USA Today
Indiana Ranks Second in Percentage of Returning Minutes
After getting a taste of the NCAA Tournament in 2022, the majority of Indiana's contributors are eager to run it back.
The Hoosiers return players that add up to 78.1 percentage of minutes played from last season, which ranks second in the nation behind the Virginia Cavaliers, who return 87.8 percent of their minutes. Behind Virginia and Indiana are TCU, North Carolina, Boston College, Arizona, Vanderbilt and Auburn.
Indiana's roster for the 2022-2023 season will consist of four returning starters – Xavier Johnson, Miller Kopp, Race Thompson and Trayce Jackson-Davis – plus a multitude of options off the bench. This combination makes Indiana the second most experienced team in college basketball in terms of percentage of returning minutes.
Trayce Jackson-Davis led Indiana in minutes played last season at 32.3, followed by Thompson, Johnson and Kopp, who each played over 25 minutes per game. Indiana's two biggest losses, in terms of minutes played, are Parker Stewart at 24.4 and Rob Phinissee at 18.3. Khristian Lander and Michael Durr combined for just over 15 minutes per game last season.
Trey Galloway played the most minutes of any non-starter for Indiana last season at 20.3 minutes per game. Jordan Geronimo and Tamar Bates both averaged just under 15 minutes, but are prime candidates to take on larger roles next season. Anthony Leal appeared in just 17 of 35 games, but averaged 10.2 minutes in those games.
Indiana brings in a top 10 recruiting class next season, which means minutes will be extremely competitive throughout the season. Five-star recruit Jalen Hood-Schifino should compete for a starting role with the loss of Parker Stewart and Rob Phinisee. Hood-Schifino's high school teammate at Montverde Academy and fellow five-star recruit Malik Reneau will have to battle Jackson-Davis, Thompson and Geronimo for minutes, but he has the talent to crack the rotation.
Jackson-Davis mentioned last season that Indiana's roster was full of guys who had never won anything significant at the college level. While that still may be true as Indiana was defeated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season, the Hoosiers made a run in the Big Ten Tournament and got their first taste of March Madness.
Jackson-Davis said after his decision to return to Indiana that he believes the team will have much more chemistry on the court in his fourth season. Last year, Indiana added three starters through the transfer portal, and the Hoosiers were learning to play with each other as the season went along.
But now, Indiana has the second-most experienced roster in college basketball, which could prove to be an important factor come March.
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