Indiana men’s basketball: Can Mike Woodson Recruit? An Investigation

All recruiting rankings referred to in this column are from 247Sports’ Composite Rankings, unless otherwise stated.

It’s been just over two years since Mike Woodson was announced as Indiana’s next men’s basketball coach on March 28, 2021. The announcement caught some in the national media by surprise, with Gary Parrish asking the brave question: Did Indiana Pay to get Worse?

I won’t do the Clickbait Boyz the honor of linking their articles or Twitter profiles here, but the more ‘substantive’ criticism from that corner of the college basketball world came from Jeff Goodman, who was paid to ask whether then-63 year-old Mike Woodson would be able to recruit.

The first question – did Indiana get worse – was answered in short order when Woodson brought the Hoosiers to the NCAA tournament in his first year on the job. Something his predecessor failed to achieve in four years on the payroll as men’s basketball coach.

I would argue that he answered the second question, regarding his recruiting ability, right away as well. Trayce Jackson-Davis was as good as gone before Woodson was hired, then he was able to retain commitments C.J. Gunn and Logan Duncomb, Archie’s last recruits, within his first few weeks on the job.

Still, the fact that Armaan Franklin left, or more recently the Ledlum recruitment, or even how long Woodson has taken to fill his class of 2023 seems to have left the door open for debate on this topic.

Guys like Gregg Doyel piggybacked off the most successful Indiana season in half a decade to claim that Indiana had an uphill battle ahead of it next season. Losing guys like TJD and Jalen Hood-Schifino would be an insurmountable obstacle for Mike Woodson, so the argument went, and Indiana’s momentum from the last two seasons would, at least, be suspended.

With the commitment of Mackenzie Mgbako yesterday, I am here to say that we need to put this argument to bed. Once and for all.

In 26 months on the job, Mike Woodson has landed commitments from two of the three highest rated recruits since the 247Sports rankings debuted in 2009. His three consensus five-stars, JHS, Kel’el Ware, and Mackenzie Mgbako, already surpass the total number that Archie secured in his entire tenure.

Woodson isn’t just running laps around his predecessor, he’s also put the rest of the conference on notice. While a few people were up in arms when in-state five-star Xavier Booker announced his decision to Michigan State, Woodson has secured the only other Top-10 five-stars to join the conference since Romeo Langford in 2019. He’s gotten twice as many as Izzo in that time span.

In the era of 247’s recruiting rankings, Indiana has never had two five-star recruits on the same roster. Crean had some impressive classes, but the elite talent was spread across his tenure. When his teams were good, it…