Indiana men’s basketball officially starts practice next week for the 2024-25 season, but when the Hoosiers take the court at Cook Hall, they’ll do so with question marks surrounding guards Trey Galloway and Jakai Newton.
Both Galloway and Newton said Wednesday they expect to be at full strength when the Hoosiers begin the season, but Indiana head coach Mike Woodson noted Wednesday there are still hangups with each.
Galloway, a fifth-year senior, underwent offseason knee surgery from an injury he sustained near the end of last season, one that cost him the Hoosiers’ final two games in the Big Ten Tournament and kept him out of summer workouts.
Woodson, speaking at the Hoosiers’ institutional basketball media day Wednesday, said Galloway spent much of his summer trying to get healthy again. Galloway has participated in conditioning work but isn’t yet doing five-on-five drills with physical contact.
“He’s been great,” Woodson said. “He’s done drills and things of that nature, so, we’ve brought him along slowly based on how he’s feeling. But we’re hoping — we open (practice) up next week — we’re hoping he’s able to bang a little bit and get back going and playing at a level where he played last season.”
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Galloway averaged 10.6 points, 4.6 assists and 2.9 rebounds across 31 starts in 2023-24. Galloway had three games with double-digit assists over the final month of Big Ten play, and Woodson noted the Culver, Indiana, native will again be counted on as a ball handler.
Yet for as much as Woodson knows about Galloway, the opposite is true for Newton, a redshirt freshman from Covington, Georgia.
Newton didn’t play during the 2023-24 season due to a knee injury that kept him off the court until this summer. As a result, Newton’s learning sessions came in the film room and through watching practice.
Sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako said Wednesday that Newton has participated in workouts at Mellencamp Pavillion while being involved in practices. Woodson, however, said Newton “still hasn’t fully recovered” from his injury.
“He's had some good days, but we can't consistently keep him in practice and on the basketball floor yet,” Woodson said. “That's been frustrating for him. But he's just got to keep working through it, that's all I can tell him. Medical people are telling him the same thing — you've just got to keep working until you can get back to where you can constantly stay on the floor and play basketball. That's been his hang up right now.”
Indiana begins its season Oct. 27 with an exhibition game against the University of Tennessee in the Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa) and columnist Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer (@mateo_frohwer) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
