Mike Woodson Looking For Mackenzie Mgbako To Take Another Step

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Mackenzie Mgbako had one-and-done aspirations when he committed to Indiana. But like most freshmen, he needed time to adjust to the college game.

Once he did, the 6-foot-8 wing finished strong and shared Co-Big Ten freshman of the year honors with Iowa’s Owen Freeman. A projected first-round pick last October, Mgbako could have declared for the draft and received valuable feedback following his freshman season.

But the NBA will have to wait at least another year for Mgbako, who announced in April he’d “run it back” with the Hoosiers. This week he began summer workouts for a second time under coach Mike Woodson, who’s expecting big things from the sophomore.

“I can’t help but think he’s going to continue to get better,” Woodson said. “I gotta push him. He’s been working his butt off this summer. They’ve been all over the place. He’s been out in L.A. playing with a bunch of NBA guys and working on his craft there with people we know that can help him do some of the things that we already have taught him.”

“So I can’t help but think he’ll come back this year and make another step, which we need.”

Mgbako scored just 25 total points in his first five games, and he shot just 20.7% from 3-point range in his first nine. He often missed defensive assignments, and Woodson sat him down the stretch of several close nonconference games.

But by the end of his freshman season, Indiana needed as many minutes as possible from Mgbako. He played at least 30 minutes in 15 of the Hoosiers’ final 18 games, something he’d done just twice in the first 15 games.

The final eight games included three 20-plus point performances from Mgbako, who poured in a career-high 24 points in a road win over Maryland, going 4-for-8 from 3-point range. He became more assertive offensively as the season went along, and his defensive awareness improved substantially.

Mgbako finished the year averaging 12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 39.5% from the field, 32.7% from 3-point range and 82.1% from the free throw line. His dramatic improvements are a credit to his work ethic and mental fortitude after facing early obstacles, and they reveal Woodson and his staff’s player development chops.

“It’s a process, man,” Woodson said. “You think because a guy wears a five-star, four-star that they can come into college and tear it up, it’s not that easy. It’s no different than going from college to NBA. There’s a learning curve. I don’t give a s**t how good you are. You have to learn, and it was a learning curve. It was an eye-opener for him because he did struggle early, but he just kept working and working and working and he got better.”

Mgbako started all 33 games for the 19-14 Hoosiers last season, and despite significant roster changes he can be penciled into a starting role again in 2024-25. With the addition of 7-foot center Oumar Ballo and return of 6-foot-9 power forward Malik Reneau, Indiana figures to have one of the bigger and more talented frontcourts in the Big Ten for a second consecutive season.

Still, Woodson hinted last week that Mgbako’s role could be altered a bit.

Indiana improved its guard play by adding Washington State transfer Myles Rice and Stanford transfer Kanaan Caryle, and Mgbako has the size to play power forward, if he’s able to improve his interior defense and rebounding. Much will be determined by the next eight weeks of summer practice, but depending on matchups, Woodson seems more eager to play smaller lineups and space the floor than he did last season.

“Absolutely, just like I played in New York,” Woodson said. “I just haven’t been able to get there, and I think we can this year based on what we brought in. We can play smaller a little bit with Mack and Goode probably playing some four. Even the big fella, I’m going to try to play two bigs just to test it and see, you just never know. He can make threes, so I just gotta wait – these eight weeks of summer play will kind of shape where we are as a ball club and give me some kind of indication going into next season.”