Indiana University Athletics
Basketball Lesson Learned – Perimeter Emphasis Pays Off for Hoosiers
6/20/2024 3:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Guards rule college basketball, and Mike Woodson is all in. Indiana's head coach wants backcourt depth, quality depth, difference-making depth. He wants enough good guards that no matter how many injuries happen, or foul troubles occur or issues surface, the Hoosiers will be in game-winning, title-winning shape.
Five months before the season starts, early into summer workouts, a time when optimism is forever high, this much we know:
Mission accomplished. IU is flush with quality guards as it hasn't been under Woodson, as it hasn't been since, well, a long time.
Myles Rice arrived from Washington State. Kanaan Carlyle came from Stanford. Jakai Newton is finally healthy after missing last season with injuries. Veteran's Anthony Leal and Gabe Cupps are back. Veteran Trey Galloway will be back after recovering from knee surgery.
It's a promising group designed to run the fast-paced offense and pressure defense Woodson prefers.
"You win with good guard play," he says. "It's great to have big guys that can play and do the things that we've had over the last three years with our bigs (think Trayce Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson, Kel'el Ware, and Malik Reneau) that we've coached, but you win with perimeter and guard play, good guard play."
Woodson thought he had it last season with Xavier Johnson and Galloway leading the backcourt way. The original plan included Jalen Hood-Schifino, but that changed when Hood-Schifino played his way into NBA lottery pick consideration after a standout freshman season.
Without Hood-Schifino and, for much of the season, the oft-injured Johnson, IU had backcourt vulnerability it never overcame en route to a 19-14 record. It missed the NCAA tourney after making it during Woodson's first two Hoosier seasons.
Cupps, a freshman, had to play more than planned. He played in all 33 games, starting 22, and averaged 2.6 points with 22 steals. Galloway battled late-season injuries and finished with a career-high 10.6 average, leading the team with 36 steals and totaling a team-high 143 assists against 66 turnovers.
"I didn't come into the season thinking that I was going to start and play Gabe the minutes that he played, not that he didn't deserve it and not that he didn't hold his own," Woodson says. "I thought Gabe had a hell of a freshman year.
"But we really counted on Xavier to be back after all his injuries; we just thought we had him back and it crushed us. We never really rebounded from when we were playing catch up, where we had to mix and match and try to make (Galloway) a point guard. Gallo did a hell of a job for us and grew in that area, being able to handle the ball and make plays for not only himself, but for his teammates.
"I didn't want to get caught in that position again. I didn't think we had to after we saw guys in the portal that we liked. Once we got involved, they seem to like us, and now they're wearing the Indiana uniform.
"We had to really amp up our backcourt and get better. We've done that."
Plenty of basketball experts agree. Rice and Carlyle rate among the nation's best transfer portal backcourt additions.
The 6-3 Rice made the national freshman All-America team last season after averaging 14.8 points, 3.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals. He scored as many as 35 points and had 13 games with at least five assists. He shot 81.1% from the free throw line and 43.9% from the field. More impressively, he helped Washington State reach the NCAA tourney for the first time in 16 seasons.
The 6-3 Carlyle made the All-Pac 12 freshman team after averaging 11.5 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.7 rebounds.
"They are capable of making plays off the bounce," Woodson says. "They're capable of making plays for their teammates; and they're capable of putting the ball in the hole."
Both have three years of college eligibility remaining, although in this era of the NIL, the transfer portal and NBA opportunity, nothing is guaranteed.
"They're young players," Woodson says. "If things don't go big and according to plan -- all these guys' dreams are playing in the NBA -- and if that doesn't happen, then hopefully you got them back for another year or two. That's kind of how we approached that when we stepped out to recruit these guys."
As far as what he wants in guard play, Woodson refers to his days coaching the New York Knicks, when he had guards such as Jason Kidd, Raymond Felton, and Pablo Prigioni.
"I tried to build our team around how I played a little bit in New York," he says. "We had guys who could create, make plays not only for themselves, but for their teammates. That was one of the things when we sat down after the season in terms of evaluating players that entered the portal, that was going to be an emphasis on players that we brought here from a perimeter standpoint."
IU needs extended beyond the perimeter. With Ware off to the NBA draft, Woodson and his staff targeted inside compliments to returning forwards Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako. They brought in transfer big men Oumar Bello of Arizona and Langdon Hatton of Bellarmine, and versatile forward Luke Goode from Illinois. They also signed one of the nation's best freshmen in forward Bryson Tucker from Maryland.
That's six new players to acclimate to Hoosier players and Woodson's style of play, a massive roster turnover typical with all the recent changes in college athletics.
"We had no choice," Woodson says. "We had guys that left; we had guys that graduated. That's the new norm now. I'm pleased with the guys that we've brought in. I've got to put it to work now to get them ready to play."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Guards rule college basketball, and Mike Woodson is all in. Indiana's head coach wants backcourt depth, quality depth, difference-making depth. He wants enough good guards that no matter how many injuries happen, or foul troubles occur or issues surface, the Hoosiers will be in game-winning, title-winning shape.
Five months before the season starts, early into summer workouts, a time when optimism is forever high, this much we know:
Mission accomplished. IU is flush with quality guards as it hasn't been under Woodson, as it hasn't been since, well, a long time.
Myles Rice arrived from Washington State. Kanaan Carlyle came from Stanford. Jakai Newton is finally healthy after missing last season with injuries. Veteran's Anthony Leal and Gabe Cupps are back. Veteran Trey Galloway will be back after recovering from knee surgery.
It's a promising group designed to run the fast-paced offense and pressure defense Woodson prefers.
"You win with good guard play," he says. "It's great to have big guys that can play and do the things that we've had over the last three years with our bigs (think Trayce Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson, Kel'el Ware, and Malik Reneau) that we've coached, but you win with perimeter and guard play, good guard play."
Woodson thought he had it last season with Xavier Johnson and Galloway leading the backcourt way. The original plan included Jalen Hood-Schifino, but that changed when Hood-Schifino played his way into NBA lottery pick consideration after a standout freshman season.
Without Hood-Schifino and, for much of the season, the oft-injured Johnson, IU had backcourt vulnerability it never overcame en route to a 19-14 record. It missed the NCAA tourney after making it during Woodson's first two Hoosier seasons.
Cupps, a freshman, had to play more than planned. He played in all 33 games, starting 22, and averaged 2.6 points with 22 steals. Galloway battled late-season injuries and finished with a career-high 10.6 average, leading the team with 36 steals and totaling a team-high 143 assists against 66 turnovers.
"I didn't come into the season thinking that I was going to start and play Gabe the minutes that he played, not that he didn't deserve it and not that he didn't hold his own," Woodson says. "I thought Gabe had a hell of a freshman year.
"But we really counted on Xavier to be back after all his injuries; we just thought we had him back and it crushed us. We never really rebounded from when we were playing catch up, where we had to mix and match and try to make (Galloway) a point guard. Gallo did a hell of a job for us and grew in that area, being able to handle the ball and make plays for not only himself, but for his teammates.
"I didn't want to get caught in that position again. I didn't think we had to after we saw guys in the portal that we liked. Once we got involved, they seem to like us, and now they're wearing the Indiana uniform.
"We had to really amp up our backcourt and get better. We've done that."
Plenty of basketball experts agree. Rice and Carlyle rate among the nation's best transfer portal backcourt additions.
The 6-3 Rice made the national freshman All-America team last season after averaging 14.8 points, 3.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals. He scored as many as 35 points and had 13 games with at least five assists. He shot 81.1% from the free throw line and 43.9% from the field. More impressively, he helped Washington State reach the NCAA tourney for the first time in 16 seasons.
The 6-3 Carlyle made the All-Pac 12 freshman team after averaging 11.5 points, 2.7 assists, and 2.7 rebounds.
"They are capable of making plays off the bounce," Woodson says. "They're capable of making plays for their teammates; and they're capable of putting the ball in the hole."
Both have three years of college eligibility remaining, although in this era of the NIL, the transfer portal and NBA opportunity, nothing is guaranteed.
"They're young players," Woodson says. "If things don't go big and according to plan -- all these guys' dreams are playing in the NBA -- and if that doesn't happen, then hopefully you got them back for another year or two. That's kind of how we approached that when we stepped out to recruit these guys."
As far as what he wants in guard play, Woodson refers to his days coaching the New York Knicks, when he had guards such as Jason Kidd, Raymond Felton, and Pablo Prigioni.
"I tried to build our team around how I played a little bit in New York," he says. "We had guys who could create, make plays not only for themselves, but for their teammates. That was one of the things when we sat down after the season in terms of evaluating players that entered the portal, that was going to be an emphasis on players that we brought here from a perimeter standpoint."
IU needs extended beyond the perimeter. With Ware off to the NBA draft, Woodson and his staff targeted inside compliments to returning forwards Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako. They brought in transfer big men Oumar Bello of Arizona and Langdon Hatton of Bellarmine, and versatile forward Luke Goode from Illinois. They also signed one of the nation's best freshmen in forward Bryson Tucker from Maryland.
That's six new players to acclimate to Hoosier players and Woodson's style of play, a massive roster turnover typical with all the recent changes in college athletics.
"We had no choice," Woodson says. "We had guys that left; we had guys that graduated. That's the new norm now. I'm pleased with the guys that we've brought in. I've got to put it to work now to get them ready to play."
Players Mentioned
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Center
/ Men's BasketballWednesday, August 19
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, August 19
Wednesday, August 19