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Indiana basketball forward Race Thompson made one of the biggest jumps in production in the Big Ten between his junior and senior seasons. But, that wasn't enough for the Minnesota native to leave Bloomington.

Thompson announced earlier this spring that he would using his covid year and come back for an extra year of eligibility.

Thompson, who has been with the Indiana program for six years, has improved every single season he has been in the program. But, the jump he made last year was something that he wanted to build on to help him make a jump to the professional level, a place he now sees himself getting to.

"Just meeting with the coaches and then just having that relationship that we've built over this past year, I really trust them. I believe in them," Thompson told the media on Thursday. "They believe in me, and they're trying to make me the best player I can become.

"That's one of the main reasons I came back. I think that if I can improve my game the way they say I can, I can go to where I have dreamed to go my whole life."

The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 11.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game last season. All were career-highs. He also shot a career-best 53.6 percent from the field and 59.7 percent on 2s.

When Mike Woodson took the job at Indiana last year, he prioritized bringing modern basketball to Indiana. That meant more spacing, better shooters and forwards who can stretch the floor.

Indiana didn't have that and neither did Race Thompson. But, last year he showed he has the ability to be someone to fill that role. That's part of his game that he's prioritizing this offseason

"I think it really comes down to being able to shoot the ball better and handle the ball," Thompson said. "Then again, that's not getting away from bread and butter where I can post-up any time, but I think it really comes down to being able to shoot the ball."

Thompson shot 27.3 percent on 3s last season, going 15-of-55. In his previous three years, he combined for just 6-of-28 from three.

In the first 18 games last season, Thompson was just 3-of-25. Then, the next eight games he showcased the ability to knock down shots from the outside. He went 8-of-19 and shot 42.1 percent on 2.4 attempts per game.

Since he showed the ability to hit 3s, it's now about finding consistency. And that's a big point of emphasis for Thompson this summer while working on his mechanics.

"I've really been working on it," Thompson said. "They've been working with me on it a lot, showing me what I need to do, what I need to change about my shot, just little tiny things to make my shot more consistent. We've seen improvements already.

"The first, really just shot preparation, having my hand behind the ball ready to shoot the ball when I catch it, not having to make a lot of movements with the ball when I shoot it. That's something that has helped my shot, just not go left, right, just keep it either long or short if it's a miss, and I notice that I've made a lot more shots that way."

Over his career, Thompson has proven to be a terrific front court partner to All-Big Ten forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, but last year Indiana rode Thompson at times as well.

He has shown he can be a go-to scoring option, something not even he thought he could be before. So, while Thompson weighed the options at the end of last season, he knew if he could get his shot mechanics down, it wasn't going to be an 'if' anymore of playing professionally, it would just be a 'where'.

"It was just kind of like the question of, 'I don't really know where I would go', the question of if I was to go pro, where would I be. I don't know," Thompson said. "I felt like if I came back here, I was able to keep building on what I've built the past two years of really playing real minutes, and hopefully with that, I can hopefully get some type of contract in the next year."

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