Reports: Indiana forward Race Thompson enters the transfer portal

Indiana redshirt junior forward Race Thompson has entered the transfer portal, according to reports, making him the third starter from the Hoosiers’ 2020-21 roster and the fourth player overall to enter the transfer portal since the end of the season. He joins senior guard Al Durham, sophomore guard Armaan Franklin and Parker Stewart, the latter a transfer who joined the program by way of UT Martin.

Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana’s Third Team All-American forward and leading scorer and rebounder last season, tweeted on Wednesday afternoon in reaction to the news.

Thompson had a breakout season as a redshirt junior, starting all 27 games – one of two players to do so, along with Jackson-Davis – while scoring 9.1 points per game and averaging 6.2 rebounds. He was the team’s fourth-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder. Thompson was Indiana’s most efficient scorer with an offensive rating of 108.8 and he was one of just three players on the team with an offensive rating above the national average adjusted efficiency rating of 102.0, per kenpom.com.

Thompson made nearly 55 percent of his 2-point attempts, and while his limited attempts as a 3-point shooter (3-for-15 last season) never took, his efficiency benefited from his elite free throw rate. He attempted just more than two free throws for every three field goal attempts, and his 67.5-percent free throw rate ranked 15th nationally.

Defensively, Thompson was Indiana’s best rim protector, as someone who blocked more than five percent of opponents’ 2-point attempts. In a season in which Joey Brunk was sidelined with injury, Thompson carved out a starting role for the first time in his career and his minutes-per-game average, scoring average and assist average each more than doubled.

Whatever Indiana’s future holds, it may no longer include Thompson, the former top-150 recruit who reclassified and redshirted at Indiana during Archie Miller’s first season in Bloomington. Only two of the Hoosiers’ regular starters from last season haven’t entered the transfer portal and one of them, Jackson-Davis, could have professional aspirations that could lead to his exit from Bloomington, too.