6-Banner Sunday: Indiana is currently a top 25 team in early 2024-25 projections
Welcome to another edition of 6-Banner Sunday, a joint production between The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall, and presented by our friends at Trueblood Real Estate, where we highlight the five most essential IU basketball stories of the past week, plus take a look at how the other IU sports programs are doing.
With the rosters mostly set now, multiple sites are projecting how the 2024-2025 season might turn out for the Cream and Crimson. Also, another player was added to the all-IU alumni TBT squad and the women had their conference opponents announced.
Besides this, Hoosiers in the NBA and weekly shows round out the basketball portion of 6-Banner. We will, as usual, conclude with a look at other Indiana sports led by a deep run in the Big Ten Tournament for softball.
Here is what’s in this week’s edition:
• 2024-2025 season projections
• Devonte Green added to Assembly Ball roster
• Single and double plays announced for women’s 2024-25 Big Ten season
• Hoosiers in the NBA
• Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
• Hoosier Roundup
Banner #1 – 2024-2025 season projections
While the 2024-2025 season is still a long way off, that didn’t stop multiple sites from projecting how IU might do come next year. With the Hoosiers having all but two of their roster spots filled now (one of those may be taken by Bellarmine transfer Langdon Hatton, who has a crystal ball projecting him to Bloomington) and most other squads nearly complete as well, a look ahead can commence.
Inside the Hall took a peek at where Indiana stands in the national discussion. Currently, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello has them 16th, CBSSports’ Gary Parrish projects 17th, and FanDuel’s John Rothstein is even more optimistic with a ranking of 15th. Also, On3’s James Fletcher ranks IU 21st, as does Bart Torvik, and FoxSports’ John Fanta is most pessimistic as he thinks 25th. Finally, Joe Lunardi’s early Bracketology has the Hoosiers in the same range as a four-seed.
This optimism is because the Hoosiers’ transfer portal class ranks among the best in the nation. Three different sites have it ranked in the top five in the country, with 247Sports, the highest at two. The additions of Oumar Ballo, Kanaan Carlyle, Luke Goode, and Myles Rice from other teams are why the Cream and Crimson are highly touted for next season. However, top-30 incoming freshman Bryson Tucker should get extended playing time as well.
Banner #2 – Devonte Green added to Assembly Ball roster
After several years of attempts, IU will finally have an all-Hoosier alumni squad in the annual TBT Tournament, as announced last week. Miller Kopp, Juwan Morgan, and Troy Williams were added previously and now Devonte Green became the fourth member to commit on Friday. Tickets to see the players in action can be bought here with the bracket revealed on June 20 and competition beginning on July 19 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Also, for the second straight year, the sister event involving soccer in the TST will have an IU alumni team featuring multiple former Hoosiers. This competition will occur in Cary, N.C., beginning June 5 with tickets at this link. The draw for this was revealed a few days ago and Indiana will go head-to-head in a group with Georgetown alumni, Freedom United, and Trident FC.
Banner #3 – Single and double plays announced for women’s 2024-25 Big Ten season
Last week the men had their Big Ten opponents revealed. Now the women got their draw as well.
Their side of the ledger plays just 18 conference games with Purdue as the only home-and-home series with the addition of the West Coast schools. As for single plays, the Hoosiers got lucky and drew almost all the projected top teams in Bloomington only. A visit from league favorite USC and JuJu Watkins highlights this. Also, coming to campus will be highly thought of Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio State, and UCLA, as well as struggling Rutgers and Wisconsin. With Stanford also visiting during the pre-conference, Assembly Hall may have the best slate of contests in program history.
As for the road, Indiana’s draw will be led by a visit to the Caitlyn Clark-less Iowa Hawkeyes, who will now look to transfer Lucy Olsen and returning starting center Hannah Stuelke for scoring. The other tough trip will be to a solid Michigan State side. Outside of this, it is all opposition expected near the bottom of the conference in Michigan, Minnesota, Northwestern, Oregon, Penn State, and Washington.
With the loss of program greats Mackenzie Holmes and Sara Scalia the team sits just outside the preseason top-25 according to ESPN’s Charlie Creme. However, with the rest of the roster returning and no one transferring out, Creme has them safely in the NCAA tournament as an eight-seed. They are highlighted by returning starters Yarden Garzon, Chloe Moore-McNeil, and Sydney Parrish. Also, Tennessee’s Karoline Striplin and Nittany Lion sharp shooter Shay Ciezki arrive from the transfer portal.
Banner #4 – Hoosiers in the NBA
One Hoosier starter not returning in 2024-2025 on the men’s side is Kel’el Ware. This is because he is off to the NBA draft.
Except for one outlier, most sources have Ware towards the back half of the first round. Outside of SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell, who projects him in the lottery as the 11th pick, every other writer has him between the 19th and the very end of the opening round.
As for former Indiana players already in the NBA, OG Anunoby continues to be the last one still alive in the playoffs. He had a great game two of his series with 28 points before leaving with an injury and has been out ever since. His Knicks lead the local NBA team in the Pacers 2-1. It has been a thrilling three contests so far with all of them coming down to the wire. Game four is today in Indianapolis at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC and Anunoby will once again be sidelined with his ailment.
Banner #5 – Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
Podcast on the Brink and The Back Home Network had several new shows in the last few days. POTB had Sports Illustrated and Assembly Call’s Ryan Phillips on to discuss Indiana’s offseason.
Meanwhile, Assembly Call had AC Radio on Thursday to talk about the transfer portal. Finally, TBH had new episodes of both Doing The Work and Right Up Meridian.
Banner #6 – Hoosier Roundup
• Softball likely played their way into their second straight NCAA tournament with a huge week. After losing their regular season finale to Northwestern, the Hoosiers made a run through the conference tournament by knocking off arch-rival Purdue, the top-seeded Wildcats, and Nebraska to advance to their second straight league championship. Here, they lost a heartbreaker to Michigan. At 40-18 and an RPI in the mid-40s, IU will learn their postseason fate tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 during the selection show. Also, five Indiana players were honored by the conference.
• Baseball topped Purdue last Sunday to win that series. They have split the first two games against Nebraska this weekend to keep their postseason hopes alive. Also, their midweek game against Cincinnati was rained out.
• Women’s golf finished 10th at the NCAA Tournament to conclude their season.
• Track and field is competing at the Big Ten Championships with the men in eighth and the women in 13th with one day to go.
• Volleyball added three transfers for next fall.
• Women’s Tennis announced a coaching change after several seasons where the program has struggled.
• The athletic department hosted a “Night To Shine” Banquet to honor its athletes.
Now go enjoy yourself a 6-banner Sunday.
Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor
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