Indiana basketball player preview: Yarden Garzon

Indiana’s freshman record-holder for 3-pointers made in a season (70) is back with the Hoosiers for her sophomore year.

Yarden Garzon was a phenom since she first set foot on Branch McCracken Court at Assembly Hall. The fanbase heard tell of a high-ceiling freshman from Israel, but nothing could’ve prepared them for the season to come.

An instant starter and an impactful one at that, Indiana doesn’t win the Big Ten title without Garzon and she’s only just getting started as a Hoosier.

On the court

Garzon was an instant starter for Indiana for a few reasons. She was the team’s best 3-point shooter, she could do so under multiple circumstances and she’s big for a guard at 6’3”.

Garzon, as a freshman, was an elite shot-maker. She could fire off the catch and create her own space off the dribble. If you let her get open, the ball is going in more often than it isn’t. Doing that at 6’3” was an asset due to the size teams had to dedicate to guarding her on the perimeter, leaving more open space down low for Mackenzie Holmes.

Like all Hoosiers under Teri Moren, Garzon is a more than willing and capable passer, looking for open teammates and making plays in transition.

This season she’ll be looking to expand her skills in the post, Moren said at media day, citing Grace Berger as an example. Indiana had multiple plays that sent Berger to the low block if the matchup called for it, and believes the Hoosiers can run similar actions for Garzon.

“We feel like we can do some unique things because she’s a big guard and put her in positions with her back to the basket and not always revert back to her little fadeaway, that international fadeaway that she brought with her from Israel,” Moren said. “We want her to play with more moxie, play with more tenacity, and as we call it in our practices, put people in the basket, which means you play through contact, you score, you get yourself to the free-throw line.”

It wasn’t super often, but Garzon was able to use her size to score in the post as a freshman. Moren noted that she’s added muscle during the offseason with trainers in Israel, which will matter when it comes to physical Big Ten play.

Garzon is an extremely valuable piece of Indiana’s roster in 2023-24 and should finish among the conference’s best players. A conference first team nod isn’t out of the question as she expands her game further.