IU basketball recruiting: Class of 2022 names to know — Evan Mahaffey

Our “Names to Know” series provides a quick look at IU basketball recruiting targets as their names emerge on the trail.

Indiana is looking to familiar programs for one of its more recent class of 2022 recruiting interests.

Cincinnati, Ohio based wing Evan Mahaffey hails from both a high school and an AAU program that has delivered talent to Bloomington in recent years.

Indiana is showing interest in the 6-foot-6 Mahaffey as first reported by Jason Stamm of Bearcat Report.

Mahaffey is a teammate of IU class of 2021 commit Logan Duncomb at Moeller High School.

Before having to sit the second half of the season due to OHSAA transfer rules, Mahaffey came off the bench in the early portion of last season for the 26-1 and defending state champion Crusaders . As a freshman, Mahaffey played at Northwest where he averaged 6.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2 assists per game. There he made the starting lineup midway through the year.

Mahaffey is young for his class and it is fair to consider him a raw prospect with a lot of potential.

With great length and versatility, Mahaffey has all of the intangibles to become a productive high major player.

The Daily Hoosier has watched Mahaffey play multiple times this summer, and what stands out is his potential to play multiple positions.

Running with Indiana Elite’s top class of 2022 squad, Mahaffey has the ball handling skills to makes plays off the bounce, and defensively he has the length and lateral quickness to guard the two through four spots. He also can be impactful in shorter spurts defending primary ball handlers. Mahaffey is also a good passer.

Based on what we’ve seen to this point, Mahaffey doesn’t look for his shot on the perimeter. Right now he does most of his damage on the offensive end attacking off the dribble and scoring in transition. Mahaffey will need to show the ability to score consistently from the perimeter if he wants to see his high major offer list grow substantially.

Indiana Elite is the same AAU program that brought Duncomb to IU, along with Anthony Leal, Trey Galloway, Khristian Lander and many others through the years.

Mahaffey entered the national rankings for the first time recently, landing at No. 143 at 247Sports for the class of 2022.

Mahaffey holds offers from Cincinnati, Miami (Ohio) and Western Carolina to this point. Illinois, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, and Xavier are some of the other high majors that have been in contact according to his recruiting service profiles.