Former Hoosiers Kaleb Banks, C.J. Gunn Have Career Days Just Hours Apart on Saturday

Kaleb Banks and C.J. Gunn played together for two years at Indiana before transferring in the offseason. They struggled to have an impact offensively at IU, but they both had career days just a few hours apart on Saturday. Banks had 33 points for Tulane, Gunn 22 for DePaul.
Former Indiana forward Kaleb Banks scored a career-high 33 points for Tulane on Saturday, and had 16 rebounds against Florida State.
Former Indiana forward Kaleb Banks scored a career-high 33 points for Tulane on Saturday, and had 16 rebounds against Florida State. / Tulane Athletics

Kaleb Banks and C.J. Gunn came to Bloomington three years ago as high school stars with explosive offensive talent. But it never played out at Indiana, and the pair had minimal impact during their two seasons together.

Both sought fresh starts after last season and hit the transfer portal. Banks, a 2,000-point scorer as a Georgia prep star, landed at Tulane in Newo Orelans. Gunn, an Indianapolis native, joined Chris Holtman to take part in the major rebuild at DePaul in Chicago

Just a few hours apart on Saturday, the former teammates had career days. Gunn scored an all-time high 22 points in just 14 minutes in the Blue Demons' 91-72 win over Wichita State. He was 9-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three. It capped his previous high of 17 against Nebraska last year in the Big Ten Tournament, a 27-point loss for the Hoosiers.

Banks had just one double-figure game at Indiana, but he's having a breakout season at Tulane. He scored a career-high 33 points and had 16 rebounds in a 77-64 loss to Florida State in the Orange Bowl Classic in Sunrise, Fla. He is averaging 17.6 points and 8.1 rebounds this season for the 5-7 Green Wave.

Banks scored only 103 points in two years at Indiana and struggled to find meaningful playing time along Indiana's front line. He shot just 39 percent from the field, and was just 5-for-20 from three last year.

Gunn never found his groove at Indiana either. He made just 2-of-24 threes as a freshman, and had just three double-figure games last year, one in that 27-point loss to Nebraska and he had 13 poiints late in the 20-point blowout by Purdue.

DePaul Blue guard CJ Gunn (11) takes a jump shot over Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Chance McMillian (0).
DePaul Blue guard CJ Gunn (11) takes a jump shot over Texas Tech Red Raiders guard Chance McMillian (0). / Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images

The fresh starts have helped both players. Gunn and DePaul are 8-2 this season, a massive upgrade from a year ago when DePaul went 3-29 and lost all 20 Big East conference games. Holtman, who was fired at Ohio State last year, has turned the program around quickly.

Gunn, who is averaging 9.9 points a game for DePaul, gave a shoutout to Banks on Twitter after their games on Saturday night.


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Tom Brew
TOM BREW

Tom Brew has been the publisher of “Indiana Hoosiers on SI’’ since 2019. He has worked at some of America's finest newspapers as an award-winning reporter and editor for more than four decades, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, Indianapolis Star and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He operates seven sites on the “On SI’’ network. Follow Tom on Twitter @tombrewsports.