Men's College Basketball 2021-2022 Season Preview: Indiana Hoosiers

The Big 10 will be going through some changes in men’s college basketball up top this season, as household names like Ayo Dosunmu and Luka Garza are off to the NBA. There is still plenty of star power though, as Juwan Howard has brought in an elite recruiting class at Michigan, our guy Trevion Williams is back for his swan song season at Purdue. and even the bottom half of the conference has useful fantasy options sprinkled throughout.

Big 10 slates are a grind, so getting a head start on info about this conference will serve you well in putting you above the rest of the field. Join me on this journey as we preview the Big 10 teams from a DFS perspective.

In this one, Indiana.

(Check out our full college basketball season preview!)

Indiana Hoosiers 2021-2022 Season Preview

2020-2021 record: 12-15 (7-12 Big 10), 10th in Big 10
Postseason: None

Key Departures | Indiana Hoosers

Jerome Hunter (transferred to Xavier)
Al Durham (transferred to Providence)
Armaan Franklin (transferred to Virginia)

Key Additions | Indiana Hoosers

Xavier Johnson (transferred from Pittsburgh)
Parker Stewart (transferred from UT Martin)
Miller Kopp (transferred from NW)
Michael Durr (transferred from USF)
Tamar Bates (top 30 recruit)
Logan Duncomb (top 100 recruit)

Returners | Indiana Hoosers

Trayce Jackson-Davis (19.1 PPG/9 RPG/1.4 BPG)
Race Thompson (9.1 PPG/6.2 RPG/1.3 BPG)
Rob Phinisee (7.1 PPG/2.3 RPG/2.9 APG)
Trey Galloway (3.6 PPG/1.9 RPG)
Khristian Lander (2.1 PPG)

Indiana Hoosiers Outlook for 2021-2022

The Hoosiers have turned the page on the Archie Miller era after Miller had a below-average stint as the head coach. Former IU star Mike Woodson takes the reins and brings a ton of excitement with him. Woodson has shown he will be a top-notch recruiter already and worked the portal exceptionally well to replace departed starters Al Durham and Armaan Franklin. Woodson says he plans to push the pace and shoot 3’s, something that we are seeing a lot of teams move to. The team is fairly deep, so I’m 50/50 on them overall because the rotation looks a bit dicey.

The star of the team is All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis. He is an extremely skilled big who can score in the paint at will and is a dominant rebounder and above-average shot blocker. He has been one of the safer pay-up options the last couple of seasons in DFS. TJD draws 7.2 fouls per 40, which was top 10 in D1 last year, and he is excellent at generating points.

Race Thompson should flourish in this expected fast-paced system — there were several times last year that he melted the slate out of nowhere. He doesn’t offer much in terms of outside shooting, but his ability to fly down the floor in transition and finish at the rim should get him plenty of minutes. Khristian Lander is on breakout watch, and the former 5-star recruit should see huge improvement in his sophomore season after reclassifying last year. He was really raw at times, but Woodson should help him become much more polished. Rob Phinisee will probably get bumped to a bench role with the addition of Xavier Johnson, but he should still have value as a cheapie off the bench. Johnson should start right away and is at his best when in transition. He was a 14.2 PPG scorer while at Pitt but also dished 5.7 APG. He had a 29.1% usage rate last year and a 42.3% assist rate, which was fourth best in the country. He should thrive in this up-tempo offense.

The wing is going to be tricky as highly rated recruit Tamar Bates, NW transfer Miller Kopp, UT Martin sniper Parker Stewart and returner Trey Galloway will all battle for playing time. A few beat writers have suggested it could be a hot hand situation night to night which sounds dreadful for us as DFS players. My money is on Miller Kopp (11.3 PPG last year) and Parker Stewart (19.2 PPG in 2020) as the initial starters. Stewart played for Pittsburgh back in 2018 so he has experience playing upper tier competition.

Michael Durr should get decent run for the Hoosiers as the 7-foot, 250-pounder decided to spurn Virginia Tech late and transfer to Indiana instead. Durr averaged an impressive 8.8 PPG and 7.9 RPG during his last season at USF. Durr was absolute money at that $4.7k range last year and he seemingly always paid off for a 4x score.

(Check out our rankings of the top 100 teams, top 100 players and top 25 impact freshmen for men’s college basketball in 2021-2022.)

Summary

The talent is there, and this offense should be fun as it tries to mirror what Nate Oats does at Alabama. I do have concerns about the depth causing issues for playing time, but we have a safe star in TJD to look at and he should have his best season yet surrounded by shooters. There is plenty of options after TJD here with Xavier Johnson, Race Thompson, Parker Stewart, Michael Durr and Miller Kopp looking like the best candidates after TJD for DFS viability. Khristian Lander, Tamar Bates and Trey Galloway have sky-high upside and are worth monitoring as they gain experience.