If you’re searching the Indiana roster for the name of the best player, you can stop when you see Thomas Bryant’s. The 6’10” sophomore is one of the most, talented forwards in the country and could easily have been playing in a regular season NBA game right now instead of still residing in Bloomington. But if you’re looking for the most exciting Hoosier on this season’s roster, you’ll need to redirect your eyes to another sophomore, OG Anunoby. The 19-year old London-born but Missouri-raised athlete was thrown into the limelight last December after James Blackmon Jr.’s season-ending injury. From that point on, his role changed from that of an unheralded freshman to providing stellar perimeter defense for 17 minutes off the bench with some highlight dunks sprinkled in. Given his youth, athleticism and length, Anunoby is a fan favorite among the Hoosiers faithful – not to mention a number professional scouts – and is one of the reasons Indiana is expected to compete for a Big Ten title despite significant departures from a Sweet Sixteen team.
OG Anunoby has all the hype coming into this season that he was missing as a HS recruit. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
How unheralded was Anunoby going into his freshman season? According to RSCIhoops.com, there were 260 better players in the Class of 2015 than him — not exactly the pedigree of a typical freshman standout. But once Blackmon fell to injury, Tom Crean was forced to improvise and use a combination of Anunoby and Juwan Morgan to replace the veteran shooting guard. While neither freshman could adequately replace Blackmon’s prolific scoring, Indiana’s defense improved with the pair in the rotation. Anunoby particularly distinguished himself as a defensive specialist (97.6 defensive rating) with a keen ability to defend multiple positions. His contributions helped save the Hoosiers’ season after a devastating injury to one of its starters, ultimately resulting in sole ownership of the Big Ten regular season and a nice NCAA Tournament run that ended at the hands of #1 seed North Carolina.
While Anunoby’s defense was the cornerstone of his contributions last season, his offensive potential is what excites everyone going forward – some of which showed itself in spurts last year. The hope is that he will develop a perimeter shooting game to add to a skill set that is predicated on great length and bounce — effectively turning him into an unstoppable offensive force. Giving credence to that hype were the sophomore’s preseason performances when, in two games, he scored 41 points on 20 shots combined. If Anunoby can keep this level of production up, he — along with Bryant, Morgan and the return of Blackmon — can more than make up for the losses of Yogi Ferrell and Troy Williams. Given this young and impressive lineup, there’s no wonder why expectations are still as high as ever at Indiana.