Mike Woodson has some work to do.
After Kaleb Banks, CJ Gunn, and Payton Sparks all entered the transfer portal, Indiana has six open scholarships for next year’s team. And that number could increase depending on NBA Draft decisions from guys like Kel’el Ware and Mackenzie Mgbako, or any other potential transfer portal entrants.
With no 2024 signees, after Liam McNeeley decommitted, the Hoosiers will have to build up a good portion of their 2024-25 roster from the transfer portal.
It’s not impossible to remake a roster like that, but it’s a difficult challenge.
Knowing the task at hand for IU this offseason, it’s useful to explore some of the teams who relied most heavily on the transfer portal last offseason, and how they fared this year.
Of the five teams who added the most players from the portal last season, only one is playing in the NCAA Tournament — and NC State (seven incoming transfers) needed a miraculous ACC Tournament run to get there. Three of the other four (Penn State, St. John’s, and West Virginia — all with nine incoming transfers) had coaching changes that prompted the heavy portal activity. Memphis led the country with 10 commits last season.
There’s a bigger group of teams (15) who had six transfer portal commits last year. Just four of those teams — Florida, Texas Tech, Utah State, and McNeese State —are playing in March Madness.
16 teams brought in five players from the portal last offseason, and only four of them — Kansas, TCU, Texas, and North Carolina — are in the NCAA Tournament. There were 29 teams with four inbound transfers last season, and though the success rate rises, it’s still not remarkably high. 11 of those 29 teams made the NCAA Tournament, including No. 3 seed Illinois and No. 4 seed Alabama.
So of the 65 teams who added at least four players in the transfer portal last offseason, only 20 made the NCAA Tournament.
And just four of those 20 teams earned a top-four seed. No. 1 seed North Carolina added Cormac Ryan and Harrison Ingram, two key contributors to its strong season. Marcus Domask and Quincy Guerrier both played big roles for Illinois. Hunter Dickinson was one of the biggest names in the portal last year, and his addition proved vital for Kansas this year. And Grant Nelson and Aaron Estrada both averaged double-figure scoring for Alabama this season.
Given how much turnover the Hoosiers are looking at, it would be surprising if they bring in fewer than four players from the transfer portal. That could change if Woodson convinced Gunn, Banks, or Sparks to return, or if he adds a late-cycle high school recruit like he did with Mgbako last year.
But in all likelihood, Indiana will have to be among those teams with the most inbound transfers next season. Woodson will have little to no margin for error in who he brings in from the portal, with so many spots to fill.
This year’s evidence says it’s not impossible to improve and make the NCAA Tournament with that sort of offseason, but the percentages aren’t particularly encouraging.
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