The current era of the transfer portal is unavoidable for every college program, and Indiana is no exception. While the Hoosiers have benefitted from the transfer portal with players such as Miller Kopp and Xavier Johnson, IU has also been a victim of numerous departures over the years.
Currently, Indiana has nine former players still playing college basketball at other schools. That list includes Rob Phinisee at Cincinnati; Parker Stewart at UT-Martin; Khristian Lander at Western Kentucky; Michael Durr at Central Florida; Armaan Franklin at Virginia; Jerome Hunter at Xavier; Clifton Moore at Providence; Jake Forrester at Saint Louis; and Damezi Anderson at Detroit Mercy.
With that, lets take a look at each former Indiana player that is still in college and how they are faring at their new schools.
Nicknames at Indiana are reserved for only the biggest of fan favorites, and ‘Big Shot’ Rob Phinisee was certainly deserving of that moniker in four seasons in Bloomington.
Arriving in 2018, Phinisee was a local legend before even stepped on campus as he became IU’s first signee from Lafayette in several decades. In the subsequent four years, Phinisee’s IU career was plagued by injuries, inconsistencies and, of course, plenty of big shots. This season, Phinisee sought a change of scenery and eventually transferred to Cincinnati for his final college season. Unfortunately, Phinisee suffered a fractured foot in early December that’s limited him to just eight games.
It’s hard not to feel bad for Phinisee given the numerous injuries that have derailed a once-promising career, but if nothing else, he’ll always be remembered by his clutch gene. Who can forget about his buzzer-beater against Butler? His last-second shot against Penn State? His career night against No. 4 Purdue that ended with Phinisee being swarmed at halfcourt by a sea of Cream N’ Crimson? For those moments and more, Phinisee will always be etched in Hoosier lore.
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Indiana gave Parker Stewart a home when he needed it most from 2020-22. Following the passing of his father and former UT-Martin head coach Anthony Stewart, Parker transferred to Indiana midway through the 2020-21 season but did not play until the 2021-22 season. In one season at Indiana, the sharpshooting Stewart was an integral piece of IU’s return to the NCAA Tournament.
When Stewart initially transferred to IU, it was under Archie Miller’s coaching staff. But when Mike Woodson took over, it was Stewart’s relationship with assistant coach Kenya Hunter that ultimately convinced him to stay in Bloomington. The Hoosiers were fortunate that Stewart didn’t go elsewhere, too, as his shooting acumen enabled him to become a full-time starter. Stewart finished his one season at IU averaging 6.2 points per game and shooting 39.3% from 3-point range.
This offseason, Stewart transferred back to UT-Martin as an homage to his father, and he’s since taken off. Stewart has started all 10 games this season and averaging a team-high 16.7 points per game.
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There might not be a bigger ‘what if’ over the last decade-plus at Indiana than Khristian Lander’s two-year stint in Bloomington. Everyone knows about his decision to reclassify to the 2020 class and how it might’ve hampered his development, but the former five-star recruit is still figuring out the college game three seasons later.
After two seasons at Indiana that included more volatility than consistency, Lander entered the transfer portal this offseason and headed a few hours south to Western Kentucky. While the hope for Lander was that a chance of environment and move to a lower-level school would help unlock his potential, his production and struggles have seemingly followed him with the Hilltoppers. Though Lander is averaging a career-high 3.9 points per game, his best game this season came in a 13-point outing against Kentucky State, a Division II school. Lander hasn’t topped eight points in a single game since then, and he is still learning to fully harness the talent the once made him a prized national recruit.
To say Lander was dealt an unfair hand is reasonable. Whether or not you believe Lander should’ve reclassified and entered college after his junior season of high school, it’s hard to overlook all the circumstances out of his control. There was the 2020-21 pandemic season that hampered Lander’s freshman year, and then there was IU’s coaching change in 2021-22 that forced Lander to readjust all over again. Perhaps if Lander and IU could do it over again, things would’ve played out differently.
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Michael Durr will always have the Purdue game to look back on, and for that, Hoosier fans will likely hold a special place in their heart for the one-year transfer center.
After spending three seasons at South Florida, Durr transferred to Indiana last season in hopes of becoming IU’s top big man option off the bench. The final results, however, were a mixed, if not unspectacular bag. Though Durr appeared in 30 games, often giving Trayce Jackson-Davis a breather for small stretches, he averaged just 1.5 points and 1.0 rebounds in 7.1 minutes per game. Durr’s fit in Indiana’s crowded frontcourt made for a volatile role, but against opponents with big, bruising interior players like Purdue and Illinois, Durr became an important piece of the bench.
Now at Central Florida for his final year of eligibility, Durr is back in a starting role, having started 14 of the 15 games he’s played in. The Atlanta native is averaging 4.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. And if the Knights somehow play Purdue this season, at least they’ll have Durr’s experience.
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In an alternate universe, Armaan Franklin never transfers to Virginia and instead is the final missing puzzle piece to help this season’s Indiana team chase a Big Ten title. One can dream, right?
But in reality, Franklin has found a home in Charlottesville, Va. over the last two years playing for legendary Virginia head coach Tony Bennett and his pack-line defense. Sound familiar? That’s because Franklin played in a similar defensive system under Archie Miller while at IU, but the success came far less than what Franklin is enjoying this season with the Cavaliers. Franklin immediately nabbed a starting role last season at Virginia, though his production dipped below his sophomore year production at Indiana. This year, Franklin is in the midst of a career season, helping the nationally-ranked Cavaliers with 11.9 points, 4.3 rebounds. 1.2 assists, and 1.0 steals in 28.4 minutes per game.
It’s hard not to imagine Franklin’s wing skillset fitting in perfectly with Indiana’s starting lineup this season (injuries aside), but now Virginia is benefitting from Franklin’s talent. While he never ascended to the true breakout star that some envisioned after his sophomore season, Franklin is every bit as important to Virginia this season as any player on the Cavaliers.
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The highest-rated recruit not named Romeo Langford in Indiana’s 2018 signing class, Jerome Hunter lasted three injury-riddled seasons at Indiana before transferring back to his home state and establishing himself at Xavier.
A former top-60 recruit, Hunter was viewed by many as a potential future cornerstone for the Hoosiers once out of Romeo Langford’s massive shadow. However, an unfortunate leg condition hampered much of Hunter’s career at IU, sidelining him for the entire 2018-19 season, and limiting him to 55 games in the subsequent two seasons. Hunter showed signs of a potential breakout in his redshirt sophomore season, averaging 19.6 minutes off the bench and scoring 6.3 points per game, but he and Indiana eventually parted ways following Archie Miller’s firing and Mike Woodson’s hiring in the spring of 2021.
Now with Xavier for the last two seasons, Hunter has struggled with consistency despite seemingly putting his injury issues behind him. Last season, Hunter started 17 of the 35 games he played in, but averaged just 4.1 points while shooting an underwhelming 32.2% from the field and 21.2% from deep. The Ohio native appears more comfortable this season as one of the Musketeer’s top bench players, where he’s tallying 5.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
From a production standpoint, Hunter still has yet to top his final season at Indiana in 2020-21. It seemed like he was on the verge of a breakout in Bloomington if he would’ve stuck around for a few more years, but IU’s coaching change complicated matters and ultimately led him to Xavier. Instead, Hunter will go down as another big ‘what if’ in recent IU history.
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What could’ve been at Indiana… Clifton Moore was part of Archie Miller’s first recruiting class in 2017, alongside Justin Smith, Race Thompson and Al Durham. And as a 6-foot-10 forward who could shoot, defend, run the floor and rebound, there was palpable hype surrounding Moore’s arrival to Bloomington.
However, the Ambler, Pa. native lasted only two years with the Hoosiers, appearing in 26 games, before transferring to La Salle. In small doses at IU, Moore showed off a well-rounded but still-maturing skillset that was never truly maximized. In three seasons at La Salle, some of that potential emerged as Moore shot 27.2% from 3-point range, averaged 9,9 points and even tallied 2.2 blocks per game. This season, Moore is playing his final year of eligibility at Providence in a bench role, where he’s producing 5.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.
Of all the players in Indiana’s four-man 2017 signing class, there’s an argument to be made that Moore had as much, if not more potential than his three other counterparts. His combination of size and modern skillset made for a potentially great Indiana career. But the breakout never came for Moore with the Hoosiers as his minutes were limited and his role undefined.
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Jake Forrester was also part of the 2018 recruiting class that never made it all four years at Indiana. However, since Forrester’s departure after the 2018-19 season, he’s put together a solid career during his stops at Temple and Saint Louis.
At Indiana, the 6-foot-8 forward appeared in only 18 games as a freshman and struggled to show his full skillset in limited opportunities. Forrester eventually transferred closer to home the following offseason, where he carved out a sizable role at Temple. Across three seasons with the Owls, Forrester started 44 of the 57 games he appeared in, while averaging 18.2 minutes, 7.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. This offseason, Forrester headed to Saint Louis as a graduate transfer, where he’s played in 18 games off the bench and scoring 7.2 points per game.
Forrester’s potential at Indiana was tantalizing, but his tools were raw and in need of significant development if he wanted to become a regular Big Ten contributor. Unfortunately for Forrester and IU fans, neither side got to see the four-year process truly unfold in Bloomington. Forrester has since become a key role player at Temple and Saint Louis, though, and will finish his college career with very respectable numbers.
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It’s been a rough three years for Damezi Anderson since he last put on an Indiana jersey in the 2019-20 season, but he seems to have finally found his footing at Detroit Mercy.
After spending two seasons at Indiana, where he appeared in 39 games and averaged 2.1 points, Anderson transferred to Loyola (Chicago) in the spring of 2020. However, his stay with the Ramblers didn’t go as planned as Anderson played in only four games during the 2020-21 season, and in 2021-22 sat out the entire year while redshirting. Anderson’s unceremonious departure from Loyola this past offseason landed him at Detroit Mercy, to player for former Indiana coach Mike Davis.
Anderson is in the midst of his best college season, starting 18 of the Titans’ 19 games this season while averaging career-highs in minutes (27.1), points (8.5), rebounds (8.5), steals (0.7), and field-goal percentage (38.2%). It helps that Anderson is playing alongside one of the most prolific scorers in NCAA Division I history, Antoine Davis, which allows Anderson to play more freely without added attention. Anderson is listed as a graduate student according to Detroit Mercy’s roster, but he has two years of eligibility remaining — COVID year and redshirt year.
While Anderson’s college career has taken him to three different schools in five seasons, it’s good to see him find a home where he appears comfortable. The former four-star recruit didn’t quite pan out at Indiana as some might’ve hoped when he first arrived in 2018, but he might be finally unlocking his potential this season with the Titans.
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