Starting 5: Indiana college basketball's top newcomers to watch in 2022-23
The college basketball season officially tips off Nov. 7, and Indiana has a new, 11th school playing Division I hoops (welcome, Southern Indiana). In preparation of the 2022-23 season, we asked reporters across the USA TODAY Network's Indiana newspapers five questions about the teams they cover. We will publish one each day this week.
STARTING 5 SCHEDULE
Monday: Potential breakout players
Tuesday: Newcomers to watch
Wednesday: Biggest concern
Thursday: Best-case scenario
Friday: Game I'm most looking forward to
Ball State
This might be cheating but I don't care. The newcomer to watch this season is redshirt junior guard Jarron Coleman. After spending last season at Missouri, where he started 21 of 31 games and averaged 8.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists, Boogie is back. At BSU, Coleman won the MAC Freshman of the Year title in 2020 and averaged 10.6 points 4.9 rebounds and three assists in his first two seasons. Coleman brings a veteran presence and appears to have already earned the trust of a mostly new coaching staff. — Robby General, The Star Press
More:For Michael Lewis, it's a matter of when, not if, Ball State will return to NCAA tournament
Butler
Manny Bates, a transfer from North Carolina State, is unlike any player Butler has had: a mobile, 6-11 shot-blocker. He led the ACC (and was 11th in NCAA) with 2.7 blocks per game two seasons ago.
Not to be overlooked are his offensive skills. He can do more than dunk. He has shown a nice shooting touch on mid-range attempts, and his field goal percentage was .647 two years ago. Still, he has not played more than one minute of a college basketball game since March 2021. — David Woods, IndyStar
More:Not much is expected of Butler in 2022-23. Thad Matta's job? 'Make them better'
Evansville
New Purple Aces coach David Ragland and his staff have also raved about Indian Hills Community College transfer Yacine Toumi since he committed. The 6-10 forward didn't set the world on fire at the junior college level, playing largely off the bench, but Indian Hills is consistently among the top JUCO programs in the country. Toumi represented Tunisia over the summer in FIBA World Cup Qualifying, averaging 7.6 points over three games.
Ragland has praised his work on both ends, saying he can play "almost like a guard" with his qualities off the dribble, his passing and ability to step out and hit a 3 in addition to his post play. — Anthony Kristensen, Courier & Press
More:5 things to know about Evansville men's basketball
Indiana
It’s impossible to look past Jalen-Hood Schifino, the Big Ten’s highest-ranked 2022 signee per the 247Sports Composite. What’s interesting about Hood-Schifino is how often his coach and teammates have talked up his ability to impact the game in multiple ways — shooting, scoring, passing, defending. Even good freshmen often only have one or two immediately translatable skills in college. If Hood-Schifino really can be a two-way impact player for Indiana, he’ll start a lot of games and contribute to a fair few wins this winter. — Zach Osterman, IndyStar
Indiana State
Indiana State’s top newcomer has possibly the best name in college basketball and is a familiar one to basketball fans from the Indy-area. Former Manual star Courvoisier McCauley transferred from DePaul to Indiana State to finish his career with second-year coach Josh Schertz, the coach who recruited him to Division II Lincoln Memorial out of prep school in 2019. McCauley is a proven scorer and the 6-5 guard has a chance to be one of the top scorers in the MVC. — Akeem Glaspie, IndyStar
IUPUI
Freshman guard Amhad Jarrard is a name to remember for the future and freshman DJ Jackson comes from national powerhouse Montverde (Fla.) Academy, but San Diego transfer Bryce Monroe should be IUPUI’s top newcomer. Monroe was the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year at Sam Houston State, averaging 10 points per game before transferring to San Diego. Monroe, a 5-11 junior has great quickness, is a career 34% shooter from 3, and has the experience to run a team from the point guard position. — Akeem Glaspie, IndyStar
Notre Dame
Freshman guard J.J. Starling, a McDonald's All American and Top 30 recruit. Guys like that don't normally give Notre Dame basketball the time of day, but Starling did. He was intrigued by the Irish long before Mike Brey made the short trek over to La Lumiere in LaPorte and picked him up in a red Ferrari for his official visit in September 2021. Starling is going to play and play a lot. He'll do so with the luxury of leaning on a veteran core. Notre Dame had its first one-and-done in program history last season in Blake Wesley. Starling could be the second. — Tom Noie, South Bend Tribune
More:Yeah, these Irish are old, but they're also good and driven to do even more
Purdue
Braden Smith. Don't be surprised to see last year's IndyStar Mr. Basketball in the starting lineup from the opening tip. He missed nearly all of the summer after foot surgery but has quickly blended in with the current group. Smith gives the Boilermakers toughness at the point guard position and is learning to run the offense, which has numerous options. — Mike Carmin, Journal & Courier
Purdue primer: Point guard, post play, defense among topics as practice starts
Purdue Fort Wayne
Deangelo Elisee is a 6-9 junior college transfer from Triton College, where he averaged 9.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4 blocks last season. He shot 67% from the floor and had a 27-point game with eight rebounds and six blocks. — Matthew VanTryon, IndyStar
Southern Indiana
With a total of 10 new players on the Screaming Eagles roster, I had plenty of options to choose from But the one guy I think fans should keep their eyes on is big man Kiyron Powell. The Houston transfer and former Evansville Bosse standout will be called upon to make an immediate impact this season following some injuries in the frontcourt. With his size and ability to make plays on both offense and defense, he could be in for a big year back at home. — Hendrix Magley, Courier & Press
'We project ourselves at No. 1': USI men's basketball hopes first OVC season is historic
Valparaiso
Maximus Nelson, a 6-8, 215-pound freshman from Appleton, Wis., averaged 24 points and 12 rebounds as a senior in high school. His size will give him a chance to make an impact right away. As a junior, he had a 44-point game during the state tournament. — Matthew VanTryon, IndyStar
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: College basketball in Indiana: Division I top newcomers for 2022-23
