Indiana appears to be a legitimate contender for one of the hottest names in the transfer portal — former North Carolina guard Caleb Love.
247Sports national analyst Eric Bossi said on Friday Love could decide to play his senior season closer to home, and he named Indiana as a possible destination.
“A native of St. Louis, early word behind the scenes is that Love is likely to end up back closer to home. So, keep an eye on programs in the Midwest like Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and potentially a few others,” Bossi wrote.
Love averaged 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game as a junior in Chapel Hill.
The 6-foot-4 Love played an instrumental role in North Carolina’s 2022 run to the national championship game, but he has struggled with inefficiency throughout his career. He averaged 18.8 points in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, and his three highest scoring games of the season came in the NCAA Tourney (30 vs. UCLA, 28 vs. Duke, 23 vs. Marquette). Love earned All-Final Four and All-East Regional honors.
For his three-year college career, Love has made 39.7 percent of his two-point shots and 31.7 percent from three. Those percentages come along with high usage (25.7 percent, No. 286 nationally in 2022-23) and percentage of his team’s shots (28.4 percent, No. 158). Love is a career 81.5 percent free throw shooter. He improved his turnover rate from 24.6 percent as a freshman to 15.2 percent this season.
Against Indiana at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in November, Love scored 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
You may recall Love as an Indiana recruiting target starting back in 2018. He came to Bloomington on an official visit in September, 2019, and Love had IU among his six finalists, along with Missouri, Kansas, North Carolina, Louisville and Arizona.
As a high school prospect in the class of 2020, Love was a 5-star recruit, and the No. 14 overall player in the class according to the 247Sports Composite. He attended Christian Brothers H.S.
Love was selected to play in the 2020 McDonald’s All-American Game, Jordan Brand Classic, Iverson Classic and Nike Hoop Summit.
Love has two years of eligibility remaining.
For a complete recap of Indiana’s offseason roster activity, portal prospects, and Big Ten roster updates, GO HERE:
IU basketball/Big Ten roster tracker: departures, additions and prospects (updated 6/9)
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