Ball State transfer Payton Sparks commits to Indiana

  • 03/29/2023 9:48 am in

Indiana is on the board with its first commitment from the transfer portal this spring.

Ball State transfer Payton Sparks, who visited Indiana on March 27, committed to the Hoosiers today.

Indiana is retooling its frontcourt this spring after the graduations of Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson. Logan Duncomb also entered the transfer portal recently.

The 6-foot-9, 240-pound center is a lefty from Winchester, Indiana, which is 2.5 hours away from Bloomington. As a sophomore for the Cardinals, Sparks averaged 13.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.

Sparks has been elite over his first two college seasons at drawing fouls and getting to the line. Over 62 career games, he has averaged 6.8 free throw attempts per game. He’s a career 61 percent free throw shooter.

Sparks appeared in 62 games (all starts) at Ball State and averaged 13.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and .7 blocks.

He was named third-team All-MAC as a freshman and second-team All-MAC as a sophomore. Sparks recorded 10 double-doubles as a sophomore for coach Michael Lewis.

Out of high school, Sparks was rated the No. 58 center nationally by 247Sports. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

According to 247Sports, Sparks also had interest from Illinois, Dayton, Iowa State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Florida, Arkansas, Seton Hall, Butler, LSU, Georgetown, Missouri, Purdue, Virginia and Pittsburgh.

(Photo credit: Ball State Athletics)

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