Can he recruit?
As they say, the numbers don’t lie.
With the late addition of forward Mackenzie Mgbako, IU coach Mike Woodson has secured a national top-20 recruiting class for the second year in a row.
Overall, the IU basketball 2023 recruiting class now ranks No. 15 in the country according to the On3 industry average, which takes into accounting their own rankings along with 247Sports, Rivals and ESPN to form a consensus view.
The Indiana On3 industry average computes to the third best class in the Big Ten for 2023, trailing just Michigan State and Ohio State.
A year ago IU’s class ranked No. 17 according to the On3 industry average, with the No. 4 class in the Big Ten.
Below is a recap of where each of Indiana’s three commits in the 2023 class ended up across the various national outlets. The On3 industry average is next to their name, with each outlet’s own rankings below.
Mackenzie Mgbako, 6-foot-8 combo forward, 5-star, No. 12
- On3 – 4-star, No. 15
- 247Sports – 5-star, No. 10
- Rivals – 5-star, No. 8
- ESPN – 5-star, No. 9
Mgbako is Indiana’s highest-rated recruit since Romeo Langford came to Bloomington in the class of 2018. The New Jersey product is currently the second highest rated IU recruit all-time during the rankings era according to the 247Sports database.
Gabe Cupps, 6-foot-2 point guard, 4-star, No. 101
- On3 – 4-star, No. 109
- 247Sports – 4-star, No. 123
- Rivals – 4-star, No. 117
- ESPN – 4-star, No. 78
Cupps has been ranked right around the No. 100 mark consistently since he entered the rankings. The Ohio native gives Woodson a much needed true point guard of the future.
Jakai Newton, 6-foot-4 combo guard, 4-star, No. 123
- On3 – 3-star, not ranked
- 247Sports – 4-star, No. 119
- Rivals – 4-star, No. 70
- ESPN – 4-star, not ranked
Newton was injured for most of his summer prior to his senior year, along with the majority of his 2022-23 campaign. The Georgia native dropped in the rankings as a result, but he’ll arrive at IU healthy and ready to contribute.
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