Mike Woodson Gives Injury Update on Indiana Freshman Jakai Newton

Indiana basketball coach Mike Woodson said Monday that Jakai Newton has increased his activity recently, but using a redshirt season because of his knee injury is a possibility.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana freshman Jakai Newton's availability for this season remains in question.

The 6-foot-3 guard underwent a procedure on Aug. 16 to treat a pre-existing knee injury, which has kept him out of the Hoosiers' two exhibition games and the foreseeable future. 

Indiana coach Mike Woodson said Monday that Newton is starting to move around more, including running on the treadmill, stretching, and participating in some aspects of the team's walkthroughs and warmups. 

Woodson said Newton is moving in the right direction, but only time will tell how quickly he comes back, if at all in 2023-24. At some point, Woodson said Indiana will have to make a decision.

"Is he healthy enough to play when he comes back? If not, then you might have to think about redshirting and things of that nature," Woodson said. "We haven't even talked about that, but I mean, that's on the back burner if that may occur."

Newton's senior year at Newton High School in Covington, Ga., as well as his AAU experience, was also limited by this knee injury. But when healthy, Newton was an explosive athlete on both sides of the floor. In just his second game back from injury as a senior, Newton made an impressive block on the nation's top-ranked recruit, Isaiah Collier.

Newton committed to Indiana as a four-star recruit, ranked No. 118 in the nation by the 247 Sports Composite. While not as highly ranked as fellow class of 2024 Indiana commits, Mackenzie Mgbako (No. 8) and Gabe Cupps (No. 94), perhaps due to his injury, Woodson sees Newton playing a role for future Indiana teams.

"He's got to just continue to work and rehab like he's been doing because I brought him in, just like Cupps, because I truly like his toughness and the things he can do on both ends of the floor," Woodson said. "And we just haven't been able to get him out there to give him an opportunity to showcase it."

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