My Two Cents: Indiana's Biggest Challenges Aren't Too Big for Mike Woodson

Restoring Indiana to blueblood status might be the biggest challenge in all of college basketball this year, but former Hoosier star Mike Woodson seems up for the task.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It's the offseason, so all Indiana basketball activity – at least with the present roster – happens in secrecy behind closed doors. The first real game of the Mike Woodson era is still nearly four months away, but the basketball talk never stops.

It never, never stops.

Over the weekend, ESPN's Jeff Borzello broke down the biggest challenges for each of the 57 new coaches in college basketball, including 13 from the Power 6 conferences. There have been changes at high-profile places like North Carolina, Arizona, Oklahoma and Texas, plus places like Iowa State, Minnesota, Penn State and Boston College. 

There was a lot of movement last year, especially considering it was a COVID-19 year, and Indiana's hire of Mike Woodson to replace Archie Miller was a big deal.

Here's what Borzello said about the biggest challenge facing Woodson, a former Indiana star himself who has spent the last 30 years coaching in the NBA after his successful pro playing career.

• "Biggest challenge: Return Indiana to blueblood status. It's arguably the biggest challenge on this list, and perhaps it's impossible. But the last time Woodson was involved in college basketball was 1980, when he was finishing his playing career as a Hoosier in the middle of the glory years under Bob Knight. IU won a title in 1976, another one in 1981 and a third one in 1987. Back in Bloomington, Woodson takes over a program that hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 2016 and has been past the Sweet 16 once since 1993. Indiana isn't considered one of the truly elite programs in college basketball right now, either on the court or on the recruiting trail.''

• Early returns: Woodson did an impressive job of constructing a roster competitive enough for an NCAA tournament bid in year one. Armaan Franklin, Al Durham, Joey Brunk and Jerome Hunter departed via the transfer portal, but Xavier Johnson (Pittsburgh), Miller Kopp (Northwestern) and Michael Durr (South Florida) came the opposite direction. Indiana also landed top-25 senior Tamar Bates and had ESPN 100 juniors Kyle Filipowski  and Jalen Hood-Schifino on campus.

Let's break down a few of his points, and give some better context.

Return to blueblood status?

That's the dream of every Indiana fan, isn't it? To be back in the glory days where national title hopes accompany every season. Borzello is right that doing so just might be the biggest challenge on his list, because Indiana has fallen off the radar when it comes to blueblood programs.

It's ridiculous that we're going on six years now since Indiana has even played in the NCAA Tournament, but to me it's even more sad that Indiana has won a game in the second week of the tournament only once since 1993. That's 31 years now, a full generation of basketball fans, and the only tourney run was in 2002, when the Hoosiers lost the national final to Maryland.

Sure, there have been some fun games and some fun stretches along the way, most notably, at least for me, in 2012-13 when Indiana was No. 1 in the nation for a while and had a roster full of beloved heroes like Cody Zeller, Jordan Hulls, Victor Oladipo, Yogi Ferrell and Christian Watford. 

But that's supposed to happen every year if you're a blueblood, and as much as it pains me to say it, that's just not Indiana anymore.

But what encourages me is that I do believe the return of Woodson and Dane Fife was a signal that doing it the Indiana way is still important and that they can turn this program around. My optimism level is high enough that I think Indiana will win a game in the second week of the NCAA Tournament sooner than most expect.

Becoming a factor again in recruiting

Woodson and his staff have hit the ground running since he was hired in late March. Hiring Fife, a former Hoosier who's been a great recruiter for Tom Izzo at Michigan State, was a big deal. So was keeping Kenya Hunter and adding Yasir Rosemond to the staff. All have great recruiting resumes.

Getting Tamar Bates this spring was big. The former Texas commit is a top-25 player nationally and a five-star recruit. It won't surprise me one bit if he becomes Indiana's best player behind Trayce Jackson-Davis next season, even as a true freshman.

Indiana is also right in the mix for several other top players in the 2022 class. They've been out there working hard on the recruiting trail all summer – including Woodson, who's new to all of this. 

Recruiting at a blueblood level doesn't happen overnight either, but the plan seems solid, and the work ethic is there, no question. This might require a little more patience, but the Hoosiers are definitely trending in the right direction.

Instant improvement with transfer portal

Where the recruiting game has really changed is in the transfer portal, where players can transfer without sitting out now and there's been more movement this year than ever before.

Indiana has done well in bringing in talent this year. They lost guys too, of course, but I think this roster transformation has to be considered an improvement for the Hoosiers, because the new guys are filled huge voids. Woodson will use the portal every year to fill needs. I think that's a given.

Borzello has also been ranking the top-100 transfers during this offseason, the busiest year ever for movement with players not having to sit out a year. There are plenty of Indiana references, of course, both coming and going. Here's the Indiana connections on his list:

• No. 44 – Indiana's Armaan Franklin transfers to Virginia
• No. 48 – Pittsburgh's Xavier Johnson transfers to Indiana
• No. 76 – Indiana's Al Durham transfers to Providence
• No. 82 – Tennessee-Martin's Parker Stewart transfers to Indiana

I think Borzello really missed the boat on the Miller Kopp transfer from Northwestern to Indiana. I think that's huge, because he finally gives Indiana a forward that can knock down perimeter shots. That's been a huge issue the past few years with guys like Justin Smith, who wasn't good from three, and Jerome Hunter, who was wildly inconsistent and, as it turned out, unreliable. Kopp's arrival changes how Indiana can attack from that spot. I think he's going to have a big year for Indiana.

Filling those needs is a big thing. Xavier Johnson coming from Pitt immediately makes him the best point guard on Indiana's roster, and holdovers Rob Phinisee and Khristian Lander will have to up their games to contend for playing time. (Full disclosure, I think both will do just that.)

The biggest thing to me, and another transfer that Borzello has overlooked, is the arrival of 7-foot center Michael Durr from the University of South Florida in Tampa. Sure, he wasn't the best player in the portal, but he's got talent and he absolutely fills a void on this Indiana roster.

Last year, Trayce Jackson-Davis had to spent too much time trying to guard all the big men in the Big Ten, giving up inches and pounds most every night. He can attack all of those guys effectively on the offensive end, but guarding them for 40 minutes wore him out, quite frankly.

Durr's arrival means he takes a lot of that load off of Jackson-Davis' plate, which will make him much more effective. For the first time in years, really, Indiana has a full roster with depth at every position.

Indiana can play big this year, or play small. With more of a pro-style look on offense, all the pieces are now in place to be competitive on the offensive end, something we haven't seen in a while.

The chase for blueblood status might take a while, but at least we're heading in the right direction.

Finally.