Cinderella to Rebuild: Indiana State
Indiana State was America's team this season, winning 32 games and a 2nd place finish in the NIT. Now, Josh Schertz is in Saint Louis and their entire team is in the portal.
If you are a fan of Indiana State, you may be entitled to compensation after this rollercoaster of a season. The Sycamores were ranked for the first time since 1979, had their first 30+ win season since 1979, went to the NIT Championship, and featured one of the most electric offenses in all of college basketball. Now, Sycamore fans are left picking up the pieces of a bright future that has been shattered.
ICYMI: Former Head Coach Josh Schertz has left Indiana State to take the Head Coaching job at Saint Louis. If you are interested in reading more about the specifics of this move, you can read one of our recent posts:
The transfer portal has come collecting and there are no survivors. All within a day, Isaiah Swope, Jayson Kent, Julian Larry, Robbie Avila, and Ryan Conwell have all entered the transfer portal. What was once an elite starting 5 at Indiana State has now dissipated. Many expect they will head to Saint Louis to join their head coach, but there’s no guarantee. With the power of NIL, players like Ryan Conwell might get swept up by higher powers. For Indiana State, their NIL fund of roughly $450,000 won’t be enough to lure these players back.
One interesting note is, Robbie Avila entered the portal with a “No Contact” label. A player can add this label to let other coaches know that there is no need to reach out, they already have a decision made. For Avila, he’ll most likely be trading in one blue jersey for another in Saint Louis.
From a statistics standpoint here’s what the Sycamores are losing:
Transfer Portal:
Robbie Avila - 17.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists
Ryan Conwell - 16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.1 steals
Isaiah Swope - 15.9 points, 3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 steals
Jayson Kent - 13.5 points, 8.1 rebounds
Julian Larry - 11 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.5 steals
Masen Miller - 1.8 points, 0.4 rebounds, 0.4 assists
Aaron Gray - 1.3 points, 1.3 rebounds
No Eligibility Remaining:
Xavier Bledson - 6.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists
Jake Wolfe - 2.1 points, 1.6 rebounds, 0.9 assists
Indiana State is pretty much completely starting from scratch, and interim head coach Matthew Graves has a steep hill ahead of him. Graves has previously coaching experience where he was the head coach of South Alabama for 5 years, posting a 65-96 record. To be fair here, South Alabama is a tough school to win at.
However, the men’s basketball team isn’t the only thing in turmoil. Indiana State’s president, Deborah Curtis is retiring effective June 30th when new president Mike Godard will take over. In a continued saga, former Athletic Director Sherard Clinkscales was fired in January, then Angie Lansing took over as the interim AD. No decision on a permanent AD has been made yet.
To recap:
Indiana State lost their head coach
Indiana State lost the majority of their team
Indiana State has a new president that won’t start until June 30th
Indiana State has an interim AD with no decision on a new AD
That’s a lot of negative effects that will loom over the Indiana State Sycamores. When major changes like presidents and athletic directors happen, often the new hires want to hire their own people. That means that a reasonable timeline may be, Godard takes over this summer, hires a new AD, then the AD has to decide if they want to stick with Graves as the head coach or look for someone else.
Matthew Graves makes a lot of sense at Indiana State, he has a lot of experience in Indiana. He grew up in Indiana, played at Butler, was an assistant coach at Butler, Evansville, Indiana State, and he has been a potential candidate at both Evansville and IUPUI for head coaching positions. That doesn’t mean a new AD won’t want someone else though.
All of this to say, Indiana State has had a quick demise from America’s Cinderella team to now in complete turmoil. Another example of what success can bring as a mid-major, a complete rebuild period in a new world of NIL and an open portal for both players and coaches alike.
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