IU basketball transfer portal names to know — Ball State’s Payton Sparks

Ball State transfer forward Payton Sparks is visiting Indiana on Monday.

The Winchester, Ind. product confirmed multiple reports of his Bloomington visit with The Daily Hoosier.

The 6-foot-9, and 240-pound Sparks averaged 13.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists in his sophomore season in Muncie. He earned second team All-MAC Conference.

Sparks shot 58.8 percent from the field overall including 2-of-5 from three-point range. He made 115-of-219 (52.5 percent) from the free throw line. He was third in the country in free throw rate (FTA/FGA), and 16th with 6.8 fouls drawn per 40 minutes.

Sparks also entered the portal a year ago but decided to return and play for new head coach and former IU player Michael Lewis. Indiana took a look at the in-state product both then, and when he was a high school product out of Winchester H.S. Sparks visited IU while in high school.

Sparks told 247Sports’ Dushawn London this time he will leave Ball State.

“I’m definitely making a change this time. Ball State was great and I loved the school, I just think I’m ready for the next jump,” Sparks told London.

Lewis said in a report today Sparks specifically has aspirations to play in the Big Ten.

As a freshman at Ball State, the left-handed post had a team-best 13.5 points per game and 8.5 rebounds per contest in 28 minutes per game. He was named the MAC Conference Freshman of the Year and third-team All-MAC Conference.

For spring and summer AAU basketball, Sparks played for Midwest Basketball Club on the AAU circuit

According to 247Sports Illinois, Dayton, Iowa State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Florida, Arkansas, Seton Hall, Butler, LSU, Georgetown, Missouri, Purdue, Virginia, and Pitt also reached out to Sparks.

Sparks has two years of eligibility remaining.