The college basketball transfer portal is officially open, and presumably Indiana head coach Mike Woodson and his staff are hard at work reaching out to prospective transfers, seeing how sending texts to those prospective transfers was going to consume so much time the Hoosiers couldn't possibly play in the NIT.
Oh, calm down. I jest.
Besides, it seems Woody and his guys already have their hooks in a juicy prospect, and his name is Magnus Pelkowski.
Big guy. Got some skills. Could develop into an effective power forw-
OK, OK. I jest again. Every IU fan knows Magnus Pelkowski played for the Hoosiers way back in the 1980s.
What I really meant to say is they've got their hooks in a kid named Mike Giomi.
Fine. I'll stop now.
What I will say in all seriousness is the Hoosiers are looking at pretty much anyone with a pulse, given that three current IU players -- Kaleb Banks, CJ Gunn and Payton Sparks -- have entered the portal themselves. That means the Hoosiers now have six schollys available, because Xavier Johnson and Anthony Walker have exhausted their eligibility and Kel'el Ware is expected to enter the NBA draft.
(Quick aside from the totally biased perspective of a proud Ball State grad: Every time I saw Sparks, the former Cardinal, languishing on the IU bench this season, I thought, "What were you thinkin', son?" 'Cause if he'd stayed at Ball State he'd have been one of the top players in the MAC this season and given pro scouts a hell of a lot more to go on than he did as a warm practice body in Bloomington. He might as well have taken an entire year off for all the playing time he got. And now he's moving on again?)
Anyway ...
The Hoosiers have already contacted a bunch of players in the portal, and let me tell you, there are some big names from some big schools on the list. Just to single out three: Michael Ajayi from Pepperdine, Marcus Foster from Furman, and Ja'Kobi Gillespie from Belmont. Also Tre Dinkins from Canisius, Amari Williams from Drexel and Dakota Leffew from Mount St. Mary's.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," you're saying now. "Those aren't big names from big schools, Mr. Blob!"
OK, so what about Deyton Albury from Queens University, then?
"Queens University? What the hell division does Queens play in?" you're saying.
Well, the Royals play in D-I, if you must know, as a proud member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. And Deyton Albury averaged 17 points a game for them this season. So there.
Dinkins, meanwhile, is a 6-2 guard who was Canisius' leading scorer at 15.4 points per game. Williams is a 6-10 forward who is a three-time All-Coastal Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year, and who averaged 12.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks this season for Drexel.
Leffew, meanwhile, is a 6-5 guard who put up 17.5 point, 4.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals per for Mount St Mary's, which plays in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
So can any of these guys play in the Big Ten?
I don't know. And because everyone has players now, even Canisius and Mount St. Mary's and Queens University, who really does know?
"I'd feel better if IU could land another guy from Oregon or someplace, like Ware," you're saying now.
Yeah, well. Mike Giomi played at Indiana and North Carolina State. How about that?
Last jest. I promise.
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