With the start of college basketball season approaching, we’ve moved from our look at other Big Ten programs to our player-by-player previews of the 2024-25 Indiana roster.

Today, our player profiles continue with sophomore Mackenzie Mgbako.

Previously: Bryson Tucker, Jakai Newton, Myles Rice

Mackenzie Mgbako had aspirations to be a one-and-done player at Indiana.

At media day in the fall of 2023, Mgbako told reporters he hoped to be in an NBA training camp in a year. But a slow start to his freshman season proved the five-star forward had work to do to achieve his dream.

Mgbako struggled with IU’s defensive concepts and shot poorly from the perimeter to begin the season. In the crunchtime of some early season games at Assembly Hall, Mgbako was benched for more experienced and reliable defensive players.

“He has to play harder and do the things that we want done on both ends of the floor,” Mike Woodson said last November. “That might keep him in the game.”
It was a learning experience for Mgbako, who used the early season setbacks to fuel his improvement throughout the season.

The McDonald’s All-American kept improving and flourished late in the season, earning co-Big Ten freshman of the year honors. By season’s end, he was one of Indiana’s most reliable offensive players and had made strides defensively.

Those improvements, however, weren’t enough to solidify his status as a draft prospect. Mgbako returned to Bloomington for a second season without even testing the NBA draft waters.

The Indiana coaching staff upgraded the roster in the offseason via the transfer portal, which should benefit Mgbako in his second season.

Rather than being surrounded by teammates who struggle to score and create for others, the Hoosiers now have more playmakers and floor spacers. That should allow Mgbako more clean opportunities to do what he does best: shoot from the perimeter. He may even get some minutes at the four this season when Oumar Ballo or Malik Reneau go to the bench.

While his overall 3-point shooting percentage of 32.7 wasn’t overly impressive, his poor shooting in non-conference played a major factor. In non-conference games, the Gladstone, New Jersey native shot just 13-for-55 (23.6 percent) from distance compared to 37-for-98 (37.8 percent) in Big Ten games. The goal for Mgbako should be to finish his sophomore season in the high 30s or low 40s from a percentage standpoint on 3s.

Mgbako’s offensive game isn’t completely dependent on the perimeter shot. As he became more comfortable in his freshman season, he occasionally used his size to bully smaller defenders going to the rim. Now listed at 6-foot-9 and 222 pounds, Mgbako’s size is problematic for plenty of wing defenders. While he needs to do a better job of picking his spots when he puts the ball on the floor, he was an 82.1 percent free throw shooter last season. Getting to the line as much as possible should be an emphasis.

The biggest question marks for Mgbako entering the season remain his defense and rebounding. While he grew into a serviceable defender by season’s end, he often struggled to defend without fouling. On the glass, he averaged just 4.1 rebounds last season and was just the 49th-best defensive rebounder in the Big Ten. Talking to Indiana’s players at media day last month made it clear that rebounding will be a bigger emphasis this season and Mgbako has plenty of room to grow.

Expectations have risen for Mgbako as he prepares for year two in Bloomington and it’s clear his coach expects more out of him as a sophomore.

“He’s still got to develop each and every day in practice and there’s gotta be a carryover in the ball game,” Woodson said in late August on Jon Rothstein’s College Hoops Today podcast. “But I’m expecting big things out of him. He got off to a somewhat slow start last season and he was able to flip it based on the body of work and him continuing to work hard in practice and he got better as the season went along which is kind of nice to see.”

Bottom line: Mgbako has the talent to develop into an All-Big Ten player as a sophomore. His offensive game needs to become more well-rounded, but it’s clear shooting is the primary strength of his game. The coaching staff will continue to push him to become more of a two-way player with an emphasis on more consistency on the defensive end and the boards.

Quotable: “I feel very comfortable. I feel like last year was a little bit of a shell shock because I was new but I feel like now I’m a little bit more experienced and more acclimated (to the college game).” – Mgbako at media day when asked about feeling more comfortable entering the season.

Media day interviews with Mgbako:

Filed to: 2024-25 season preview, Mackenzie Mgbako