March 7, 2024 was a day that felt like the point of no return for former IU basketball head coach Mike Woodson.
That’s the day coveted 5-star signee Liam McNeeley announced he had asked out of his national letter of intent with Indiana and was reopening his college recruitment.
With the benefit of hindsight, it probably wasn’t a coincidence Indiana leaked a day earlier that Woodson would be returning for the 2024-25 campaign. It was probably not a coincidence that IU was getting out in front of the McNeeley news, and probably not a coincidence that McNeeley was reacting to IU’s plan.
McNeeley’s Indiana commitment in October of 2023 appeared to be the continuation of an impressive run of recruiting success for Woodson. When McNeeley committed, that gave Woodson 5 of Indiana’s top-11 highest-rated recruits since 2004. He had also landed from the high school ranks Tamar Bates, who might get drafted tonight, Jalen Hood-Schifino, who was drafted in 2023, Mackenzie Mgbako, and Malik Reneau.
But it was the 2023-24 season, sandwiched by McNeeley’s verbal pledge and his decommitment, when the wheels really started to fall off the Woodson era, both on the court and in the recruiting world.
The parent of one former Indiana target told TDH late last year that NBA agents, scouts and personnel were actively nudging prospects away from IU, primarily because of concerns about the way they would be developed, and the on the court strategies being utilized by Woodson.
Moreover, prospects, their families, and the people advising them weren’t connecting with Woodson on a personal level, and even though in some cases IU was the preferred destination, top talent chose to go elsewhere.
And now Wednesday evening, the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft, served as a stark reminder of what could have been in Bloomington.
Including McNeeley, four of the 30 players chosen in the first round took official visits to IU in 2023: Dylan Harper, the No. 2 overall pick, Derik Queen, the No. 13 pick, Asa Newell, the No. 23 pick, and McNeeley went at No. 29.
At various points in their recruitments, all four seemed to have more than a passing interest in IU. McNeeley and Queen both took multiple visits to Bloomington, and seemed like a likely package deal for a long time. But then everything fell apart.
None of them chose IU of course, and now for the first time in a few years, no IU players will be chosen in this year’s draft.
It was Woodson’s NBA pedigree, both as a player and as a long-time professional coach, that initially intrigued these four, along with most of Indiana’s prominent recruiting targets.
“He knows the NBA and that’s where I want to be,” was a common refrain heard on the recruiting trail when talking to prospects about Woodson early in his IU coaching tenure.
As it turned out, the NBA is what began to work against Woodson. And the players he missed on as recruits made it to the league without him, while Woodson is now back there as an assistant with Sacramento.
During a recent conversation with one of Woodson’s former IU staff members, it was suggested being back on an NBA bench is his sweet spot.
So in a way, it worked out for everyone involved — with plenty of turbulence along the way.
And now we move on.
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