The Indiana Hoosiers cut their available number of scholarships from seven to six today, jolting their recruiting efforts by bringing in nationally-ranked five-star wing Bryson Tucker of Virginia’s Bishop O’Connell High School. The gifted 6’7″ wing, who was seemingly headed towards the NBA’s G League Ignite before it decided to close up shop, had considered visiting Kansas and Michigan State. However, like Mackenzie Mgbako and Kel’El Ware before him, Tucker took a visit to Bloomington and decided he’d seen all he needed to see. Despite initially saying earlier today that he would wait until April, he quickly chose to announce his commitment via Instagram.
Having previously lost the commitment of a similar player in Monteverde Academy’s Liam McNeeley, the decision from Tucker comes in clutch just when the Hoosiers needed a spark of life the most. Tucker plays the game very similarly to Mgbako, with dynamic scoring ability and good range, as well as the ability to guard multiple positions easily. It will remain to be seen if he needs the development time Mgbako did, but with a good basketball pedigree–his father Byron played at North Carolina State and George Mason University–and plenty of experience in high-level high school and AAU competition, Tucker definitely has a shot at giving the Hoosiers their third consecutive Big Ten Freshman of the Year winner.
Perhaps most importantly, this is a huge recruiting victory for coach Mike Woodson. His success rate with on-campus visits continues to skyrocket. He has picked up a key piece in building a more modern college roster by bringing in a coveted player whose style fits what today’s game asks for. More than all that, however, is the fact that Woodson has juggled a busy and loaded Transfer Portal season while simultaneously striking fast at a golden opportunity for a quality freshman and landed it. He and his staff still have a lot of work to do to revamp this Hoosiers roster, but this is the best possible start they could have managed given the circumstances, giving fans more reason to have confidence in Woodson’s continued leadership.
Stay tuned to Sports Media Pass for more Hoosiers news and info, especially as the recruiting season continues to heat up! Thanks for reading!