Malik Reneau Learns From Battles With Fellow Lefty Trayce Jackson-Davis

Entering his freshman season at Indiana as a five-star recruit, Malik Reneau is taking notes and absorbing all he can through battles against two of the Big Ten's top forwards, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson.

When Malik Reneau catches the ball in the paint, there's sturdy wall between him and the basket. Well, not literally, but that's what it might feel like when the freshman tries to back down veteran Indiana forwards Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson. 

"It's hard to bump bodies with Race and Trayce," Reneau said. "They are all solid, and it's not easy to move them."

Playing for Montverde Academy, the five-star recruit Reneau was often able to overpower defenders. But against Jackson-Davis – who blocked 2.3 shots per game en route to Big Ten All-Defensive team accolades last season – as well as the gritty defender Thompson, Reneau is met with much more resistance.

This has forced Reneau to explore alternate scoring avenues. He's realized the necessity of using speed instead of power to get past defenders, and he's beginning to understand the finesse needed to score in the post. Reneau is also keeping a strong mental focus when the veterans challenge him.

"When it comes to competing with the older guys, just really like not falling into all the trash talking," Reneau said. "Just really ultimately playing my game."

And during a full offseason going head-to-head with two of the conference's top big men, Reneau is absorbing all he can before his freshman season. 

Reneau, like Jackson-Davis, is a lefty. The freshman is taking note on how Jackson-Davis controls his defender in the post and gets easy baskets, in particular. The 6-foot-9, 235-pound Reneau is nearly identical in height and weight to Jackson-Davis, who can be a model for Reneau moving forward. 

"I keep in mind what [Jackson-Davis] does as a lefty," Reneau said. "I look at that, and I see how I can have a resemblance to Trayce being tough and being dominant down low."

During practice, Reneau is playing both power forward and center. While clashing with Jackson-Davis and Thompson in the paint is preparing Reneau for the physicality of the Big Ten, he's also getting the hang of the perimeter responsibilities of Mike Woodson's offense.

Woodson's scheme involves frequent perimeter play from the power forward, which Reneau has embraced. He's polishing everything from his mid-range and 3-point jump shots, to being able to guard positions one through five, feel comfortable when attacking close-outs and switching screens on defense.

Reneau arrives in Bloomington as the Big Ten's top-ranked freshman forward, according to the SI99 rankings. He completes an Indiana front court that is shaping up to be one of the deepest and most talented in the country, with Reneau, Jackson-Davis, Thompson and Jordan Geronimo.

Indiana hosts North Carolina in the 2022 Big Ten/ACC Challenge, an outcome that could be decided by which team controls the paint. The Tar Heels boast a front court of Armando Bacot Jr. – who posted a double-double in every game of North Carolina's run to the National Championship game – and Northwestern transfer Pete Nance, a 6-foot-10 forward who scored 14.6 points and shot 45 percent from 3 last season. 

And on Nov. 30 when the Tar Heels come to Assembly Hall, Reneau believes the everyday post battles and high-level competition among Indiana's big men will prepare them for what's to come.

"It's going to help me a lot," Reneau said. "It's going to help not only me, but everybody take their game to the next level, and that's what we need. To take our game to the next level step-by-step and compete against all these other good schools around the country."

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