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BLOOMINGTON — The Indiana basketball team opens the 2024-25 season on Wednesday night at Assembly Hall with a game against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
The No. 18 Hoosiers enter the year having assembled one of the country’s more talented rosters through the transfer portal.
Indiana coach Mike Woodson’s success in reeling in some of the biggest names available, from Oumar Ballo to Myles Rice, helped fans overcome their disappointment over not reaching the tournament last year.
Woodson has expressed confidence in the new-look roster in recent weeks with more firepower and depth, and strong showings in exhibition wins over Tennessee and Marian added to the team’s good vibes.
Will IU remain a feel-good story? Or should fans prepare for another letdown? Here are our bold predictions for the 2024-25 season:
Indiana’s Myles Rice (1) drives the lane during the the Indiana versus Marian men’s basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.
More: Indiana basketball: How Kel’el Ware’s turnaround led Oumar Ballo to Bloomington
Indiana basketball guard Myles Rice will win Big Ten Player of the Year
Purdue’s Braden Smith is the heavy preseason favorite to win the award, but life without Zach Edey will be an adjustment for the Boilermakers while Rice will benefit from playing with what’s arguably the most talented roster in the Big Ten.
Rice would be IU’s first Big Ten Player of the Year in the Big Ten since D.J. White won the award in 2007-08.
He will have to improve his woeful 3-point percentage — he shot just 27.5% last year — but just a modest jump in production elsewhere should make him a contender. He averaged 14.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.6 steals as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year last year.
It was a remarkable season for Rice, who spent the previous year receiving treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He went into remission in June 2023 and told reporters at Big Ten Media Days that he’s put on more weight and feels like he’s in…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/three-indiana-basketball-bold-predictions-090223927.html
Author : The Herald-Times
Publish date : 2024-11-06 09:02:00
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