Davis’ citation for marijuana possession Monday night, when Mosquera-Perea was also present in the room, was the final straw after a string of drug-and-alcohol related incidents involving IU players that have spanned the past 16 months.
As the program increased the severity of its punishments — ending two players’ IU careers on Thursday — the size of its roster has decreased.
Moving forward, the Hoosiers have 11 players on scholarship — two fewer than the limit.
IU’s once-crowded frontcourt, which was slotted to have eight forwards or centers competing for playing time in IU Coach Tom Crean’s rotation, is now thinner and less experienced.
Mosquera-Perea started 22 games last season and averaged career-highs in minutes, points, rebounds and blocks. Davis sat out last season and redshirted after being struck by a car driven by teammate Emmitt Holt on the morning of Nov. 1, 2014, after moving into the starting lineup for IU’s regular season finale two seasons ago.
Davis had his best week of practice the week before the accident, and he could have been a starter last season if healthy, Crean said at IU’s media availability on April 22.
Now that two veterans of the program are gone, IU’s three-man freshman class, ?especially four-star power forward Thomas Bryant, will have to shoulder a greater load in their first year on ?campus.
With both Mosquera-Perea and Bryant, IU could have always had a rim protector on the floor.
Instead, Bryant is the team’s lone post option, taller than 6-foot-8 outside of sophomore reserve Tim Priller. While Crean will have more experienced and more versatile frontcourt options at his disposal next season ?compared to last, depth could be an issue if injuries arise or if any of IU’s freshmen have a slow learning curve.
Juniors Collin Hartman and Troy Williams, along with sophomore Emmitt Holt, will be a year older and battle tested after playing much of last season out of position.
Throw in Bryant’s classmates Juwan Morgan and O.G. Anunoby and IU will have a six-man frontcourt rotation.
But that number could grow given the Hoosiers’ two available scholarships.
IU is among the final four schools in the running for five-star power forward Thon Maker, who is planning on reclassifying from the 2016 recruiting class and enroll in college by January, according to Scout’s Evan Daniels. Maker visited Bloomington for an unofficial visit March 7, and he watched IU’s regular season finale against Michigan State from behind the Hoosiers’ bench.
While Maker is the most highly regarded 2015 recruit still available, he’s not the only one considering IU. Pioneer Press’ Marcus Fuller reported Thursday afternoon that former VCU recruit Jordan Murphy, a 6-foot-7 small forward, could take an official visit to IU.
Then there’s always the possibility IU signs either a junior college player or lands a graduate transfer similar to Evan Gordon and Nick Zeisloft in past seasons.
Despite the dismissals, the Hoosiers will return seven of their eight leading scorers and rebounders from last season. The team’s high-powered backcourt remains in tact so a case can still be made that the Hoosiers are a top 15 team, as most preseason polls indicate.
