9/19/2022 basketball Edit

Season Preview: Jordan Geronimo

Kyler Staley • TheHoosier

Basketball Recruiting Analyst

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The 2022-23 Indiana men's basketball season gets started in just a few short months which is a perfect time to start looking ahead and breaking down each scholarship player of the roster and previewing what to expect out of them this upcoming year.

Today, we take a look at sophomore forward Jordan Geronimo with a recap of last season, preview of this upcoming season, plus some notable quotes.

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Other Season Previews: Xavier Johnson, Race Thompson, Miller Kopp, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Trey Galloway

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Last Season Review

After originally putting his name in transfer portal after Archie Miller was let go, Geronimo opted to return to Indiana when Mike Woodson was hired as head coach. His raw, natural athleticism was something that was going to fit well in Woodson's system, which it in fact did.

Although on paper there was not a huge improvement stat-wise from his first year, Geronimo put up his best season thus far averaging 4.4 points (58.1% from the field) and 3.6 rebounds per game. He showed flashes of what he could do playing the wing with his 31% made field goals from three but he was mostly used as someone that came in and spelled Race Thompson or Trayce Jackson-Davis in the frontcourt. When looking at the bench rotation, Geronimo was Indiana's best option there.

There were certainly many highlight plays from Geronimo throughout the season, but the highlight performance from the 6-foot-6 forward came late in the season during the First Four contest versus Wyoming in the NCAA Tournament. In that breakout game, Geronimo scored 15 points off the bench on a very impressive 7-for-11 (64%) shooting while adding 7 rebounds as well. If it was not for Geronimo's stellar play, Indiana may not have made it past the First Four.

Overall, Geronimo showed plenty of flashes of potential while also being a force on the defensive end. He was that highly athletic, energetic player of that could be placed in many different situations for this Indiana team throughout the season.

2022-23 Season Preview

This upcoming season is Geronimo's most important as far as development and living up to that incredibly high ceiling. While he will continue to bring that freakish athleticism around the basket, continuing to improve his mid-range and outside shooting game while working on other aspects are going to be huge for him to unlock his full potential as a player.

One should again expect Geronimo to come off the bench and be a part of the frontcourt rotation along with five-star freshman forward Malik Reneau. Due to his experience over Reneau as well as potential front court rotation piece Logan Duncomb, Geronimo is automatically Indiana's best front court player off the bench. He averaged nearly 12.6 minuets per game last season and with another summer of improvement, it should be easily assumed that those minuets increase yet again.

There has been a lot of chatter amongst the Indiana fanbase of wanting to see Geronimo play more at the wing this season. Mike Woodson has emphasized multiple times through his recruiting of how he wants to get bigger and more athletic at the wing position and that is certainly something we could see this season with Geronimo possibly. However, in order for Geronimo to produce consistently at the wing, he is going to have to prove he can be a reliable spot up shooter. Until then, Geronimo's best usage is as an athletic frontcourt player that can stretch the floor from time-to-time, sort of like how Race Thompson was used last season.

Another area to watch for is how improved Geronimo's ball-handling skills are. Geronimo is fantastic off the ball, cutting to the rim and using his physicality and natural athleticism to make plays in the paint. He has stated that this area is something he has worked on this summer and if he can add the ability to create off the dribble, his potential as a complete player only increases.

Geronimo has serious NBA-level potential given the tools he already possesses and with more improvement in other aspects of his game, there is no question that he could live up to these expectations.

Notable Quotes

"When I first came here, I feel like I had to prove myself and I put in the work to be able to prove myself. You know what happened, happened. So, I feel like me in the position where I'm at now is just proof that, hey, just keep your head down and work hard and you'll get to where you want to go eventually," said Geronimo this past summer.

"He's a freak, that's what we call him, freak of nature," said Trayce Jackson-Davis after the Wyoming win. "Sometimes even in the huddle he'll do something and I'll look at him and say you're a freak. Because some of the things he does is just out of this world. He's blessed with God-given athleticism and talent. And you get to see it on display, and I think that's really cool."

"I think for him it's just about decision making and being able to handle the ball better," Race Thompson said this past summer about Geronimo's development. "He's an elite defender. Everybody knows that. That's not an issue."

"Well, the ultimate factor of me coming back was I have trust in Mike Woodson and I have trust in the program that, you know, like it's bigger than myself, really," said Geronimo recently. "I want the program to be successful and to -- we're fighting for a championship. We're fighting for that. So, I want to be a part of that program, and seeing other players that came in, everybody that's coming back, and I'm like, I feel like it's something I can't be not a part of. I trust the coach and I trust the staff, the players, and I feel like it's a good decision to come back."