverines' head coach in March to replace Juwan Howard and made recruiting the in-state prospect "a priority," Jamie Shaw previously reported for On3.

McKenney similarly told Zagsblog's Sam Lance in July that he had been in talks with May since he was hired.

Shaw wrote that an official visit to Ann Arbor in September "answered a lot of questions" for the prospect and that he "started trending heavily toward Michigan" after that.

McKenney told On3's Joe Tipton that he joined Michigan after watching former head coach John Beilein lead the program to two Big Ten tournament titles.

"Just feeling at home and being given the opportunity by the coaching staff to come in and make an immediate impact and also growing up just Michigan being my dream school and watching the Beilein days," McKenney said about his decision.

On3's Shaw described McKenney as "a strong-framed guard" with "a sturdily-built base and a plus wingspan:"

While he might not be the optimal height as an off-guard, McKenney is a tough and sound defender. He uses his strength and his toughness well when guarding the point of attack. He is instinctive in the passing lanes. McKenney is a productive player on both ends of the court, consistently making plays.

247Sports' Adam Finkelstein meanwhile wrote that McKenney presents a "unique backcourt match-up" thanks to his 6-foot-9 wingspan:

He plays with an aggressive scoring mentality and has an advanced understand of how to leverage his body type within his attack. He's powerful, physical, crafty, has a great left-hand, and is also very adept at scoring over top of contesting defenders in the mid-range area.

Michigan is off to a 1-0 start to the season after a 101-53 blowout of Cleveland State on Monday thanks in part to guard depth led by Tre Donaldson and Roddy Gayle. The Wolverines are back in action on Sunday afternoon at Wake Forest.

Rutgers fans will have to wait a bit longer before they get to see star freshman Ace Bailey in action.

The Scarlet Knights announced on Wednesday that Bailey suffered an undisclosed injury in practice that will force him to miss their season opener against Wagner. The highly-touted wing player is considered day-to-day.

According to Brian Fonseca of NJ Advance Media, one person with knowledge of the situation said Bailey's injury "is not expected to be a long-term issue" and his absence in Wednesday night's game "is precautionary." However, his status for Monday's game against St. Peter's remains "unclear."

A 5-star small forward, Bailey was ranked as the No. 2 overall player in the nation in the class of 2024 in 247Sports' composite behind only Duke star Cooper Flagg. He is the highest-rated recruit in Rutgers program history and a likely lottery pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

Bailey gave Scarlet Knights fans a taste of what to expect from him in a charity exhibition against St. John's last month where he posted 25 points, five rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block in a 91-85 loss.

Along with fellow 5-star prospect Dylan Harper, Bailey gives Rutgers its best chance to continue building on the turnaround the program has experienced under head coach Steve Pikiell, who led the team to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022 followed by a trip to the NIT in 2023.

It may take some patience, but fans will be in for a treat when Bailey is healthy enough to make his return to the court for the Scarlet Knights.

Caitlin Clark may have not won a national title with Iowa, but she still earned some serious hardware in her final college season.

The Indiana Fever star returned to her former school on Saturday to receive rings celebrating the Hawkeyes' 2024 Big Ten championship and the team's appearance in the Final Four of the 2024 NCAA women's basketball tournament.

Clark and her teammates celebrated with Iowa football's Kid Captain prior to the home team's Saturday afternoon game against Northwestern.

Clark played four seasons for Iowa between 2020 and 2024 before the Fever selected her with the No. 1 pick of the 2024 WNBA draft.

She returned to Iowa City to join fellow former Iowa players including Las Vegas Aces guard Kate Martin and Gabbie Marshall, the former Hawkeyes star who retired from basketball in order to attend graduate school, in celebrating the 2023-24 team.

The Big Ten championship ring features an engraving on the inside reading "back to back to back."

Clark was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player as Iowa won three straight conference tournaments between 2022 and 2024. This spring she averaged 28.7 points and 11.3 assists through three games to lead the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten tournament title.

Clark was also instrumental in Iowa's second straight trip to the NCAA championship game this spring.

She averaged 30 points through five tournament games, including a 41-point outing to oust defending champions LSU in the Elite Eight, to lead the Hawkeyes to the national championship game against South Carolina.

Her final college game may have ended in a 75-87 loss, but Clark still departed from Iowa having established herself as the most prolific scorer in men's and women's college basketball history with 3,951 career points.

Fans will now have to wait and see whether they will have to wait until the 2025 WNBA season to watch Clark play again, or if she will join Unrivaled, the 3v3 basketball league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, when its inaugural season begins in January. The league is currently preparing a "Lionel Messi-like" offer to encourage Clark to join, Michael McCarthy recently reported for Front Office Sports.