Why Michael Cooper Could Be A Transfer Portal Target For Indiana Basketball

A potential transfer portal target for Indiana basketball is Wright State guard Michael Cooper.

In 2025-26, Cooper led Wright State with 13.4 points per game and helped the Raiders win the Horizon League regular season title, conference tournament title and earn a No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

That capped off an impressive freshman season for the 6-foot-3 Cooper, a Jeffersonville, Ind. native. He made the Horizon League All-Freshman team and the Horizon League All-Tournament team as Wright State won 23 games –– tied for third-most in program history.

Cooper shot 44.3% (151-for-341) from the field, 35.6% (48-for-135) from 3-point range and 80.5% (66-for-82) from the free throw line for Wright State. He also added 2.7 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 26.5 minutes per game across 15 starts and 16 appearances off the bench.

Wright State freshman guard Michael Cooper has gotten off to a great start.

Through 3 GP:

14.0 PPG (46 FG%, 41 3PT%)
4.0 RPG
2.7 APG
1.0 SPG

• Capitalizes on defensive breakdowns as a scorer and playmaker
• Shooter, both OTC & OTD from three/mid-range
• Can play both… pic.twitter.com/kSgaBSkyQP
— David Hendren (@HendrenDavid) November 14, 2025

Against Power Conference competition, he scored 17 points against Cal, 12 points against Butler and 13 points in an 82-73 loss to No. 3 seed Virginia in the NCAA Tournament. He scored a season-high 25 points in the Horizon League Tournament against Northern Kentucky.

In addition to being from Indiana, Cooper played for former Hoosier guard Sherron Wilkerson, who's the head coach at Jeffersonville High School. Together, they won the Indiana Class 4A State Championship in 2025, with Cooper averaging 18.7 points per game on 41% 3-point shooting.

Cooper was an unranked recruit out of high school by 247Sports, but now he's ranked No. 23 among combo guards in the transfer portal.

Indiana has needs at every position with a vast majority of its contributors from last sesaon leaving the program. And with three years of collegiate eligibility remaining, Cooper is the type of recruit who could help Indiana coach Darian DeVries establish more long-term stability on the roster.

DeVries has to rebuild Indiana's roster again going into his second season in 2026-27, as he is set to lose six graduating seniors and four players to the transfer portal. It's still very early in the transfer portal cycle, which formally opened Tuesday, though Indiana does not yet have any commitments.

Here's a look at how the roster is shaping up.

Indiana basketball 2026-27 roster outlook

Graduating: Lamar Wilkerson, Tucker DeVries, Tayton Conerway, Sam Alexis, Reed Bailey, Conor Enright

Entered transfer portal: Jasai Miles, Josh Harris, Jason Drake, Aleksa Ristic

Returning: Trent Sisley

No decision announced: Nick Dorn, Andrej Acimovic

Incoming freshmen: Vaughn Karvala, Trevor Manhertz, Prince-Alexander Moody

Incoming transfers: None