They are hanging their hat on a transfer named Joey Brunk WHO COULDN"T START FOR 16-17 BUTLER. Without any exaggeration, IU has been the FOURTH best program in Indiana for the past 15 years - clearly behind Purdue, Butler and Notre Dame.
Going to be an interesting year for them -- If every one of their starting five improves at a rate that would be truly surprising -- and they have zero injuries -- they are a bubble team with a 6-7 man rotation of decent, if unexceptional, players. Any other scenario, and they are a team that made the NIT last year then lost its two best players by a mile while adding little.
Kentucky fans are debating whether Keion Brooks is physically ready, and whether he'll get robust minutes as a freshman. Without any doubt, he'd be the best player on Indiana's team. He's from there, and was their primary target. And he wanted no part of that ugly train wreck.