Indiana guards Trey Galloway and Jakai Newton both sat out of the team’s public scrimmage at Hoosier Hysteria last weekend in Bloomington.
That didn’t come as a surprise to anyone, as both players continue to rehab from injuries heading into the 2024-25 campaign.
But both Galloway and Newton are playing full contact basketball behind the scenes. And that obviously means both are close to having the remaining restrictions on their availability lifted.
IU coach Mike Woodson has said repeatedly over the last few months the program is in no hurry to rush either player back from their respective knee injuries. But on Friday via Zoom he said both Galloway and Newton played in the team’s most recent private scrimmage after Hoosier Hysteria.
And while that doesn’t necessarily mean you should expect to see either player on Sunday when the Hoosiers face Tennessee in an exhibition, the early returns sound promising.
“A day ago we scrimmaged and they both played a little bit, their minutes were limited, and I thought they both played well,” Woodson said. “We kind of have been slow-walking them back because it is a long season. They have not fully recovered. They might tell you guys that but that’s the whole reason why we are being very cautious in terms of how we are approaching their practices not trying to kill them because they’re not fully ready yet.”
Both Galloway and Newton played meaningful minutes in that most recent scrimmage. Enough to help provide insight into how close to ready each player is for the start of the regular season on Nov. 6.
“I thought in the scrimmage the other day, both played well for the minutes that they played, and we played them 15-18 minutes apiece,” Woodson said. “So that was promising moving forward.”
Galloway, a fifth-year senior, had knee surgery in the spring. He suffered an injury in the final week of the 2023-24 regular season. He had to leave his Senior Day game against Michigan State in March. Newton, on the other hand, has been dealing with a knee injury that dates back to 2022 and required multiple procedures.
Woodson said he wants to win the exhibition at Tennessee on Sunday, but acknowledges the game is also an opportunity to evaluate the progress his team has made over the summer.
Whether or not that means we’ll get a chance to see the progress Galloway and Newton have made in their rehabs remains to be seen.
“We were off yesterday (Thursday), I have to gauge it today to see where they are,” Woodson said on Friday. “I can’t answer that question to see if they’re going to play on Sunday. Tim (Garl) and our medical staff will kind of lead me in that direction.
“We’re in communication with both of these guys in terms of how they’re feeling each and every day. And they’re not going every day. So it’s kind of hard to throw them in the game and say ‘let’s go play 25-30 minutes.’ So I don’t know, we’ll see in the next couple days and gauge it from there.”
Indiana and Tennessee play at 3 p.m. ET Sunday in Knoxville. The game will be streamed on SEC Network+ and ESPN Plus. The charity exhibition supports the John McLendon Foundation.
For complete coverage of IU basketball, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Find us on Facebook and Instagram
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
