Mike Woodson Has Trey Galloway’s Back Amid Up-And-Down Season

BLOOMINGTON, Ind – Trey Galloway returned to Indiana for his fifth-year senior season facing a significant challenge.

He missed last year’s Big Ten Tournament with a knee injury that required offseason surgery and kept him off the court into the fall semester. There are physical and mental hurdles to overcome when returning from a major injury, and perhaps that threw Galloway’s upward trajectory off course.

Through 21 games, Galloway is shooting a career-low 41% from the field, and he’s averaging the same 2.1 turnovers per game as last season, despite playing fewer minutes in a less-prominent role.

Once a fan favorite, part of the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall crowd turned against Galloway during a 94-69 loss to Illinois on Jan. 14, booing him as he checked into the game. Then Galloway missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity as Indiana led Maryland Sunday by two points with 22 seconds left, part of a late-game collapse in the 79-78 loss.

Yet through the good times and bad, Indiana coach Mike Woodson continues to defend his senior guard.

“I love everything about Trey Galloway. I’ve always loved Trey Galloway, and since I’ve had him he’s been probably one of the hardest working young men that I’ve coached,” Woodson said Monday on his radio show. “It’s just not right that fans are doing what they’re doing to him, because I think he’s working his butt off. He plays hard. He tries to do the right things. He doesn’t always get it right, I get that, but I love him to death. His teammates love him. I know when I put him out there, he’s gonna work his butt off and play hard for us. He makes mistakes just like all players make mistakes, but some of those mistakes you have to live with them.”

Trey Galloway Indiana Basketball — Indiana's Trey Galloway (32) shows frustration against Rutgers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Culver, Ind., native was coming off arguably his best all-around season with the Hoosiers in 2023-24, when he was thrust into the point guard role for the first extended stretch of his career. Galloway averaged a career-high 33.4 minutes, 10.6 points, 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 58% inside the arc – the most efficient mark of his career – though his 3-point shooting fell from 46.2% in 2022-23 to just 26% last season, along with a career-worst 53.3% mark at the free throw line.

In part because he knew Galloway might not be 100% immediately, Indiana coach Mike Woodson reinforced Indiana’s guard and wing depth with transfers like Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle and Luke Goode, and freshman Bryson Tucker.

Woodson eased Galloway back into the lineup, playing him 22 minutes or fewer in the first five games of the 2024-25 season – something he’d done just twice all of last year. Galloway dished 17 assists in his first two games, though it took a handful of games to find his footing as a scorer.

“Trey Galloway came off a major knee surgery, probably a knee surgery that probably takes a little over a year to bounce back,” Woodson said Jan. 21 “And he's been – he's giving us all he's got. I can't complain about Trey. Trey's been a workhorse over the years for me. I've gotten to know Trey probably more than anyone that's still left on this team, and I love everything about him because I do know he tries his best when he's out there on the floor. He's had his ups and downs, but hey, I'm willing to go to war with him every time he steps on the floor.”

Once healthy, Woodson knew Galloway would play a crucial role for the Hoosiers. That was first seen during Indiana’s trip to the Bahamas, as Galloway helped Indiana avoid a winless showing in the Battle 4 Atlantis with an 89-73 victory over Providence.

In the starting lineup for the first time all season, Galloway looked like he’d returned to his normal self. He finished with 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting with a trio of 3-pointers, five rebounds, five assists and played solid defense.

“Yesterday he played 29 minutes, and I was holding my breath that he could get up this morning and tell me that he felt fine, because we hadn’t heard that a lot,” Woodson said on Nov. 29. “This morning, he got up and said it was probably the best he’s felt in a long time, and that was good news to my ears, knowing that Kanaan wasn’t going to play. And it’s easy to slide him into the starting lineup, because I’ve been with him. I know him. He knows me. And he did a lot of good things to help us win tonight.”

Galloway’s season has carried on with both high and low moments. He followed up the Providence game by scoring just three points and committing four turnovers. When Big Ten play began in December, he scored just one point and turned the ball over four times in 26 minutes against Minnesota. In a 17-point loss at Nebraska, he finished 3 for 12 from the field.

Galloway looked to be rounding into form when Big Ten play resumed in January. In three straight wins over Rutgers, Penn State, and USC, he averaged 10 points, 5.3 assists, 3.3 rebounds and one steal per game while shooting 35.7% from 3-point range.

He thought that might be a sign of things to come.

“I missed the whole summer, so it was very tough for me to miss that time with the guys on the court,” Galloway said after Indiana’s 82-69 win over USC on Jan. 8. “I didn't really get to start playing until the end of October, September time. So just missing that time, it was tough beginning the year to have that connection. But now since I've been on the court, we're starting to be able to feed off other guys and stuff, so just learning how we play and it's been good.”

But Galloway followed up the USC game by going scoreless on two shots, committing four turnovers and picking up four fouls in 20 minutes during an 85-60 loss at Iowa. Amid boos and “fire Woodson” chants at Assembly Hall against Illinois, Galloway finished with 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting, five assists, two rebounds and two turnovers and was part of Indiana’s worst defensive performance of the season.

Indiana coach Mike Woodson yells to Trey Galloway (32) against Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Galloway has at least five assists in each of the last three games – a win over Ohio State and losses to Northwestern and Maryland – but he’s also turned the ball over eight times while shooting just 36.3% from the field.

Through 21 games and 12 starts, Galloway is averaging 26 minutes, 7.1 points, 4.1 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 0.7 steals per game. He’s shooting 35% from 3-point range on 2.9 attempts per game, though his 2-point shooting has fallen to a career-worst 45.9%. His free throw shooting is up 10% from last year, though still just 63.3%.

If Indiana (14-7, 5-5) has any hope of turning its season around in the second half of Big Ten play, Woodson is depending on Galloway on both ends of the floor.

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