The stage is set and the unofficial kickoff to the 2019-2020 Indiana men’s basketball program is just days away. Annually the Hoosier Hysteria event gives fans an opportunity to get their first dose of Indiana basketball after the lengthy offseason. The Hoosiers have not been publically in action dating back to the end of March, nearly seven months ago.

As with every year’s event, there is only so much one can gather from watching the event. At the end of the day, Hysteria is just a glorified public practice that is primarily used for recruiting purposes. However, that does not mean interesting tidbits from the team can’t be revealed.

Hoosier Hysteria 2019 in a flash

  • Event: 2019 Hoosier Hysteria presented by Smithville Fiber
  • Date: Saturday, October 5, 2019
  • Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (Bloomington, Indiana)
  • Time: 4:00 pm; Doors open at 2:30 pm for fans
  • Tickets: Admission is free but fans are asked to donate a canned food item to benefit the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.
  • Parking:  If you plan on arriving to stand in line early in the day, please park in the arena lots (Gates 4, 10-11, and 12).  Special ADA parking is available in Gate 13.
  • Agenda: After player introductions for both teams, head coaches Archie Miller and Teri Moren will address the crowd. Players from both teams will participate in a shooting contest. The men’s team players will have a dunk contest and then scrimmage.
  • Calbert Cheaney: IU Athletics will be honoring the legendary former Hoosier with his recent naming into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
  • Autographs: Men’s and Women’s team members will be available to sign items after the event for 45 minutes.
  • How to Watch: Hoosier Hysteria will be streamed on BTN Plus, which is a premium paid service. You can sign up for BTN+ here to watch the event live.

5. Jerome Hunter’s progress towards being 100%

Photo: IndianaHQ

Now right off the bat, we have to be careful with this one. Jerome Hunter has suffered from a leg condition where the details have still yet to be fully revealed, nor will they likely be ever disclosed. There have been countless videos of Jerome Hunter in practice that have surfaced in the social media world, but the redshirt freshman wing has only played minimally in front of Indiana fans after sitting out his entire freshman season.

If Jerome Hunter ends up participating in the scrimmage, that would certainly not be a bad sign. Indiana fans could get their first glimpse of what Jerome Hunter can bring to the table. As a reminder, he was Indiana’s second highest recruit behind Romeo Langford.

It’s important to temper your expectations by knowing he has been “fully cleared for all basketball activities” for some time now. Specifically for Saturday, it will be interesting to see how much rust he still has after sitting out an entire year of competitive basketball if he is able to join his teammates on the floor.

4. Women’s team new recruits highlighted by Indiana Miss Basketball Jorie Allen

Photo: IndianaHQ

The women’s team under head coach Teri Moren is carrying with them an enormous amount of momentum after their NCAA finish last season. In terms of additions and subtractions, they are netting way ahead when comparing the talent they have added relative to the talent that they have lost last season.

Among those new additions is 2019 Indiana Miss Basketball Jorie Allen. Allen averaged 19.1 points, 8 boards, 1.3 steals, and 3.3 assists per game in her final year at Bedford North Lawrence, giving her a near-2000 point high school career.

Teri Moren’s nationally ranked class also includes five-star MacKenzie Holmes, 6-foot-5 Michigan City forward Hannah Noveroske, three-star guard Shaila Beele, 6-foot-5 center Arielle Wisne, and 6-foot guard Grace Waggoner. Teri Moren has also added a former Notre Dame player Danielle Patterson who was also a McDonald’s All-American. Patterson will sit out the 2019-2020 season due to transfer rules, but she may be featured in Hoosier Hysteria.

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Unfortunately, the ladies won’t scrimmage, but they will have an opportunity put their shooting on display.

3. Trayce Jackson-Davis, Armaan Franklin, and Joey Brunk

trayce-jackson-davis
Photo: IndianaHQ

The 2019 Indiana Mr. Basketball will also be on the floor Saturday. The new additions to the men’s program will certainly be headlined by five-star McDonald’s All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis. Hoosier Nation will have their opportunity to see him for the first time in a Hoosier uniform in a game-like setting.

The last time he was at the event? He was in the stands along with the other recruits watching Romeo Langford and others in the dunk contest.

Armaan Franklin and Joey Brunk are the other two newcomers onto the program for the 2019-2020, and there is respective buzz for each of those players as well. Armaan Franklin has been given compliments for the amount of hard work he has put into the offseason, during his short time at Indiana University. He was also selected for the Indiana Basketball preseason Iron-Man award. Expect Armaan Franklin to compete for guard minutes in this upcoming season.

Joey Brunk was the most recent addition to the Hoosiers. The graduate transfer from Butler University brings a significant amount of experience to the Indiana program right away in addition to his size standing 6-foot-10. Many have commented on Brunk’s impact not only on the floor, but also the leadership he has brought into the locker room behind the scenes.

2. Early hints at where the scoring will come from?

Without the services of Romeo Langford and Juwan Morgan, the Hoosiers have a very big open question around scoring, specifically who from this year’s roster is going to produce. Many are anticipating Devonte Green to be in a position for a breakout season, as Archie Miller intends to use him in the shooting guard position – a role that he has not had in true capacity given the gaps at the point guard position. Coming out of Big Ten Media day, the hype has only increase around the New York guard.

Outside of Devonte, where else does the scoring come from? Perhaps the well-sized group of front-court players between TJD, Brunk, Davis, and Thompson can bang in the paint consistently. Will the guards not named Devonte step up in a scoring role? Does Damezi regain his confidence in his shooting ability that piqued Indiana’s interest when they recruited him? Maybe it’s Justin Smith that blows up next season?

The simple truth is that pie-chart of scoring, outside of Devonte Green, is a complete mystery at the moment. It could very remain a balanced attack outside of Green all year, but there are also a number of potential candidates that could have breakout scoring seasons on this Indiana roster given the open opportunity.

— IndianaHQ (@IndianaHQ) October 2, 2019