Former Indiana Forward Jordan Geronimo Transferring to Maryland
After three seasons at Indiana, Jordan Geronimo is transferring to Maryland.
He announced the decision Saturday morning on Twitter.
"Dear Hoosier Nation," Geronimo wrote. "First off, I want to say thank you for all the love and support you guys had shown me during my three years as a Hoosier. However after much thought and consideration, I have decided to play for the University of Maryland next season!"
Former Indiana forward Jordan Geronimo announced Saturday he's transferring to Maryland.
vis @JordanGeronimo2 on Twitter
Geronimo first joined the Hoosiers as a four-star recruit, ranked No. 105 in the class of 2020 out of St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H. Although he boasted impressive athleticism and immense potential at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, his Indiana career never quite panned out.
For three seasons, Geronimo played a backup role behind veteran forwards Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson. In 82 total games with six starts, Geronimo played between 8.1 and 12.6 minutes per game each season, posting career-long averages of 3.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game. He shot 52.8 percent overall, with a 31.0 3-point shooting percentage across 58 attempts and a 52.3 free throw percentage.
Geronimo entered the transfer portal after his freshman season when Indiana fired coach Archie Miller, but he decided to return to Indiana and play for coach Mike Woodson. As a sophomore in 2021-22, Geronimo recorded his first-career double double, a 13-point, 13-rebound effort against Merrimack on Dec. 12, 2021. Other notable performances included scoring 10 points in road wins at Minnesota and Nebraska.
Perhaps the best game of his Indiana career came in the 2022 NCAA Tournament First Four round against Wyoming. In 19 minutes off the bench, Geronimo was second among Hoosiers with 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting, seven rebonds, one block and one assist. Indiana lost its next game by 29 to Saint Mary's, but Geronimo contributed nine points and six rebounds.
With a strong end to his sophomore season, it was reasonable to expect a breakout junior campaign. Whether it was blocking 10 shots in a two-game span in November or posting a double-double in Indiana's 63-45 win over Wisconsin, Geronimo had a few standout moments as a junior 2022-23. He scored 13 points, grabbed eight rebonds and blocked three shots in Indiana's 80-65 win at Illinois on Jan. 19, but those moments were few and far between in the season's home stretch.
Still in a backup role off the bench, coupled with a dislocated finger and a calf injury, Geronimo had an inconsistent final season as a Hoosier. In the final 10 games, he scored just 11 total points with eight rebounds. His opportunities decreased, too, playing six minutes or less in seven of the final 10 games.
Geronimo's jump-out-of-the-gym athleticism made for a number of highlight-reel dunks and crucial rebounds, but the other areas of his game never fully developed. He made 3-point shots against Iowa, Illinois and Michigan State this past year, but he shot 29.2 percent from beyond the arc in his final two seasons. He wasn't a reliable ball-handler on the perimeter, and his defense away from the rim was inconsistent.
It's possible that Geronimo could have competed for a starting role at Indiana in 2023-24, but he decided to move on and Indiana added transfer forwards Kel'el Ware from Oregon and Payton Sparks from Ball State to replace him, Jackson-Davis and Thompson.
Geronimo now joins a Maryland squad entering year two of the coach Kevin Willard era. In his first season, Willard led the Terrapins to a 22-13 overall record, a sixth-place finish in the Big Ten and the NCAA Tournament Round of 32, where they lost to No. 1 seed Alabama. Maryland lost Hakim Hart, Patrick Emilien and Don Carey from last year's team, opening minutes for newcomers like Geronimo.
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