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One of the biggest mysteries of this Indiana men's basketball team is the 6-foot-10 sophomore center out of Cincinnati, Ohio, Logan Duncomb. After originally committing to Indiana under Archie Miller before he was let go, Duncomb was the one scholarship player that saw the least amount of minutes during his freshman year due to being stuck behind the likes of Trayce Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson, Jordan Geronimo, and Michael Durr in the frontcourt rotation.

While on paper, it looked as though he would once again find himself struggling for minutes in his second season with Jackson-Davis and Thompson coming back, plus the addition of five-star power forward Malik Reneau, there seems to be a new optimism with the work Duncomb has put in this past summer. Enough optimism that perhaps he could become a key piece in the frontcourt rotation for Indiana this upcoming season.

Before the Indiana men's basketball media day last week, Duncomb playing meaningful minutes was something that seemed unrealistic. Now, it is a real possibility.

"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."

What could be very easily forgotten about Duncomb is that he was a top 100 recruit in the 2021 recruiting class when he committed to Indiana. A successful high school career at Archbishop Moeller and playing with Indiana Elite on the Adidas 3SSB circuit, Duncomb became one of the most skilled centers in that recruiting class.

However due to his frame and strength, the transition from high school level ball to the physical Big Ten was something that many thought that Duncomb was going to struggle with. Going into last season, his weight and level of physicality was a problem, which hurt his chances of seeing the floor much in his freshman season at Indiana.

Sure, it was frustrating at times for Duncomb, but the talented big man knew what his role was last year.

"I mean, you come out of high school wanting to like play a lot obviously, but I kind of understood that I got a role . . . And my role last year was to kind of like to learn from Trayce and that's what I'm gonna do, just take it how it goes," said Logan Duncomb.

The positive for Duncomb coming out of last year was that he knew what he needed to improve on in order to see his minutes increase. The most important improvement that obviously needed to be made was adding weight, strength, and muscle to be able to withstand the physicality of the Big Ten.

“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.”

Even Duncomb knew that increasing his weight and size was going to have to be his next step as he looks to gain a more important role at Indiana.

"Well you talked about putting on weight it’s just being able to do things I ultimately wasn’t able to do last year," said Duncomb "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. 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."

With Jackson-Davis, he has been an important part in Duncomb's transition into the college level. As far as improvements in his overall skill, it does not hurt Duncomb that he is arguably going up against the best frontcourt player in college nearly everyday. Skill wise, Duncomb has learned a lot going up against Jackson-Davis, making him a better player in the process.

"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."

"I mean coming here for the first time you're going against a guy like Trayce and I mean I was playing good competition in high school, but no one quite like Trayce. So I mean, it's just getting used to playing strong, skilled guys like that who are much bigger than high school."

Yes, the offseason improvements that Duncomb has made is the main contributor of him potentially carving out a role this season. However, with Trayce Jackson-Davis likely expanding his game and playing more stretch four this season, Indiana would need a center to come in and continue that inside-outside offensive approach.

"Obviously last year I think I had the green light, but at the same time, my presence was needed inside, but now we've got some other players like Malik (Reneau) and Logan who's coming along really strong that I'll be playing a lot more for this year and be able to showcase my abilities from three," said Jackson-Davis. He'll (Duncomb) play a little bit of the 5. I think Malik will rotate at the 5 and 4, as well. But with our offense, everything is interchangeable."

“Just with Logan, he’s been playing really well. Obviously if Race (Thompson) gets in foul trouble we can trust Logan to come in and ill move over to four. I’ve done it a little bit in practice playing against each other."

Along with Tamar Bates and the four man freshman class, Duncomb has been a part of that underclassman group that has seemingly made that crucial next leap in order for this Indiana team to have success this season.

"I would say basically like all the underclassmen, starting from Tamar, Logan, all the freshmen," said Race Thompson. "All of them are just -- everybody improved. When we went home and came back, everybody came back stronger, faster, better. It's really just exciting to see everybody grow and everybody want to take that next step in their game."

With official practice just starting up this week and the season still nearly two months away, who exactly knows how much Duncomb is going to contribute in game settings. Duncomb, however, seems more ready than ever to play when and if his name is called. He is ready to help Indiana in any way he needs to, which shows how unselfish this center is.

"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."

Duncomb's teammates, especially the guy he battles with everyday in practice Trayce Jackson-Davis, has all the confidence in the world him.

“I think Logan is actually going to provide a lot for us this year," said Jackson-Davis. "He’s been playing really well.”

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