Truthfully, the transfer portal sounds like something Hans Solo would fly through in “Star Wars” right after ordering Chewbacca to buckle his seat belt.
We could be honest and just refer to it as free agency for college athletes, but whether or not fans have developed a distaste for the way NCAA sports have devolved, Indiana University men’s basketball coach Mike Woodson just tightened his own seatbelt and emerged from the transfer portal without whiplash.
Merely weeks ago, those who follow the Hoosiers wondered what they would do for players during the 2024-25 season. Bunch o’ guys fled, not the least of which was 7-foot center Kel’el Ware, who declared for the NBA draft.
It was not surprising C.J. Gunn and Kaleb Banks, whose arrivals were heralded as freshmen the year before, departed after basically disappearing from the rotation for the 19-11 Hoosiers. Then Payton Sparks announced he was transferring back to Ball State, his previous address for higher education.
Certainly, it was apparent as the portal swung open – and nearly 1,900 itchy players darted into it – Indiana had some rebuilding to do so it could better compete in the Big Ten next winter.
Given the advent of the now-you-see-him, now-you-don’t player availability (it was mentioned of one player on an NCAA TV game as someone on a four-schools in four-states odyssey), combined with the Name, Image and Likeness payments that can woo new faces, this is a very different era and landscape for college head coaches. It is surprising more of them haven’t transferred into selling life insurance.
Not only must coaches be glib and more creative than ever mixing and matching, but they can no longer afford to wait on gradually developing players who are short on patience. More than ever, it is the Wild West on the recruiting trail.
When we last left our Hoosier heroes after the regular season, the core of next year’s roster consisted of guards Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal and Gabe Cupps, plus high-scoring forwards Malik Reneau and Mackenzie Mgbako. Also, Jakai Newton, who did not play last season because of injury. Injuries were not kind to IU last year.
Altogether that represented a skeleton of a roster. What Woodson and his staff did was hustle and persuade their way through the transfer portal to emerge with a new army, supplemented by a coveted freshman.
By the time the portal shut, the experts or analysts who follow such things very closely pretty much proclaimed Indiana had won the national championship. Not the NCAA crown, but IU was deemed the school that culled the cream of appropriate available talent to pursue excellence.
Bryson Tucker is a highly regarded 6-6 forward from Bowie, Maryland. Luke Goode is a 6-7 forward from Fort Wayne who played three seasons for the University of Illinois. He said he always wanted to attend IU, but former coach Archie Miller (hardly a sainted name around Bloomington) never recruited him. Goode’s IU connections run deep – his father played football for the Hoosiers and uncle Trent Green was an NFL quarterback for 12 years after competing for Indiana.
Lack of backcourt depth forced Woodson to play Cupps, a 6-2 freshman from Dayton, Ohio, more than expected when Xavier Johnson’s two injuries caused major disruption. So, despite the versatile Galloway and the vastly improved Leal returning, Woodson shopped the portal and signed up 6-3 Kanaan Carlyle (11.5 points, 2.7 assists), a transfer from Stanford, and 6-3 Myles Rice (14.8 points and 3.8 assists), a transfer from Washington State. Rice was All-Pac-12 first team as a freshman last year.
By the time Oumar Ballo transferred in from Arizona, it had become a trend shifting to the Midwest for IU, no doubt choices encouraged by the disintegration of the Pac-12. Ballo stands 7 feet tall and weighs 260 pounds. While the same height as Ware, Ballo looms about one-and-a-half times as wide. Ballo, originally from Mali, was a two-time Pac-12 selection, but began his college career as a bench player at Gonzaga.
Woodson’s evaluation of Ballo as a potential IU notable makes it sound as if fans will be treated to dessert every game.
“Oumar is a dominating post presence on both ends of the floor with a winning background,” Woodson said. “His experience playing at the highest level will elevate our program. He is a big fella with soft touch around the rim, good hands, and solid footwork.”
One thing Woodson did by rounding up this class was calm down fans fretting over IU survival next season. This is a lesson on how the transfer portal giveth as well as taketh away.