Indiana ended its summer session of workouts on Friday and will have some time off now. It's unclear if players are leaving campus and then returning like they would usually do, or sticking around due to the current environment. Either way, Archie Miller and multiple players spoke to the media last week and are very excited about the potential for IU this season. If and when a season gets going, it should be a fun one in Bloomington.
In TheHoosier.com's Monday Mailbag, we take a look at the recent NBA decisions in the Big Ten and how it may impact IU, Indiana's recruitment of 2022 four-star guard Isaac McKneely and who Indiana's next commit could be.
What do you feel will be the effect of the returning stars like Luka Garza, Ayo Dosunmu etc. on the Hoosier's season?
The Big Ten received great news over the weekend with the likes of Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn (Illinois), Luka Garza (Iowa) and Aaron Henry (MSU) all returning to school. Michigan State does lose Xavier Tillman, but once again the Big Ten will be absolutely loaded this coming season.
We heard from Andy Katz last week in regards to how he feels IU has been overlooked this offseason with what they have returning and the recent Big Ten news shouldn't overshadow that. Regardless of who is returning, Indiana will still have a very good product that it is putting on the floor.
Before the weekend, I'm not sure many fans expected Indiana to win the Big Ten, so this news doesn't really impact that greatly. I think the four-headed monster atop the conference is Michigan State, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin - in no particular order. After that, it's wide open.
Indiana still has one of the best players in the Big Ten in Trayce Jackson-Davis, a veteran backcourt and a five-star point guard coming in. That in itself is good enough for the top half of the standings. Looking at the close games IU failed to finish a year ago, a couple extra bounces and the Hoosiers could've added two or three more wins. So, while this obviously impacts the outlook for the overall conference, Indiana still beat Iowa with Luka Garza last year, has had its way with Michigan State in Archie Miller's tenure and lost by just one-point to Illinois in Champaign last season.
While its awesome to see how the roster looks on paper, at the end of the day the teams still have to play the games and IU will be right there in terms of skill next season.
