With Indiana’s offseason roster changes behind us, we bring back our annual tradition of taking a closer look at the players expected to return to the program.
Next up is Trey Galloway, who is training for his third year with IU basketball.
THE 2021-22 NUMBERS
Galloway missed 15 games due to two different injuries — a fractured wrist suffered against St. John’s in November, and a groin issue that arose in February.
Overall he played in 20 of 35 contests and started three times.
The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 20.8 minutes per game and shot 46.4 percent from the field and 65 percent from the free throw line. Galloway averaged 5.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists and .9 steals per contest.
WHAT WENT WELL
Galloway was very good for a guard from 2-point range, making 56.5 percent of his attempts despite defenses generally conceding the 3-point line. He had to earn everything inside-the-arc, and his craftiness in the paint with an array of floaters, reverses and baby hooks, is high end.
Galloway is a versatile guard. While not a true point, he has above average ball-handling skills and good court vision. Defensively he can guard multiple spots, making him an asset in a system that emphasizes switching.
The Culver, Ind. product emerged as a tough, physical defender in his second season with the program. He moves well laterally, has built a reputation for blasting through ball screens, and Galloway showed great instincts in passing lanes. He was tied with the highest steal rate on the team. Most telling of all — when he was healthy, Galloway was often part of head coach Mike Woodson’s lineup to close out games.
Galloway proved to be a sparkplug for Indiana as well. He played a major role in the two games that marked his return from injury — at home against Ohio State, and vs. Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament — and IU won both contests. When the starting lineup struggled, Galloway was often part of the solution.
OFFSEASON DEVELOPMENTAL NEEDS
1. The perimeter shot. It’s the elephant in the room for Galloway, who shot 21.4 percent from three this past season after making just 18.2 percent from long range as a freshman. For his career he is just 12-of-61 from behind-the-arc. If you are looking for signs of encouragement, he made 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) to start his sophomore season, and more impressive, 42.9 percent during his last AAU summer on the Adidas circuit. Galloway doesn’t need to be dominant or high-volume from three, but he needs to get to around 35 percent to help keep the floor spread.
2. Stay on the court. Whether due to fouls or injuries, Galloway has had a hard time maintaining his spot in the rotation. His 3.8 fouls per 40 minutes kept him off the court at times in 2021-22. He had four or more fouls five times in his 20 games. Of course he also suffered the two injuries, something that was part of the story his freshman season and throughout his high school career and likely factors into his shooting struggles. Much of the injury and fouling challenge relates to his aggressive style — something you wouldn’t want to dial-back too much. But the staff does want him to prepare his body to avoid issues like the groin strain.
3. Clean up the miscues. Galloway’s style can also lead to mistakes when he has the ball. He posted a 22.8 percent turnover rate, highest among the team’s regular rotation guards. And he had the exact same rate a year earlier. Again, some of these mistakes you just have to live with, because Galloway delivers more pros than cons with his aggressive nature. And there is a connection to the shooting struggles, as he spends an inordinate amount of time operating on the move, in traffic — where mistakes happen. But now with a couple years under his belt, Galloway needs to clean up the miscues.
WHAT SUCCESS LOOK LIKE IN 2022-23
With Parker Stewart and Rob Phinisee gone via the transfer portal, there is a clear path to Galloway earning a spot in the starting lineup. But Stewart was there because of his shooting ability, and it seems unlikely Woodson will plug in a suspect shooter at the two or three positions. So again, Galloway will need to show the staff he can make open threes at a high enough rate to keep defenses honest.
The good news for Galloway is that he is trying to hold off two players who are in the same boat when it comes to shooting ability. Tamar Bates shot it well in high school but struggled as a freshman, and Jalen Hood-Schifino doesn’t arrive at IU with a reputation as a high-level 3-point shooter.
We go back to the first six minutes of Indiana’s game at Northwestern in February, when Galloway scored nine points, scoring from all three levels on the court in the process. His play in that game was enough for Woodson to make his lone starting lineup change of the season.
Galloway has that kind of offensive ability, but he’ll have to demonstrate it consistently to hold off a couple of borderline 5-stars. Already a defensive star and high-energy guy, it would be hard for Woodson to keep Galloway off the floor if he finds a versatile scoring rhythm.
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