My Two Cents: Is the 'Joey Brunk Factor' a Real Thing This Season?

Indiana's disappointing 12-14 season has been hard on everyone, most especially senior center Joey Brunk, who hasn't been able to help at all after missing the entire season with a back injury. His absence truly has made a difference.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana's basketball season is staggering to the finish line, and now it's just one more bad loss away from being over. 

The Hoosiers are just 12-14, and they're on a five-game losing streak that has looked very ugly at times. They lost six games at home in the friendly confines of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, four times as a favorite. They have only beaten two ranked teams all year, and that was Iowa – TWICE! There were no other top-25 wins, not a one.

Indiana played without senior center Joey Brunk all season. He had back issues early, and they never got better. At the end of the December, he needed surgery to repair a disk issue, and he still isn't back to doing basketball activities. It is a season lost for the 6-foot-11 Indianapolis native.

This was a guy who started 31 of 32 games a year ago and averaged 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds a game. He was a double-digit scorer seven times, and a double-digit rebounder five other times. He wasn't Indiana's most-important piece, but he was a critical part of this starting rotation, and even bigger things were expected this year.

His absence highlights the poor roster construction at Indiana, which played with just 11 scholarship players for the second straight year when 13 are allowed. Brunk, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson were Indiana's only ''bigs'' and when Brunk couldn't go, Indiana had to try to fill the gaps with guys like Jerome Hunter, a natural small forward, and freshman guards Jordan Geronimo and Trey Galloway, who were often physically overmatched during a brutal Big Ten schedule filled with size and bulk on most every other roster.

Frustrated fans are everywhere, and they've been shouting for Archie Miller's head all season. But even some of the most ardent ''fire Archie'' voices have wondered what this season would have been like if Brunk had played.

In this crazy COVID year, with all its starts at stops, how many more wins would Indiana have had if Brunk could have played? Would it have been a factor?

If course it would. 

Would it have been enough to change the dark-cloud scenario? We'll get to that in a minute, but let's do some deep diving first on how much the Hoosiers missed him, and which games where his absence was felt the most.

Breaking down the 'Brunk Factor'

First off, let's look at the 14 losses and rank the Joey Brunk factor on a scale from one to five, with one meaning no factor and five being a huge factor, with the other spots in between:

• Dec. 1 – Lost to Texas 66-44 as a 2-point favorite: Brunk Factor (1), because nothing would have changed this game. A rare blowout on the season, one lost by the guards far more than the big men.
• Dec. 9 – Lost at Florida State 69-67 in overtime as a 3.5-point underdog: Brunk Factor (5), because in the end, all Indiana really needed was one more rebound to lock up the game, and they didn't get it against the much-taller Seminoles. The outcome swings in Indiana's direction if Brunk had been on the floor.
• Dec. 23 – Lost at home to Northwestern 74-67 as a 9-point favorite: Brunk Factor (4), because Indiana got only three rebounds off the bench, and Joey as a leader would have been imploring his teammates to play harder at protecting their home court in a game they couldn't afford to lose. 
• Dec. 26 – Lost at Illinois 69-60 as a 6.5-point underdog: Brunk Factor (5) because of 7-foot, 290-pound center Kofi Cockburn. With Brunk, Indiana has no one who can compete physically with him. He wore out the much-smaller Trayce Jackson-Davis, who would be so much better without all the banging.
• Jan. 7 – Lost at Wisconsin 80-73 in double overtime as a 9-point underdog: Brunk Factor (5). This was another game that came down to Indiana simply getting nothing more than a rebound to close the game out. It didn't happen. Race Thompson was in foul trouble all night, and only had four points in 21 minutes.
• Jan. 14 – Lost at home to Purdue 81-69 as a 4-point favorite: The Brunk Factor (3) lands in the middle because Purdue won this game mostly because they were red-hot from three. Joey would have battled against that big-man tag-team of Trevion Williams and Zach Edey, and he ONCE AGAIN would have been a vocal leader on the home floor, pushing his teammates to not lose for the fifth straight time in Bloomington to the bitter archrvials.
• Jan. 24 – Lost at home to Rutgers 74-70 as a 4.5-point favorite: Brunk Factor (5) is big again, because this is a game the Hoosiers have to win at home and Myles Johnson is a tough Rutgers big man. Brunk changes the matchups, because Rutgers really only plays with one big. Freeing up Trayce would have been big.
• Feb. 2 – Lost at home to Illinois 75-71 in overtime as a 3-point underdog: Brunk Factor (5) again because of Cockburn. This overtime loss had a similar theme. Just one rebound would have made a difference. This was a terrific game, and Brunk could have tipped the scales.
• Feb. 12 – Lost at Ohio State 78-59 as a 7-point underdog: Brunk Factor (1), because this second-only blowout loss of the season wouldn't have mattered.
• Feb. 20 – Lost at home to Michigan State 78-71 as a 7-point favorite: Brunk Factor (3), which might seem low, but Jackson-Davis and Thompson were terrific that day, scoring 34 and 15 points respectively. The difference, again, would have chiding his teammates on the perimeter for not matching the Spartans' energy in that 52-point second half.
• Feb. 24 – Lost at Rutgers 74-63 as a 3.5-point underdog: Brunk Factor (2) is low, only because this was on the perimeter guys again, getting lost in transition and allowing Rutgers to go on a 57-22 run. This was another no-show game for Indiana's guards. This was Thompson's first game with the broken nose, and he wasn't much of a factor.
• Feb. 27 – Lost at home to Michigan 73-57 as a 7.5-point underdog: Brunk Factor (1), because Michigan is that good and the Hoosiers aren't at that talent level. This is a loss regardless.
• March 2 – Lost at Michigan State 64-58 as a 3.5-point underdog: Brunk Factor (5) because this was a one-possession game right up until the final minute and Thompson was not himself, especially after taking another shot to the face. There were a ridiculous amount of fouls called (45) in this game, and every fresh body would have helped. He also could have helped keeping his best friend, Jackson-Davis, calmer through it all. Maybe that bench blowup doesn't happen if he's around.
• March 6 – Lost at Purdue 67-58 as a 6-point underdog: Brunk Factor (4) because 7-foot-4 Zach Edey is starting to come into his own. He scored 20 points and was a factor down the stretch when he was often guarded by 6-foot-5 Jordan Geronimo and 6-foot-4 Trey Galloway. Brunk's big body was missed that much, and it's only not a five because Purdue is, sadly, just better right now.

By my count, Indiana was a favorite in five of their 14 losses, so it's easy to look at those games as winnable – even without Joey Brunk. Does a 17-9 record sound a lot better heading into the Big Ten Tournament? Does 11-8 in the Big Ten sound better than 7-12? Does a six seed sound better than a 10 seed?

Of course it does.

And when you look at my "Brunk Factor," he certainly would have impacted a minimum of eight of those 14 losses. In a perfect world, that's 20-6, and they're a top-four seed in the Big Ten and a top-15 team nationally.

This is a massive presumption on my part of course, because it projects that that everything goes perfect when Brunk is part of the mix. That's a fallacy. Joey is a great kid and a good player, but we're not talking about LeBron James here. But the Big Ten was loaded with great big men this year – Michigan's Hunter Dickinson, Illinois' Kofi Cockburn, Iowa's Luka Garza and so many more – and Indiana's one lone center couldn't play a single minute.

Still, it's very clear that Brunk has been missed. Others argue that maybe Miller's shaky job status wouldn't be there if they would have won two or three more games, which is probably the more accurate impact that Brunk's absence has had. Certainly, he would have made a difference, both on the floor and in the locker room, where he commands a lot of respect. And he would taken a lot of the physical wear and tear off of Jackson-Davis, Indiana's best player who has taken a beating this year.

Would it have calmed the angst among the fan base? Probably not, because I doubt anyone would be happy if Indiana was 14-12 or 15-11, either.

 What's next for Joey Brunk?

Senior Day came and went at Indiana a couple of weekends ago. Guard Al Durham and walk-on Cooper Bybee participated in the muted ceremony, but Joey Brunk, who's a few weeks away from earning his second degree, did not.

He wasn't ready. Not yet, anyway

"The Senior Day, those were conversations I had with the staff, and I chose not to participate,'' Brunk said last week when asked about it. "One, because it felt like if I participated, it would feel like closure for myself and my decision wasn't really set in stone yet. And that day was about Al and Cooper, and I wanted to celebrate them and what they've done for Indiana.''

This entire season has been hard for him to deal with, both physically and emotionally, and there's probably a lot of him that doesn't want to go out this way.

"It's definitely been a frustrating deal, trying to work my way back into practice. It's not ideal when you see your guys practice and compete every day and you can't be out there,'' he said. ''Overall, I have a real appreciation for being healthy even deeper. I've never had nothing more than a sprained ankle before. I've just been trying to make the most out of this and grow as a person.''

Decisions on his future will come after the season. There's a lot to still be determined, both on the court and in the classroom. Brunk, who has an undergraduate degree from Butler and a master's degree on the way from Indiana, will be 24 years old in November. 

"As far as next year goes, I've thought a little bit about it and it's a conversation I'll have with Coach Miller and the staff this spring,'' Brunk said. "When the timing is right, I'll have those conversations, but for now, I just want to knock out my rehab every day. I've had incredible medical help since I've been here with Dr. (Larry) Rink and Timmy G (Tim Garl, Indiana's head athletic trainer.)

"Academically, things might be trending in that direction. I'll finish my master's this spring, so I'll have to figure out a program academically. That's another conversation to have this spring. It definitely provides some influence on my decision. A third degree is a pretty meaningful thing, and it's something I'll have to talk over with my mom (Helen) and brother (Johnny) when the time comes.''

One thing is for sure. His basketball days are not over. Not by a longshot

I want to keep playing basketball for the foreseeable future,'' he said.

VIDEO: Watch the complete Joey Brunk interview

Indiana senior center Joey Brunk met with the media in early March for the first time all season, and talked about the disk injury in his back, his struggles in trying to get healthy and the decision behind having surgery.

You can watch the entire 11-minute interview here. CLICK HERE