MINNEAPOLIS – Question marks surrounded the beginning of the 2023-24 season for the Indiana Hoosiers. After losing one of the great Indiana legends in Trayce Jackson-Davis, how would the Hoosiers be able to rebuild and continue to be a force in the Big Ten?
As the final buzzer sounded on Indiana’s season Friday night at the Target Center, all those questions have been answered. Finishing a season filled with highs and lows, Indiana ended on a low note in blowout fashion to Nebraska 93-66.
“Every day, I feel like, was something that I’ll never forget,” Anthony Walker said in a conversation with Indiana Rivals’ Mason Williams. "Just being on the court with these guys, knowing that it’s my last go around, them knowing that it’s my last go around, and just them giving me everything that they had on and off the court. These are really good people, really good people off the court."
Injuries will forever plague the Hoosiers 2023-24 campaign as Indiana head coach Mike Woodson has stated how differently he believes this season would have gone. Even before the season began, freshman guard Jakai Newton had to undergo surgery on his knee that forced him out the rest of the year. Moving ahead, sixth-year guard Xavier Johnson suffered a broken foot against the Harvard Crimson in November. And most recently, Trey Galloway exited against Michigan State early on with an injury to his knee.
One can certainly imagine how different the season could have played out injury-free, but that’s the game of basketball.
“I feel for him [Johnson] because he just wasn’t able to fulfill his dream in terms of really completing his college career as a basketball player because he was hurt so much,” Woodson said in the postgame press conference.
Go all the way back to the first game of the season on Nov. 7. Indiana took on Florida Gulf Coast to open up the 2023-24 campaign inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
During the contest against the Eagles, Indiana gave up 13 3-pointers while only attempting 13. The Hoosiers found themselves having to go to war in order to survive an early upset to start off the season. Following the 69-63 win and looking back, it’s clear to see the flaws very early on and how they panned out moving forward.
Now we come back to Friday’s game with the Cornhuskers where it was Indiana’s lack of 3-point shooters and their ability to limit team’s sharpshooters that turned out to be their downfall.
“We’ve just got a lot of work to do this summer to get back and get out team back on top,” Woodson said in the postgame press conference.
At this point, it’s unclear whether or not Indiana will accept an NIT bid to extend their season. If this truly was the last game of the season, Indiana will have a headstart in the transfer portal.
In the new day and age of NIL, the Hoosiers should be in prime position to gather a multitude of new players in order to reload for next season. Going into the 2024-25 college basketball season, Indiana currently does not have an incoming freshman class after five-star Liam McNeeley decommitted only a week ago. Woodson and the rest of his coaching staff will have their hands full this offseason but have already jumped the gun with the portal opening in a few days.
“The bottom line is we’ve got to get better,” Woodson said in the postgame press conference. "From a talent standpoint, this summer will be spent watching a lot of film on players because we’re going to lose some players, I’m sure, and we’re going to have to build around the core guys that are coming back."
Only time will tell where Indiana goes from here and what the future of Indiana basketball will look like. The only thing for certain, Indiana will have more than enough work to do moving forward.
