Like the IU coaching staff, in college basketball you always have to be looking forward — even mid-season. Here’s our way too early look at the 2018-19 Indiana men’s basketball roster, including the main open questions, and the projected roster and starters. Further below we’ve provided recent highlight videos for Indiana’s currently signed 2018 class.
MAIN OPEN QUESTIONS
- Will Juwan Morgan go to the NBA? At this point it would seem like at a minimum he will go through the evaluation process. If he can further develop his emerging 3-point shot he would seem likely to go at this point.
- Will Indiana successfully land its final 2018 recruiting target Romeo Langford? That announcement is not anticipated until the spring.
- WIll Zach McRoberts get a scholarship? At this point it is really hard to imagine how he doesn’t play under scholarship next year.
- Will there be any transfers in either direction, including the potential for incoming graduate transfers that could play immediately? A roster is allowed to have 13 scholarship players. Langford would fill the 13th spot if he comes to IU and McRoberts also gets a scholarship. It looks like Indiana could add guard depth if they do not get Langford. The Hoosiers could also use another more traditional post presence.
CURRENT 2018 SCHOLARSHIP ROSTER (PROJECTED STARTERS IN BOLD)
- Al Durham Jr., 6-4 Sophomore Guard
- Devonte Green, 6-3 Junior Guard
- Robert Phinisee, 6-0 Freshman Guard
- Zach McRoberts, 6-6 RS Senior Guard [scholarship?]
- Juwan Morgan, 6-8 Senior Forward [NBA?]
- Justin Smith, 6-7 Sophomore Forward
- De’Ron Davis, 6-10 Junior Forward
- Clifton Moore, 6-10 Sophomore Forward
- Race Thompson, 6-8 RS Freshman Forward
- Jerome Hunter, 6-7 Freshman Forward
- Damezi Anderson, 6-6 Freshman Forward
- Jake Forrester, 6-8 Freshman Forward
EARLY 2018 ROSTER OBSERVATIONS
- As it stands Indiana will only have 4 guards if you include McRoberts who to us plays more like a 3. So IU could potentially be thin at the guard spot if Langford goes elsewhere.
- Length. With 9 players at 6-6 or taller this could be one of Indiana’s longer teams.
- Shooters? Our projected starters puts McRoberts at the 2. While he, along with Morgan and Smith have shown the ability to hit 3-pointers, this would probably be one of IU’s more thin shooting teams in recent years unless the freshmen can fill that void.
- If Morgan goes to the NBA we’d expect IU to go to a smaller lineup with Phinisee likely getting the start.
- Don’t forget about Race. Since he’s already on campus, practicing with the team but technically not part of the 2018 class, the redshirt freshman might easily be overlooked. Archie Miller has specifically highlighted him as someone who has made great improvement over the last few months.
2018 CLASS VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Damezi Anderson
Robert Phinisee
Jerome Hunter
Jake Forrester
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Photo credit – Indiana University