When the Archie Miller-era of Indiana Basketball kicked off with a 21-point loss to Indiana State, most did not have much faith in the rest of Hoosiers year. Coming off an already disappointing season last year, a coaching change, and the loss of three key starters, it seemed like IU's season was doomed from the beginning. However, have been showing signs of life recently. After fighting hard and only losing to #1 ranked Duke by 10, IU is 2-2, but playing much better, including a win in the Crossroads Classic over #18 Notre Dame. The Hoosiers are coming together and seem to be rallying around junior forward Juwan Morgan, who has playing excellent and being the leader on the floor that IU needs.
Stepping up as a leader for his team
Juwan Morgan is a veteran on this IU team, but up until this year, he had been a role player for the Hoosiers. He arrived in Bloomington in 2015 on a very good IU team that consisted of now professional players in Yogi Ferrell, OG Anunoby, Thomas Bryant, and James Blackmon Jr. Morgan came off the bench for that team, which would eventually make it to the Sweet Sixteen, averaging only 2 points and 2 Rebounds Per Game. He would be a starter the majority of last season, and posted 7 points and 5 rebounds a game on an underachieving IU team. Now that all those guys mentioned earlier are gone, Morgan found himself one of the most experienced players. It took him a few games, but Morgan seems to be up to the challenge of leading the Hoosiers this year.
Morgan struggled early, but his recent hot stretch has him looking like a star in the making
Just like the rest of the Hoosiers squad, Morgan had a rocky start to the season. He played well, but was inconsistent. Morgan was unable to get anything going in their first test of the season against #22 Seton Hall, only scoring 8 points.
However, since putting up 14 tough points against #1 Duke, Morgan has been playing to his peak potential. Since that game, Morgan has been almost averaging a double-double by scoring over 22 points a game on an incredible 64% shooting, and grabbing over 9 rebounds per game. Behind Morgan's emergence, IU has been much more competitive, and that led to a win over a strong Notre Dame team.
Morgan had a career day, scoring 34 points in Indiana's victory.
While the Hoosiers certainly have a long way to go before becoming the team they want to be, it looks like Juwan Morgan is ready to start leading them on that path.
