LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — I won’t repeat the things Indiana fans said about men’s basketball coach Mike Woodson when he stayed home during two open recruiting periods last month while recovering from knee surgery.
They were nastier than the things people barked after IU lost two guys to Tennessee from the transfer portal.
IU fans were more steamed than they were last fall when Woodson and his staff whiffed on Xavier Booker and T.J. Power. They have not forgiven him for finishing up the track while pursuing Kyle Filipowski and Brice Sensabaugh a year earlier.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever a read a story headlined:
Can Mike Woodson recruit?
And now … well, now Woodson is the Man of the Hour, positioning himself to be the Man of the Year.
The circus of shriekers has moved on, surrounding Louisville coach Kenny Payne, because in college basketball recruiting the primary reaction is overreaction.
The reason is Mackenzie Mgbako.
Adding Mackenzie Mgbako to the roster moves Indiana from No. 40 to No. 24 in Bart Torvik’s rankings for the 2023-24 season. #iubb pic.twitter.com/IKU1DyvoiH
— Inside the Hall (@insidethehall) May 13, 2023
Mgbako is a 6-foot 8-inch forward from Gladstone, N. J., hardly a hot spot of Hoosier Hysteria. The recruiting gurus consider Mgbako a 5-star package of athleticism, grit and energy.
On Friday, Mgbako shook up the world by picking Indiana over Kansas. Louisville, St. John’s and others finished outside the photo finish.
That’s the way the recruiting game goes. One day you’re a bum. The next day you’re everybody’s hero.
The truth is you’re never as inept as your misses and never as great as your hits. If you swim in the deep end, you will lose more than you win.
What matters in the wide-angle shot is that you have to win enough to collect the necessary talent to play your preferred style and succeed in March.
By adding Mgbako, plus the three guys Woodson landed from the transfer portal, Woodson has positioned Indiana to make the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 2008.
By adding Tre White last weekend, plus the seven other newcomers to the Cardinals roster, Payne should be able to win, too. Even without Mgbako.
But in the recruiting frenzy, especially after a 4-28 season, nobody has the patience for the wide-angle view. All people want to know is:
Why did Louisville lose another player from the New Jersey Scholars, the high-powered AAU program run by former Cardinal Pervis Ellison?
I don’t have any definitive answers.
I also could not explain why Harvard transfer Chris Ledlum picked Tennessee over Indiana, setting off mass indigestion among IU fans (and also leaving open the spot for Mgbako).
Here’s another head scratcher: Why did White leave USC for Louisville after he started 29 of 33 games for the Trojans this season and was voted to the Pac-12 all-freshman team? The wise guys said White was fleeing a potential Top 10 team for a squad ranked No. 290 in one computer formula last season.
What did White see that Mgbako missed? Or did Mgbako see White on the U of L roster and look another direction?
More questions than answers. That’s how it works in recruiting. It’s recruiting, not calculus. What looked strange yesterday will fit tomorrow.
In the aftermath of the Mgbako announcement, I read considerable howling about Adidas from U of L fans. Sorry. Focusing strictly on shoe money in any recruitment is a very 2017 way of looking at the world.
Indiana has been bold and aggressive in creating Name/Image/Likeness opportunities, with three solid, well-funded collectives. The people blaming Adidas because Louisville did not receive a visit from Mgbako need to read what Mgbako said about NIL to Paul Biancardi of ESPN:
“It works hand in hand with the decision,” he said. “You get paid for what you love to do. Indiana has great NIL opportunities.”
Mgbako is Nigerian. Somebody on the IU staff made certain a Nigerian flag was waiting for Mgbako during his visit to the IU locker room. Mgbako shared a picture of himself with the flag on his Instagram account. Little things matter, too.
Class of 2023 five-star prospect Mackenzie Mgbako shared this photo from his #iubb official visit on his Instagram account: pic.twitter.com/pLEYN1l2iU
— Inside the Hall (@insidethehall) May 7, 2023
Credit Woodson, his staff and the IU athletics staff. IU went 13 months without earning a commitment from a high school player after the Hoosiers landed forward Malik Reneau in April 2022.
Whiff after whiff after whiff left IU with two guards — Gabe Cupps and Jakai Newton — ranked outside the Top 75 prospects by 247Sports.
Subtract Trayce Jackson-Davis, Jalen Hood-Schifino and two more starters and three bench players from the 2023 IU roster and you understand why people were forecasting a second-division Big Ten finish for the Hoosiers next season.
Not anymore.
Woodson took a commitment from Payton Sparks, a 2-year starter at Ball State who always wanted to play in candy stripes. He outmaneuvered a string of top programs for center Kel’el Ware of Oregon, considered a Top 10 guy in the portal. Anthony Walker, a former starter at Miami, decided will play his fifth season at Indiana.
The final piece was Mgbako. Nobody’s picking Indiana in the second division of the Big Ten any more. Some will argue the Hoosiers can remain in the Top 25. That’s up to Woodson and his staff.
I watched Mgbako play for the Scholars last year — first in Westfield, Indiana, then in Louisville — at Nike EYBL events. I went to observe point guard D.J. Wagner and center Aaron Bradshaw, two other Top 10 prospects that committed to Kentucky, and quickly starting asking Ellison about Mgbako.
I thought he was a warrior because he defended and rebounded with more consistent intensity most kids bring to the AAU circuit.
There was a reason Duke took his commitment on April 8, 2022. He was the highest-ranked player in Jon Scheyer’s second-ranked class. Last month, Mgbako changed his mind after he scored 22 with 8 rebounds for the World Team in the Nike Hoops Summit.
Indiana wasn’t in the discussion. The Hoosiers had not been a player in Mgbako’s first trip through the recruiting circus.
Woodson’s performance in the pool of Top 25 prospects reflected more Ls than Ws. Louisville, Kansas, North Carolina, Memphis and St. John’s (with Rick Pitino calling the shots) seemed like wiser bets.
Less than a week after getting Tre White, Louisville’s recruitment of Mgbako ended with a canceled visit. Stayed tuned. White has the tools to be a better player next season. Payne has recruited a Top 5 class of newcomers that the experts consider deeper and more talented than the IU recruits. It’s too early to make a final call.
Woodson and his staff ignored the skeptics and found a way to deliver. Instead of being the guy who doesn’t work hard enough at recruiting, Mike Woodson became the Man of the Hour.
Until he misses the next one. In recruiting, the primary reaction will always be an overreaction.
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