Indiana University Athletics
DIPRIMIO: No Backing Down For Improving Geronimo
1/24/2021 9:56:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By: Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Jordan Geronimo isn't about to back down, not from the challenge of meeting his own enormous potential or that of going against elite college players.
We saw that Thursday night at Iowa.
We might see more of it Sunday against Rutgers, and the rest of the season.
"Coming into the Big Ten and trying to make a name for myself was a harder task than I expected," Indiana's freshman forward says. "But I'm taking on that task. I'm doing better."
Is he ever.
Geronimo had a huge second-half role in the upset victory over No. 4 Iowa. With standout Trayce Jackson-Davis sidelined with four fouls late in the second half, with fellow forward Race Thompson facing similar foul limitations, with victory there for the taking, somebody had to go against 6-11, 265-pound Hawkeye superstar Luka Garza.
Coach Archie Miller put that challenge on the 6-6, 220-pound Geronimo, and all he did was deliver rugged defense -- helping to hold Garza, the favorite to win national player of the year honors, to 10-for-22 shooting -- and timely offense, including an inside basket and then a dunk as the Hoosiers rallied for a victory. He finished with a career-high seven points -- huge for a guy who had averaged just five minutes a game in his previous five conference contests. He averages 1.9 points and 1.5 rebounds in 6.8 minutes for the season.
"I knew that one day, once I get my opportunity, I would do my best to live up to that," Geronimo says. "Coming into the game, having to guard Luka Garza, it just fired me up. It gave more me more of that push to meet the job."
This is what coach Archie Miller envisioned when he recruited Geronimo out of New Hampshire's St. Paul's Prep School. He knew it would take time -- Geronimo lacked the elite travel ball background most high-level recruits have -- but the potential was there.
Thursday night proved that.
"I thought that was the best game he's played as an Indiana player," Miller said after the game. "His contribution was awesome in terms of how he brought energy, how physical he was."
Or, as Jackson-Davis puts it, "He did a really good job guarding one of the best players in the country. That's hard to do, and doing it as a freshman."
Geronimo is working to accelerate his development. It helps to have what teammates call "freakish" physical ability, including a 42-inch vertical jump.
"I didn't really have that much basketball experience," he says. "I just started playing AAU basketball in my junior year. Coming from that into Indiana basketball, the pace was a lot different."
Indiana's Iowa victory suggested a breakthrough after a rocky stretch. Miller ramped up the practice intensity and it paid off with perhaps the most impressive victory in his four Hoosier years.
"Practice changed; it got a lot more intense," Geronimo says. "As Coach Miller said, he tried to rebuild the team defensively. We really worked on our fundamentals, to get that back in order."
Mission accomplished.
"The win was really satisfying," Geronimo says. "Taking down the No. 4 team was something that not a lot of people can say, but we did it. And it was a team effort."
The Hoosiers' main challenges on Sunday are sustaining the defensive ferocity that held Iowa to a season-low 69 points, continuing their ball security (averaging just 8.3 turnovers in the last three games) and fixing the free throw shooting.
IU (9-6 overall, 4-4 in Big Ten play) beat Iowa by 12 points despite going just 21-for-35 from the line. Its 65.8 percent free throw shooting ranks 11th in the Big Ten.
Now comes a Rutgers team that has lost its way.
The Scarlet Knights (7-6, 3-6) have lost five straight and six of seven since opening 6-0 (including wins over Syracuse, Maryland and Illinois) and soaring to No. 11 in the AP poll.
They are led by 6-6 swingman Ron Harper Jr. He averages a team-leading 18.6 points, plus shoots at a 41.6-percent clip from 3-point range.
Guard Jacob Young leads Rutgers in assists (4.2 a game) while averaging 15.2 points. Montez Mathis averages 12.2 points while shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range.
Inside muscle comes from 6-11, 255-pound center Myles Johnson, who shoots 61.3 percent from the field, but just 38.2 percent from the line. Backup Cliff Omoruyi, a highly touted 6-11 freshman, shoots 62.5 percent from the field.
Rutgers is last in the Big Ten in free throw shootings, at 55.2 percent.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Jordan Geronimo isn't about to back down, not from the challenge of meeting his own enormous potential or that of going against elite college players.
We saw that Thursday night at Iowa.
We might see more of it Sunday against Rutgers, and the rest of the season.
"Coming into the Big Ten and trying to make a name for myself was a harder task than I expected," Indiana's freshman forward says. "But I'm taking on that task. I'm doing better."
Is he ever.
Geronimo had a huge second-half role in the upset victory over No. 4 Iowa. With standout Trayce Jackson-Davis sidelined with four fouls late in the second half, with fellow forward Race Thompson facing similar foul limitations, with victory there for the taking, somebody had to go against 6-11, 265-pound Hawkeye superstar Luka Garza.
Coach Archie Miller put that challenge on the 6-6, 220-pound Geronimo, and all he did was deliver rugged defense -- helping to hold Garza, the favorite to win national player of the year honors, to 10-for-22 shooting -- and timely offense, including an inside basket and then a dunk as the Hoosiers rallied for a victory. He finished with a career-high seven points -- huge for a guy who had averaged just five minutes a game in his previous five conference contests. He averages 1.9 points and 1.5 rebounds in 6.8 minutes for the season.
"I knew that one day, once I get my opportunity, I would do my best to live up to that," Geronimo says. "Coming into the game, having to guard Luka Garza, it just fired me up. It gave more me more of that push to meet the job."
This is what coach Archie Miller envisioned when he recruited Geronimo out of New Hampshire's St. Paul's Prep School. He knew it would take time -- Geronimo lacked the elite travel ball background most high-level recruits have -- but the potential was there.
Thursday night proved that.
"I thought that was the best game he's played as an Indiana player," Miller said after the game. "His contribution was awesome in terms of how he brought energy, how physical he was."
Or, as Jackson-Davis puts it, "He did a really good job guarding one of the best players in the country. That's hard to do, and doing it as a freshman."
Geronimo is working to accelerate his development. It helps to have what teammates call "freakish" physical ability, including a 42-inch vertical jump.
"I didn't really have that much basketball experience," he says. "I just started playing AAU basketball in my junior year. Coming from that into Indiana basketball, the pace was a lot different."
Indiana's Iowa victory suggested a breakthrough after a rocky stretch. Miller ramped up the practice intensity and it paid off with perhaps the most impressive victory in his four Hoosier years.
"Practice changed; it got a lot more intense," Geronimo says. "As Coach Miller said, he tried to rebuild the team defensively. We really worked on our fundamentals, to get that back in order."
Mission accomplished.
"The win was really satisfying," Geronimo says. "Taking down the No. 4 team was something that not a lot of people can say, but we did it. And it was a team effort."
The Hoosiers' main challenges on Sunday are sustaining the defensive ferocity that held Iowa to a season-low 69 points, continuing their ball security (averaging just 8.3 turnovers in the last three games) and fixing the free throw shooting.
IU (9-6 overall, 4-4 in Big Ten play) beat Iowa by 12 points despite going just 21-for-35 from the line. Its 65.8 percent free throw shooting ranks 11th in the Big Ten.
Now comes a Rutgers team that has lost its way.
The Scarlet Knights (7-6, 3-6) have lost five straight and six of seven since opening 6-0 (including wins over Syracuse, Maryland and Illinois) and soaring to No. 11 in the AP poll.
They are led by 6-6 swingman Ron Harper Jr. He averages a team-leading 18.6 points, plus shoots at a 41.6-percent clip from 3-point range.
Guard Jacob Young leads Rutgers in assists (4.2 a game) while averaging 15.2 points. Montez Mathis averages 12.2 points while shooting 37.8 percent from three-point range.
Inside muscle comes from 6-11, 255-pound center Myles Johnson, who shoots 61.3 percent from the field, but just 38.2 percent from the line. Backup Cliff Omoruyi, a highly touted 6-11 freshman, shoots 62.5 percent from the field.
Rutgers is last in the Big Ten in free throw shootings, at 55.2 percent.
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