Indiana’s OG Anunoby Out For The Season

On Friday afternoon, multiple reports surfaced that star sophomore forward OG Anunoby would miss the rest of the season for the Indiana Hoosiers. It was a huge loss for a team that has struggled to find its footing the last month of the season.

Anunoby arrived in Bloomington with mixed expectations from fans. He was rated as a three-star prospect by 247Sports, but was considered to be a player with plenty of potential. Although his game was raw, if he developed correctly, he had the chance to be a great one for the Hoosiers.

His freshman campaign largely reflected that projection as he fought for minutes early in the season, but gradually developed into one of the team’s best players by season’s end. He brought impressive defensive energy to the floor in the team’s NCAA Tournament run and was huge in the team’s win over Chattanooga, finishing with 14 points and three rebounds.

Much of that energy continued early into this season as well. Anunoby had scored double-digits in 10 games so far and finished with an offensive rating above 100 in 11 games. He was also huge in the team’s wins over Kansas and North Carolina, averaging 14.5 points through those two contests.

Unfortunately, that campaign has now ended.

Anunoby went down with injury during the team’s win over Penn State on Wednesday night and has now been ruled out for the remainder of the season. It’s a crushing blow for Anunoby and Hoosier fans.

Tom Crean spoke about the loss on Friday.

“It has been determined that OG Anunoby will undergo surgery on his right knee and will miss the remainder of the season,” Tom Crean said. “He is expected to make a complete recovery. For a young man, OG has a very strong faith and a courageous spirit. We are going to do everything as a basketball family to help him recover and rehabilitate from this unfortunate situation."

For Indiana, the pressure will now be on Juwan Morgan and the team’s inconsistent backcourt to pick up their production. No player will be able to replace Anunoby alone, but perhaps with a group effort, they can at least alleviate some of the hit to the team’s production.

This injury also comes at a really unfortunate time for the team as Indiana prepares for a tricky portion of Big Ten play. Three of the team’s next five games will come on the road and one of its home games will come against a Michigan State team trying to get back on track.

For Anunoby, this will likely end his career at Indiana. Most project him to be a First Round NBA Draft pick and I certainly expect him to declare soon after the season’s end. Nobody likes to go out this way and it will be disappointing to see a player with so much potential end his two-year career having played in just 50 total games.