Ten Things Indiana Sports Should Know by 2024.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The calendar has turned to 2024, signaling the resumption of Big Ten play for both basketball teams and new football, baseball and soccer seasons.

It was an eventful 2023, with the women’s basketball team winning the Big Ten and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The men’s team earned a No. 4 seed in Mike Woodson’s second season, and football replaced head coach Tom Allen with Curt Cignetti from James Madison. Baseball and soccer had successful seasons, with reason to believe that can continue this year.

1. What is the potential for the Hoosiers, and can Mike Woodson make it to three consecutive NCAA appearances?
Without a victory to put on a pedestal for the selection committee on Selection Sunday, Indiana will continue Big Ten play at Nebraska on Wednesday. As of 2024, the Hoosiers are 3-3 versus teams from the major conference, having lost handily to Auburn and UConn and losing by four points to No. 2 Kansas during a game in which they had the lead for about thirty-five minutes. The three victories were against Louisville at Madison Square Garden, Maryland at Michigan, and both teams are currently outside of the NCAA Tournament bubble. Positively, the Hoosiers avoided dropping any games out of conference that would have damaged their chances of making the Big Dance.

What then needs to happen for Woodson to lead Indiana to its third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament? While the league has looked poorer than most seasons in the past ten years, it could take 12 or 13 Big Ten wins, a.500 record is typically a strong place to start in the 20-game Big Ten schedule. Almost every slot in the Big Ten is up for grabs following Purdue, who is head and shoulders above the others. This presents an intriguing situation for Indiana, which may have fewer chances to win in the top division but a more straightforward conference schedule than other years. A 2-0 start in Big Ten competition and the return of Kel’el Ware and Xavier Johnson will undoubtedly be beneficial. Indiana ought to be alright.

2. Is Mackenzie Mgbako going to end up alone?
In September, Mgbako gave reporters confirmation that he intended to play one season at Indiana before moving on to the NBA. The nation’s eighth-ranked recruit, according to the 247 Sports Composite rankings, wasn’t a surprise. At the time, mock drafts had Mgbako’s name in the first round, but 13 games into his freshman campaign, it would take a thorough search to find him even mentioned in the second round. The 6-foot-8 rookie is shooting 41% from the field, 28.6% from 3-point range, and 94.4% from the free throw line while dishing out 10 points and 4.3 rebounds on average. He has scored in double figures in each of his last eight games, demonstrating his recent progress.

What worries me the most, though, is Mgbako’s defense. Though he has a good chance of developing into a strong defender given his long arms and 6-foot-8 frame, he has frequently appeared unprepared defensively. For that reason, Woodson has even benched him late in several games. Mgbako must either surpass Indiana’s ceiling or at least come close to doing so. He has the offensive ability, but he will need to spend at least one more year in college if his defense doesn’t get better enough to let him to play.

3. Will Xavier Johnson return and change things?
Senior point guard Xavier Johnson of Indiana has missed the previous seven games due to injury, but he has lately removed his walking boot and practiced some light shooting in the pregame warm-up. His return seems certain, and with Big Ten action picking back up against Nebraska on Wednesday, Indiana could really use him.

In Johnson’s absence, Indiana has placed a lot of pressure on rookie Gabe Cupps. The 6-foot-2 Cupps has generally played strong defense and taken good care of the ball, but it’s obvious that he’s still figuring out where to find open shots in college. Considering that Johnson averaged 12.9 points in his career, Cupps is only averaging 2.8 points, a clear offensive decline has occurred. Trey Galloway has contributed to part of the scoring, with his performance against Kansas standing out at 28 points. Although Anthony Leal and CJ Gunn both contributed significantly to Indiana’s victory over Kennesaw State and Michigan, respectively, neither has been Woodson’s reliable bench option.

4. Is there room for Mike Woodson to grow and find more 3-point shooters?
Due to a lack of players, Indiana hasn’t made many threes this season, which is both a testament to and a criticism of Woodson’s coaching. Indiana would have one or two embarrassing losses on its record if it had been making more than 20 three-pointers per game this season. Because it’s the only way the Hoosiers can win, they are banging the ball inside. However, Woodson must assemble a team without a few of dependable 3-point shooters. The previous two games have been better; Indiana made the most of Woodson’s three-year tenure (12 of 24 attempts) against North Alabama and then went 7 of 15 against Kennesaw State. Can it last in the Big Ten, though? Indiana only makes 31.9% of its shots from hree, 226th in the nation. Sure, Johnson has been out and other players have underperformed, but this weakness was forecasted preseason when Woodson didn’t add another guard. It could cost him an NCAA Tournament berth this year.

5. Can Curt Cignetti, the new football coach, support his audacious claims?
Saying things like, “I win,” or “Purdue, Michigan, and Ohio State “suck,” during his first basketball game in Indiana, or persuading recruits of his vision is easy. Look me up on Google.” In the first few weeks of his new position, Cignetti has exuded an aggressive confidence. He intends to build on his 52-9 run at James Madison, which he just finished.

6. How is Curt Cignetti going to reassemble the team?
The first two tasks under Cignetti’s leadership have been to recruit 17 players through the transfer portal and reassemble Indiana’s 2024 high school class, which, according to the 247 Sports Composite, presently has 17 commits and is ranked 61st in the country. Ranking-wise, that’s a little better than the class of 2023, but it’s still the lowest since 2017.

However, the transfers will have a greater influence in the first year. According to Cignetti, he prioritizes output over potential, and his portal additions’ performance history demonstrates this. Kurtis Rourke, a transfer quarterback from Ohio who has three years of starting experience, was the previous MAC Offensive Player of the Year. Three wide receivers with over 1,000 career receiving yards—Ohio’s Miles Cross, Texas Tech’s Myles Price, and Wake Forest’s Ke’Shawn Williams—join the Hoosiers. Along with rebuilding the offensive line with two-time James Madison starters and Wisconsin transfer Trey Wedig, Cignetti also recruited three effective running backs.

7. After multiple close defeats in the NCAA Tournament, can IU soccer make a breakthrough?
Todd Yeagley’s Indiana soccer team is still among the best in the country, but in recent years, capturing a ninth national title has grown more and more elusive. This is a quick rundown of Indiana’s previous seven NCAA Tournament defeats.

• 023 Elite Eight: Penalty shootout loss to No. 2 Notre Dame
• 2022 National Championship: Penalty shootout loss to No. 3 Syracuse
• Fall 2021 Second Round: Golden Goal overtime loss to No. 2 Washington
• Spring 2021 National Championship: Golden Goal overtime loss to No. 10 Marshall
• 2019 Second Round: Golden Goal double-overtime loss to No. 22 UC Santa Barbara
• 2018 College Cup: 2-0 loss to No. 15 Maryland
• 2017 National Championship: Golden Goal double-overtime loss to No. 9 Stanford

The Hoosiers have what it takes to win it all nearly every year, but losing by the slimmest of margins has made for heartbreak in recent seasons. It seems to be more of a question of when, not if, Indiana will hoist its first national championship trophy since 2012.

 

8. Can Teri Moren and her squad exact revenge for losing to the NCAA Tournament early?
The Indiana women’s basketball program has been steadily improving since 2014 under head coach Teri Moren. Last season, the program achieved a new high as the Hoosiers secured the first-ever No. 1 seed and won their first Big Ten regular season championship since 1983. As a first-team All-American, Mackenzie Holmes excelled, while as an honorable mention All-American, senior point guard Grace Berger was vital.

But just as the Hoosiers geared up for an NCAA Tournament run they hoped would surpass 2021’s Elite Eight trip, it all went away more abruptly than anyone predicted. No. 9 seed Miami upset Indiana on its home court, 70-68, ending the No. 1 seed Hoosiers’ season.

9. In terms of national accolades and IU lore, where will Mackenzie Holmes finish?
A year after debuting fourth on Indiana’s all-time scoring list, Holmes is now second only to Tyra Buss. Holmes has scored 233 points in 12 games this season, which means she needs 235 more to overtake Buss as Indiana’s all-time best scorer. This comes after a 30-point performance in Sunday’s victory over Illinois. With her current scoring average of 19.4 points per game, Holmes will easily surpass Buss in the regular season.

Holmes also has a good chance to finish as a top-five rebounder in program history. With 857 career rebounds through 12 games of her fifth season, she ranks seventh on Indiana’s all-time rebounding list. Holmes will likely move into fifth place during the regular season, but moving into fourth place with 114 more rebounds will require postseason games. Holmes currently ranks second in blocked shots and needs 45 more to pass Quacy Barnes as the program’s all-time leader.