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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 center Logan Duncomb 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, Jordan Geronimo, Anthony Leal, Tamar Bates
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Last Season Review
The 6-foot-9 center came into the last year as one of the two players that made up Mike Woodson's first freshman class at Indiana. Having originally committed under Archie Miller in April of 2020, it can be said that Duncomb's freshman season probably played out a little differently than he expected as far as minutes on the floor.
Duncomb appeared in 9 games overall last season totaling just 20 minutes of playing time. His playing time usually was when the result of the game was pretty much determined scrapping up any garbage time he could whether it be a blowout win or loss from Indiana. In the 9 games he appeared in, he totaled 6 points and rebounds while also adding 1 assist, block, and steal.
While there was not much that Duncomb showed in the rare minutes he saw the floor, there were some times where he showed what he is capable of. He is more of a throwback big in a lot of ways but also has a capable, smooth mid-ranger jumper. He looks to be a very solid rebounder already and smart with his decision making in the frontcourt.
Due to the frontcourt rotation of Trayce Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson, Jordan Geronimo, and Michael Durr last season, there was not much room for the true freshman to carve out a role there. However, Duncomb played hard and made the most out of his short minutes on the floor.
2022-23 Season Preview
After last season ended, there was a general thought that Duncomb would get a boost in minutes with the pending decisions that Trayce Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson, and Jordan Geronimo had to make as far as if they would return to Indiana for another season not. However on paper, it looks as though Duncomb could likely be towards the bottom of the rotation once again with Jackson-Davis, Thompson, and Geronimo announced they would be returning for another season plus the addition of five-star power forward Malik Reneau.
What is often overlooked is that Duncomb came into last season as a top 100 recruit in the country which proves that he is no random player and that he was one of the better bigs in the 2021 class. There is obviously a learning curve each season with most incoming freshman at the college level but as far as talent goes, Duncomb already possesses that to some degree.
For Duncomb, he obviously needs to continue to develop his strength, frame, and overall quickness, which he has already done a great job of from the work he has put in this past summer. While he is a fluid player that can score, there still seem to be questions surrounding how well he can match up physically at this level.
At this stage right now, Duncomb continues to be is a great practice player for the starting bigs and has made some major improvements from last season to this year. Duncomb could very well see some "spot minutes" this year if he matches up well defensively, especially if Trayce Jackson-Davis looking to play some more four and Jordan Geronimo playing more on the wing this year. With more work and improvement this next year, Duncomb could very well see his minuets increase his last two years at Indiana.
Notable Quotes
"Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, having to go against arguably like the best big (Trayce Jackson-Davis) in college basketball, I mean everyday," Duncomb said. "I mean, it makes you better or you're going to fail. So yeah, it's helped me a lot. I mean, it's grown my skill set and what I'm able to do offensively and defensively guarding him and learning how to guard him fast, strong, big, like Trayce."
"My biggest focus was putting on mass and muscle so I could bang down low with the bigs and the Big Ten and those type of guys," Duncomb said. "It's really helped just with my post game and back to the basket stuff, which was successful for me in high school, but now I'm able to do more in this setting with the Big Ten and bigger guys."
"Yeah, so Logan is playing at a really high level right now," said Trayce Jackson-Davis. "He's rebounding the ball and he's defending really well, especially just playing against me, and I'm just seeing it on the floor when I'm playing against him. He'll play a little bit of the 5."
“Well, the thing with Logan is that last year it was like every other week he was sick, so he was about 220 pounds and he could just never gain weight, and then even in May he got his tonsils out so he was like 215 (pounds)," said Jackson-Davis. "At the end of the summer, all of a sudden he was like 245 (pounds) and I was like ‘What’s going on? (Laughter)... So he put on some weight and I’m trying to move him back and he’s just holding ground and I’m like ‘alright, alright.’ But he’s been playing really hard, been running the floor really hard, getting rebounds, making good post moves. If he can just be solid like that, I expect to see him play.”
"I mean I've always thought of if there is one thing I can do is always hustle," said Logan Duncomb. "If I'm not getting shots to fall, or I'm struggling offensively, I know that I can always work my hardest to do what I can if that's playing defense, getting rebounds, putting my body out setting screens, whatever I can do to help the team."
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