With a football coaching change and the start of the basketball season, it’s been a minute since we’ve taken a holistic look at where Indiana stands as it relates to the recruiting class of 2024.
But it’s clear the Hoosiers still have open roster spots and positional needs, so there will be plenty to monitor in the coming months.
As you know, IU has one 2024 commit at the moment, and they’ll likely have the roster openings for at least three more players next season, either via high school prospects or the transfer portal.
There have been some positive recent developments for Indiana as it relates to 2024 consensus top-25 prospect Derik Queen. He hasn’t announced a commitment or even a decision date to this point. But there were developments this week that are fair to characterize as favorable for IU. He’s one of the top uncommitted prospects remaining, but we wouldn’t expect his recruitment to go into the spring. As we’ve said in the past, there are important people in his corner who like Indiana. And the development of Trayce Jackson-Davis and now Kel’el Ware and Malik Reneau under Mike Woodson is not insignificant. At some point relatively soon, Queen will announce a decision involving his finalists Indiana, Maryland, Houston and Kansas. Until he announces, IU will keep pushing hard.
As we broke earlier this week, consensus top-15 wing Joson Sanon is visiting Bloomington in a week when the Hoosiers host Kansas at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Jayhawks are also recruiting Sanon, along with UConn and others. So this is clearly going to be a battle involving programs that are hard to beat. But Sanon is a top priority for IU, and there is strong mutual interest. He fits that long wing three-and-D mold this staff wants and needs. Expect IU to do everything they can to land him over the next few months.
Sanon is in the class of 2025 currently, but he’s widely believed to be a 2024 prospect at this point. 2024 was his original class. 2025 consensus top-15 5-star forward Bryson Tiller is also thought to be leaning towards his natural 2024 class. Tiller will also be at the IU vs. Kansas game in a week, along with an impressive group of players in the 2025 and 2026 classes. Tiller is a modern four, so he could work in a class with Liam McNeeley, who can play the the three, and Queen, who can play the five. But obviously the player would have to perceive the fit as well.
If Indiana is able to pair Sanon with current lone 2024 commit Liam McNeeley, they could quickly change the narrative about 3-point shooting. Both are snipers. IU assistant coach Yasir Rosemond was on the radio this week with Don Fischer, and he spoke about McNeeley, a teammate of Derik Queen at Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.).
“We like Florida down there, Florida has been good to us,” Rosemond said. “Liam is an Indiana guy. He’s a guy that’s gonna come in here, he’s going to play hard, he’s gonna have leadership, and he can knock down shots. He has a chip on his shoulder, even though he’s a top-10, top-15 recruit, he still plays with a chip on shoulder and feels like he has a lot to prove. He’s a winner, which is big, and we’re excited about having him. Hopefully he’ll bring one of his teammates here, can’t say his name right now.”
Rosemond says McNeeley is great shooter, but his greatest strength is his basketball IQ. “He knows how to play,” he said. “He can really shoot the ball, but he has a great feel for the game. He can play the one through the four because of his mind. Obviously he’s not a point guard, but you can play him at the two because of his ability to shoot the ball, he talks on defense. He just fits all of the things we look for in a basketball player.”
2024 point guard Daquan Davis is another prospect to keep an eye on. This appears to be a situation where if IU pushes hard they have a good chance to land Davis. Originally a Providence commit, Davis knows Queen and is interested in playing with him as we understand it. Both are from Baltimore and they have played together on summer teams. A 6-foot-1 point guard, Davis plays for the Overtime Elite program where he’s posted 17 points 6.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game over his first two contests against high-end competition. Look for IU to do its diligence. They’ll probably want to see Davis make perimeter shots consistently. Indiana will have needs at guard next year, but it’s reasonable to question how heavily they’ll want to depend on freshmen vs. finding answers in the portal.
Housekeeping notes —
2024 5-star Dylan Harper committed to Rutgers this week, following in the footsteps of his brother Ron, Jr. Believe it or not, the Scarlet Knights have a national top-5 recruiting class in 2024.
Another player in the class of 2025 who is considering a move to 2024 IU has been tied to is guard Darryn Peterson. The consensus top-5 prospect out of Ohio recently signed an endorsement deal with Adidas, a move that has some believing he’ll pick an Adidas school for college. He’s worth monitoring.
For complete coverage of IU basketball recruiting, GO HERE.
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