Indiana basketball will honor its graduating seniors Sunday afternoon when it hosts Michigan State in the regular-season finale at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. However, the exact number of Hoosiers expected to participate in the Senior Day ceremony is still in limbo.
According to IU coach Mike Woodson, he is uncertain if senior guards Trey Galloway and Anthony Leal will go through Senior Day. Galloway and Leal each have one year of eligibility remaining and could return next season, though neither player has publicly announced their intentions.
“I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to sit down and see what they’re gonna do in terms of senior night,” Woodson said in a Zoom press conference. “So I’ll know more today (Friday) when I sit down with them about that. I know X is gonna go through, you don’t have a choice. But Galloway and Anthony, they do have choices, they could come back another year. So I don’t know what they’re gonna do. So we’ll have to sit down and discuss that and see what they’re gonna do.”
Sixth-year point guard Xavier Johnson and fifth-year forward Anthony Walker are certain to partake in Senior Day festivities as both players have no remaining eligibility beyond this season.
Johnson has been with the Hoosiers program for three seasons, transferring ahead of the 2021-22 season following three years at Pittsburgh. This season is Walker’s first and only in Bloomington after transferring from Miami (FL) in the offseason.
Indiana is on a three-game winning streak with one regular season game remaining and the Big Ten Tournament next week in Minneapolis.
Perhaps the most important news surrounding the Hoosiers this week was two-fold: Multiple confirmed reports of Woodson’s return as head coach next season, and the decommitment of five-star signee and McDonald’s All-American Liam McNeeley.
On Thursday night, less than two hours before Indiana’s road game at Minnesota, reports began to leak that Indiana has decided to retain Woodson for a fourth year. The news put an end to weeks-long speculation over Woodson’s job security after this season.
When asked postgame about the news, Woodson responded: “I’m not discussing with you guys my job. I shouldn’t have to do that. I feel good in my skin in terms of my job.”
Then, 24 hours later on Friday, McNeeley’s decommitment was made public on social media. McNeeley was IU’s lone signee in the 2024 class, and with his departure the Hoosiers now have zero incoming freshman arriving on campus this summer.
To say the least, it’s been a whirlwind week for the Indiana basketball program, and this season still has another week, at minimum, before IU and Hoosier Nation can collectively catch their breath.