It’s been an offseason of learning and trying to get healthy for the IU men’s basketball team, and it finally gets to go up against an outside opponent tonight.
The Hoosiers start their exhibition slate against one of the top Division III teams in the nation, Hope College. The Flying Dutchmen from Holland, Michigan, went 24-4 last season but fell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
For IU, this game will serve as a test to see how the newcomers and players that underwent surgery in the offseason respond in a 40-minute full-speed affair after two initial scrimmages in front of a live crowd.
“For our young guys, I think it’s a great opportunity for these guys to play in front of an audience,” IU assistant coach Chuck Martin said. “We’ve talked about the atmosphere at Assembly Hall during the recruiting process, but really, the last two opportunities were the first times they’ve been able to play with people in attendance.”
Three key players underwent offseason surgery for various injuries. Junior guard James Blackmon Jr. will play his first game in Assembly Hall since Dec. 22, 2015, against Kennesaw State. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice right before the start of Big Ten play.
Sophomore forward Juwan Morgan and junior guard Robert Johnson were both tagged with injuries late last year but were able to play throughout the Tournament before undergoing offseason surgery.
Morgan practiced the entire offseason while recovering from shoulder surgery but was cleared within the past 10 days for participation in full-contact situations.
Johnson has been cleared from his ankle injury and scored in the double digits in both live scrimmages in the preseason. With 55 career starts, Johnson is the most experienced Hoosier, and IU assistant coach Rob Judson credits him for his hard work during the recovery process to get back to being the player he can be.
“He worked tremendously hard over the summer with the things he could do, even though his surgery was in the healing process,” Judson said. “He has a high basketball IQ, and he understands spacing very well. In the scrimmages, he got to space, and that team moved the ball, and he knocked down those open shots.”
With IU checking in at No. 11 in the AP Top 25, this game will be another tune-up before IU faces No. 3 Kansas in the season opener in Honolulu., Hawaii.
The Hoosiers haven’t opened up the season against a Power Five conference school since 1999, when IU defeated Texas Tech on the road, and haven’t played a ranked opponent to start a year since 1997, when it fell at No. 24 Temple.
With IU being tested early for the first time in 17 years, these exhibition games are that much more important when preparing, as there’s no time to settle in once the regular season starts.
“Our preparation is highly intense regardless of the opponent,” Judson said. “We’ve had a really terrific fall in terms of that. Regardless of the opponent, as a coach, you want to play at a high level either way.”
