The Inside the Hall Mailbag: Power rankings reaction, Galloway or Carlyle as a starter and more
The Inside the Hall Mailbag is a collection of questions sent to us via X (@insidethehall), via email, submitted via our community and our Facebook page. Submit your questions and we’ll answer as many as we can.
HoosierFan 76 writes: Why the heck would you put Purdue #1 in the rankings? They’re gonna suck without Edey. My spidey sense is picking up serious Hoosier sweep vibes this coming season.
Clearly, to troll Indiana fans. Kidding! Is Purdue taking a step back this season? Surely. How could they not with the loss of Zach Edey?
The reality of forecasting this year’s Big Ten race is every team has questions. If you were offered the field or Purdue to win the Big Ten title next season, take the field. Last season, you would have been crazy not to take Purdue.
What we know about Purdue is this: Every season since 2015-16, the Boilermakers have finished in the top 25 of the KenPom ratings. That’s nine straight seasons. No other Big Ten team has come close to that consistency over that timespan. Zach Edey was on four of those teams. Matt Painter has proven he can adapt to his personnel and mold a team for success as well as any coach in the Big Ten.
@jeffderringer writes: Will Trey Galloway come off the bench for this team or will Woodson feel senior loyalty and start him? I pray it’s the former.
This is a good problem for Indiana. The Hoosiers are a season removed from having too little guard depth. Now, there’s a debate on whether Galloway should remain in the lineup or be supplanted by Kanaan Carlyle.
Both players should play a healthy number of minutes and be willing to play whatever role is asked of them. Is it a problem for Woodson to be loyal to Galloway and start him? Only if he’s not deserving of the role. And from what we’ve seen of Trey Galloway over the course of his IU career, he’s more than earned the opportunity. He’s played through injury, played out of position and has always been a great teammate.
What we also know about Galloway is that he’ll be fine with whatever sets the team up for the most success next season. If that’s coming off the bench, he’ll embrace the role and thrive in it. He’s also coming off an injury, so we’ll see how that impacts things.
Hoosier Jake writes: If Indiana loses its first-round matchup in the Battle for Atlantis, pretty much guaranteeing that it won’t play a tournament team in the non-conference portion of the schedule, do you think it will qualify for the NCAA tournament?
There are a few things to consider. Battle 4 Atlantis may have NCAA tournament teams beyond the obvious candidates in Arizona and Gonzaga.
It’s harder than ever to project teams because of all of the movement from the transfer portal. Two of the Battle 4 Atlantis teams in Louisville and West Virginia have new coaches and a ton of new players. They could surprise. The same goes for Providence and Oklahoma. These are programs with talent and capable coaches.
We also need to find out how good South Carolina will be next season. The Gamecocks were an NCAA tournament team last season and are just outside the top 50 in Bart Torvik’s current projections.
To answer your question, it seems highly unlikely that IU won’t play a single NCAA tournament team in its 11 non-conference games. And even if that happened, it will have numerous opportunities to record quadrant one wins in conference play. The belief here is Indiana will be an NCAA tournament team.
Cincy Hoosier writes: With Victor Oladipo set to be inducted into the IU Athletics HOF, who else would you consider? Trayce and Yogi are surely locks. A solid argument could be made for Cody Zeller and Jared Jeffries despite playing two seasons each. Kirk Haston and Christian Watford wouldn’t be crazy either.
Trayce Jackson-Davis and Yogi Ferrell, as you mentioned, should be locks. Both played four seasons at Indiana and have their names all over the program’s all-time statistics lists. And Ferrell won a pair of Big Ten regular season titles.
As you mentioned, solid arguments can be made for Zeller and Jeffries. Zeller was the catalyst in a remarkable turnaround for the program. He also won a Big Ten title and was an All-American. He should not be penalized for leaving after two seasons and becoming the No. 4 pick in the NBA draft. The same goes for Jeffries, who was a lottery pick after two seasons but led Indiana to a national championship game appearance and a Big Ten title.
Haston and Watford would be below Jackson-Davis, Ferrell, Zeller and Jeffries in terms of consideration.
@HawksTank writes: With expectations being raised due to the money spent in the portal, what level of production does Indiana have to reach in order for Woodson’s seat not to get hot? Are we talking NCAA / 8-11 seed “ok” or is 24+ wins and 2nd weekend or bust territory?
As much as many would like this to be a straightforward question, it is not. Any IU coach who doesn’t win a Big Ten title or reach the second weekend of the NCAA tournament in four seasons should feel some heat. Tom Crean inherited a mess but made the Sweet Sixteen by year four. Archie Miller didn’t make the NCAA tournament in four seasons and was dismissed.
Winning the Big Ten or reaching the second weekend of the NCAA tournament should place security behind any coach.
If Indiana makes the NCAA tournament next season – it would be Woodson’s third appearance in four seasons – but doesn’t win the Big Ten or make the second weekend, context will be important in examining the season. Assuming injuries don’t derail the season, barely squeaking into the tournament won’t be a positive development in the eyes of the fanbase. The roster is good enough to make the NCAA tournament safely.
If Indiana has a great regular season (23+ wins), earns a favorable NCAA tournament seed and falls victim to an upset (it happens), there would be disappointment but probably not overwhelming unrest. Ultimately, the best thing that could happen for Indiana next season is to win a ton of games and move past this discussion.
Filed to: Inside the Hall Mailbag