Indiana knows what it’s roster makeup is for the 2020 season, knows when it will begin and knows what it is expecting from each player on the team.
For new IU assistant coach Kenya Hunter, he brings a different kind of mentality as it pertains to roster construction, however. It’s not about what you currently have, but what you could have in the future.
"I look at rosters and look at guys who in the future can develop into pros," Hunter said. "So I'm looking at the roster and thinking, 'Can we get three potential guys that we feel like in the near future can develop into pros?' Because if you have that on your team, you have a great chance of getting to that end goal, and that's to win a championship."
Over the past 10 years, that '3 pro' mentality has been correct. Virginia (Jerome, Hunter, Guy), Villanova (Paschall, Brunson, Divincenzo, Bridges, Spellman), North Carolina (Bradley, Jackson, Pinson), Villanova (Arcidiacono, Brunson, Hart, Divincenzo, Paschall, Bridges), Duke (Okafor, Jones, Winslow), Kentucky (Kidd-Gilchrest, Davis, Miller), Duke (Curry, Plumlee, Plumlee, Kelly), all with National Championship winning teams since 2010 and all had at least three players go on to play in the NBA for more than just a few games here and there.
