Indiana Hoosiers
2014-2015 Overall Rank: #58
Conference Rank: #10 Big Ten
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After a great 2012-2013 campaign, Indiana was nothing but disappointing last season. The Hoosiers fell to 7-11 in Big Ten play and had some bad losses, including home defeats to both Northwestern and Penn State and road thumping at Purdue. IU certainly underachieved last season and with so many departures, the expectations are way down this time around. However, Coach Tom Crean does have talent on this team. Nobody is more talented than Yogi Ferrell. The junior point guard averaged a team high 17.3 points and 3.9 assists. He is a superb outside shooter and one of the best playmakers in the nation. He is a Big Ten Player of the Year type of talent and will deserve such accolades if he can lead Indiana to the NCAA Tournament.
2013-14 Record: 17-15, 7-11
2013-14 Postseason: none
Coach: Tom Crean
Coach Record: 101-97 at Indiana, 291-193 overall
Who’s Out:
The losses, especially the unexpected ones, in the frontcourt will take a lot of time to recover from. Noah Vonleh left early for the NBA after averaging 11.3 points per game, 9.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. This was the best rebounding team in the Big Ten, but that will not be the case without Vonleh. Losing Will Sheehey and Jeremy Hollowell will not help in that department either. Sheehey ranked second on the team with 11.4 points and third on the squad with 4.0 rebounds per game during his senior season. Hollowell, who opted to transfer, started about half the games last season and was a key forward in the rotation. Evan Gordon was one of the few players on the team besides Ferrell who was a threat to hit an outside shot. In fact, Ferrell is the only returning player who hit more than six three-pointers all of last season. Also gone are role players Luke Fischer, Austin Etherington and Jeff Howard.
Who’s In:
This team is in dire need of shooters and frontcourt help. Coach Crean added frontcourt players Jeremiah April, Emmitt Holt, Tim Priller, Nate Ritchie, Max Hoetzel and Ryan Burton. However, at best, they are just role players who could play some defense for about ten minutes per game. Unless this team plays small much more than they would like, somebody needs to emerge from that group and be surprisingly productive. The backcourt has more talented options coming in. Incoming freshmen James Blackmon and Robert Johnson are the stars of the class. Blackmon is a very good scorer from everywhere on the floor, while Johnson is a bit more of a pure shooter. Both can handle the ball as well and having a couple scoring ball handlers on the floor is never a bad thing. Nick Zeisloft will help the outside shooting woes. The Illinois State transfer is eligible immediately and averaged 6.9 points per game with the Redbirds last season.
Who to Watch:
The development of forwards Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Devin Davis is hugely important. Neither averaged more than ten minutes per game, but both will be asked to be the leaders of the frontcourt. Mosquera-Perea has the most experience. The 6-9, 225 pound junior is a good rebounder and defender, but now the Hoosiers need him to turn into a consistent scoring threat. Davis could be the interior scorer this team needs. He showed potential in limited action as a freshman and performed well during the team’s summer trip to Canada. Troy Williams is a small forward, but will likely be asked to spend some time at the four spot. He is a strong enough rebounder and defender to pull it off against most opponents. After averaging 7.3 points and 4.4 rebounds as a freshman, the potential and expectations are high for Williams. Stanford Robinson is coming off of a decent freshman campaign as well. His shot was not falling, but the 6-4 guard still averaged 6.4 points per game.
Final Projection:
With Blackmon and Johnson joining Ferrell in the backcourt, the team is in great shape there. If this team is going to seriously compete with the better teams in the Big Ten, the frontcourt must be ready to step up right away. It is difficult to see this team getting better without Vonleh, Sheehey and Hollowell, but Ferrell is a great leader who alone can turn those one or two point losses into wins. That will be enough to make the NIT.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NIT
Projected Starting Five:
Yogi Ferrell, Junior, Guard, 17.3 points per game
James Blackmon, Freshman, Guard, DNP last season
Stanford Robinson, Sophomore, Guard, 6.4 points per game
Troy Williams, Sophomore, Forward, 7.3 points per game
Hanner Mosquera-Perea, Junior, Forward, 2.8 points per game
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 72.3 (128th in nation, 5th in conference)
Scoring Defense: 67.6 (105, 8)
Field-Goal Percentage: 44.8 (139, 6)
Field-Goal Defense: 41.2 (66, 4)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 5.5 (246, 11)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 34.4 (163, 6)
Free-Throw Percentage: 73.0 (62, 7)
Rebound Margin: 7.6 (6, 1)
Assists Per Game: 11.5 (258, 8)
Turnovers Per Game: 15.1 (329, 12)
Madness 2015 NBA Draft Rankings:
#53 Yogi Ferrell
#75 Jeremy Hollowell
Madness 2014 Men’s Basketball Recruit Rankings:
#20 James Blackmon Jr.
#50 Robert Johnson
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