Luke Goode Says Case For 5th Year ‘More Than Justifiable’

Indiana senior forward Luke Goode is petitioning for a fifth year of eligibility in 2025-26, due to an injury during his sophomore year at Illinois. Given the chance, he’d love to return to Indiana.

Indiana's Luke Goode (10) walks off the court after a 72-59 loss to Oregon in the Big Ten Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. / Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Luke Goode hopes Thursday wasn’t his last college basketball game.

Not only because he scored just one point and missed all five shots from the field in Indiana’s 72-59 loss to Oregon in the Big Ten Tournament, which put its NCAA Tournament chances at risk. But also because he’s petitioning for a fifth year of eligibility in 2025-26.

So as Goode sat in his locker after the loss, uncertainty surrounded him. 

“We’ll start really looking into that after the season,” Goode said of his application for a medical hardship waiver. 

“We’re really focused on this [season] right now. So I know it’s not the typical situation where people would ask for waivers, but we got some people working on it and I’d be very fortunate to play another year. I think with everything now going on in college basketball and all the extra years they’re giving to JUCO kids and non-DI kids and all that, I think only playing 10 games in a season will be more than justifiable.”

A player of Goode’s age, 22, would typically be out of eligibility after the 2024-25 season. He began college one year after players were granted additional eligibility due to COVID-19. But during Goode’s sophomore season in 2022-23, he broke his foot in a preseason scrimmage against Kansas in October and he returned in February to play 10 games. That opens the door for a possible medical redshirt season in 2025-26.

The NCAA’s hardship waiver criteria includes a few key points. One is that a player cannot have participated in more than 30% of contests. Goode played in 10 of Illinois’ 33 games, or just over the threshold at 30.3% The other is that the injury must have occurred in the first half of the season, and that they cannot have participated in the second half. Goode’s case does not meet all of those requirements.

However, cases like Xavier Johnson’s at Indiana show there is some wiggle room with these rules. Johnson participated in 11 of Indiana’s 35 games in 2022-23, or 31.4%, before suffering a season-ending foot injury. But he was still granted a sixth year of eligibility in 2023-24. The situations are different, because Johnson missed the end of the season and Goode missed the start, but that example shows the rules are not rigid. 

The other layer of uncertainty in this situation is that Indiana coach Mike Woodson is stepping down after the season. As a fourth-year senior, Goode is averaging a career-high 9.4 points while shooting 40.3% from 3-point range – the second-best mark of his career – with a career-high 62 3-pointers. Add his experience and leadership, and he’s a player many coaches would want. 

While it’s no guarantee Goode will be back in Bloomington next year, he’d return in a heartbeat if given the chance.

“I’d do anything I can to play in the candy stripes again, man,” Goode said. “Everybody knows my story, but it’s more than special to be able to come represent this jersey, so if I’m fortunate enough to get that year, I’d love nothing more than to represent this university once again. So hopefully people are working as hard as they can to get me another year. So we’ll be looking at that for sure.”

It’s going to be an anxiety-filled couple of days for the Hoosiers, whose NCAA Tournament odds took a hit with Thursday’s loss. They’re not ready for their season to be over, and Goode is certainly not ready to close the book on his college career.

“Won’t sleep well at all,” Goode said. “But we’ll be practicing hard, we’re gonna do what we do, getting ready for the games and have hopeful thinking. … If we do get the opportunity, which I really hope we do, I think we can make some noise in March.”

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• GAME STORY: Indiana shooting was not consistent enough for the Hoosiers to get past Oregon as the Ducks prevailed 72-59 on Thursday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on day two of the Big Ten Tournament. CLICK HERE.

• WHAT WOODSON SAID: Indiana coach Mike Woodson's postgame press conference comments after the loss against Oregon. CLICK HERE.