We’re under a month out from the Hoosier’s opening game on Tuesday, November 9 against Eastern Michigan. Since the football team got some much-needed recovery time during their bye week this week, I figured now would be a good time to preview the men’s basketball roster for this coming season.

With three players transferring out, and three and a half transfers in (counting Parker Stewart as a half since we technically had him last year, but he never played) plus one late recruit signing in Tamar Bates, this team is set to look fairly different from last year’s squad. Likely a good thing, given the rut the program seemed to be in towards the end of Archie Miller’s four years as head coach.

Departures

Al Durham, Sr., Guard, 6’ 4”, 185 lbs.

• Transferred to: Providence
• 2020-21 Stats: 11.3 ppg, 38% 3pt, 3.1 reb., 1.85 ast/TO

Armaan Franklin, Jr., Guard, 6’ 4’, 195 lbs

• Transferred to: Virginia
• 2020-21 Stats: 11.4 ppg, 42.4% 3pt, 4.1 reb., .1 ast/TO

Joey Brunk, Sr., Center, 6’ 11”, 255 lbs.

• Transferred to: Ohio State
• 2019-2020 Stats: 6.8 ppg, 5.2 reb., 52% FG, .3 blocks (DNP in 2020-21)

Archie was not known to recruit shooters, so losing 42% and 38% 3-point shooters from last year hurts. Especially since Armaan took a huge leap between his freshman and sophomore year. After four years of college basketball each, Joey Brunk and Al Durham were probably not going to make big strides in their development. Their experience would have been valuable, but Woodson has plenty of other players returning so it shouldn’t hurt too much. Overall, the transfers out don’t figure to hurt us too much. I’ll just miss watching Armaan’s development and will to win on the court.

Additions

Xavier Johnson, Jr., Guard, 6’ 3”, 200 lbs.

• Previous School: Pitt.
• 2020-21 Stats: 14.2 ppg, 32.1% 3pt., 3.4 reb., 1.7 ast/TO.

Michael Durr, Jr. Center, 7’ 0”, 250 lbs.

• Previous School: South Florida
• 2020-21 Stats: 8.8 ppg, 7.9 reb., 41% FG, .9 blocks

Miller Kopp, Jr., SF, 6’ 7”, 215 lbs.

• Previous School: Northwestern
• 2020-21 Stats: 11.3 ppg, 33% 3pt., 3.1 reb., .73 ast/TO

Parker Stewart

• Previous School(s): Pitt, UT Martin
• 2019-20 Stats: 19.2 ppg., 34.8% 3pt. 3.3 reb., 1.15 ast/TO (DNP in 2020-21)

Logan Duncomb, Fr., Center, 6’ 9” 225 lbs.

• Recruiting: 4 Star, ranked 72 nationally

Tamar Bates, Fr, Guard, 6’ 4”, 175 lbs.

• Recruiting: 4 star, ranked 30 nationally

Miller Kopp and Parker Stewart should go a long way to replace and hopefully improve some of the three-point shooting we lost in Armaan and Durham. Especially since they’ve each had seasons earlier in their careers in which they shot better than their last seasons in college basketball. Michael Durr doesn’t have a ton of experience against high majors, but should be able to bring a physicality that Joey Brunk never really did. Plus, he’s not looking at a ton of minutes as Trayce Jackson-Davis’s backup. When Duncomb, who is battling a shoulder injury, gets healthy, we’ll have yet another big man option off the bench. Tamar Bates figures to be a huge addition for Mike Woodson, who only got the opportunity to recruit him once Shaka Smart left Texas for Marquette and Bates re-opened his recruitment. My understanding is that he can play both guard spots with ease and has been really challenging the existing guards on the roster for playing time.

Overall

Despite losing Armaan Franklin as his basketball career seems to be trending upwards, Mike Woodson has been able to replace his minutes and production through the transfer portal and some late recruiting cycle magic. Ideally, there would be one or two more proven shooters, especially since Miller Kopp had a bit of a down year in his last year at Northwestern. Tamar Bates, Anthony Leal, and Parker Stewart will all have their chances to establish themselves as big shooters though, since Woodson has been clear that he wants to open the floor up and have his guards play with confidence. The ceiling on this team feels much higher and hopefully the fact that we no longer have Archie Miller running the offense means that we should get an exciting on-court product in the coming season.