It’s probably no coincidence, Mike Woodson’s best IU basketball team — his second — was his best three-point shooting team.
In three seasons at IU, Woodson has had two teams outside the national top-200 in three-point percentage, and one in the top-40.
Woodson’s second team shot 36.8 percent from three, good for No. 39 in the nation. And that squad finished second in the Big Ten, and earned a No. 4 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Sure, having Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino on that team made a big difference, but Woodson and his staff also relied on long-range perimeter shooting from Miller Kopp (44.4%), Trey Galloway (46.2%), Tamar Bates (37.4%) and Xavier Johnson (37%) to punish opponents for their excessive attention on IU’s two big stars.
After his team struggled to shoot threes in 2023-24, Woodson and his staff looked to the transfer portal to fill the need.
And there waiting was Indiana native Luke Goode, a career 38.8% shooter from beyond the arc.
Already this summer, Woodson says Goode has been flashing his ability to knock down the long ball.
“He fits that bill, he can shoot the basketball,” Woodson told WANE 15’s Glenn Marini at an event in Fort Wayne last week. “We’ve been together for two weeks for summer work, and he’s shown he can make shots. And that was a big reason why he was high on our board when we started the portal process. I’m just happy that he decided to come and wear an Indiana uniform this season.”
Since Woodson arrived at IU, he’s played a lineup that primarily featured two big men who did most of their scoring in the paint.
First it was Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson, and then last year it was NBA-bound Kel’el Ware along with Malik Reneau.
Reneau is fully expected to be in the starting lineup this coming season alongside Arizona transfer 7-footer Oumar Ballo. So “buddy ball” as Woodson has called it, is not a thing of the past.
But he said last month at an alumni event in Southern Indiana, he does believe he’s got a roster this year that will provide for better floor spacing with more shooters on the court.
And he said Goode is part of the reason why.
“Just like I played in New York, I just haven’t been able to get there (better floor spacing),” Woodson said. “And I think we can this year based on what we’ve brought in. We can play smaller a little bit with Mack (Mgbako) and (Luke) Goode probably playing some four (power forward).”
Perhaps along with Mgbako and others, Goode will help Woodson crack the code of increasing his team’s 3-point shooting volume. That’s a measure IU has ranked outside the national top-300 in each of the last three seasons, and it has played a major role in the lack of floor spacing — even in the year the Hoosiers shot the ball well.
The Daily Hoosier spoke to Goode after he committed to Indiana, and he said the message from the IU staff was similar to what Woodson described last month.
“They can play small-ball, move Malik to the five, me and Mackenzie (Mgbako) can play together and do a lot of stuff because he’s a good shooter and that’s obviously what I bring,” Goode told TDH.
Goode also expects to see plenty of minutes at the small forward spot in a role similar to Kopp two years ago.
“In terms of development and role, it’s similar to what Miller Kopp did at IU,” he said. “He went from a traditional standstill shooter at Northwestern, to a more dynamic playmaker on the wing.”
Whichever spot he fills, Goode will be hard to keep off the floor — and I welcomed addition — if he makes shots when the season tips in November.
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