Can Yogi Ferrell Become The Big Ten’s Best Player?
By Jacob Rude
Last season was a big letdown for the Indiana Hoosiers. Coming off back-to-back Sweet 16 seasons, the Hoosiers knew a let down was coming with the departure of seven players. However, a 17-15 season and 7-11 Big Ten record was certainly not enough to appease the impatient Hoosier faithful.
Problem is, things won’t be getting much better this season. With Noah Vonleh leaving for the NBA and big man Peter Jurkin transferring during the off-season mixed with Luke Fischer‘s surprise transfer in the middle of last season, Tom Crean’s roster is barren for height.
Jeremiah April is the lone true center on the roster, standing at 7-feet tall. After that, the Hoosiers have a trio of 6’9″ forwards in Hanner Mosquera-Perea, Max Hoetzel, and Tim Priller, with the latter two being incoming freshmen.
We’ve already discussed the increased role and responsibilities for Perea this season, but another Hoosier is going to have a big load to carry.
Yogi Ferrell was the stand-out star in last season’s disappointing season. His 17.3 points per contest and 3.9 assists both led the Hoosiers. In IU’s upset win over Wisconsin, Ferrell tallied 25 points and he did it again in their win over #10 ranked Michigan, adding 27 points.
Live Feed
Saturday Blitz
Ferrell came into Bloomington under much publicity. Joining a program that had just reached the Sweet 16, Ferrell was seen as the piece to complete the Hoosiers and take them to the next level. While Ferrell and the Hoosiers won the Big Ten regular season title in his freshmen season, he didn’t quite put them over the top with the Hoosiers unable to eclipse the previous season’s performance of a Sweet 16 berth.
Now, Ferrell is the unquestionable leader of the team with the graduation of Will Sheehey departure of Vonleh. And it appears Ferrell could be prepared for a big season. His jump last season from 7.6 a game his freshman year to 17.3 last year came with a slight increase in minutes, but a major increase in shot attempts.
Ferrell averaged just shy of double the shots he did his freshman year, but tripled the amount of threes he took a night. Fortunately, he showed marked improvement from beyond the three-point line, shooting 40% from deep compared to just 30.3% in his first season.
No one expects that type of jump in production this season, but Ferrell could be one of the top guards this season in the Big Ten. Ferrell will not only be looked upon as a scorer, but he’ll need to help set up the undersized Hoosiers, something he hasn’t excelled at in previous seasons.
Ferrell will have his work cut out for him, though. As the unequivocal leader of the team, he’ll also be the focus of defenses, who will be focused on slowing him down and, subsequently, slowing down the Hoosier offense. Teams were rarely successful in doing so last year, but he also had a better supporting cast last season.
However, if he can be the leader this Hoosier team needs him to be, he’ll also likely find himself as one of the premier players in one of the premier conferences.