Indiana adds a champ
Head coach Darian DeVries added a proven winner with the addition of Sam Alexis, a 6’8” forward who joined from the Florida Gators. Before transferring to Florida, he spent two seasons at Chattanooga.
Alexis missed the last six weeks with an injury, but was a key bench player for Florida before that. Despite being eighth on the team in minutes per game, Alexis was the fourth highest in usage rate, with the ball going through him in 22% of his possessions.
Being a bench guy with injury issues, Alexis does not have stats from last season that jump off the page. He averaged just 4.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, and .6 blocks in a little over 11 minutes per contest.
Unlike last year’s Florida team though, there are a lot of minutes available in Indiana’s front court, and past production suggests that Alexis could be more of a contributor in a bigger role.
As of now, with 11 roster spots filled, Alexis is one of two guys whose main offensive game resembles a typical center’s. He gets most of his shots at the rim and uses all of his 240 pounds to back defenders down.
When there is a little bit of space, Alexis has a nice set of finishing moves inside that should serve him well against taller centers in the Big Ten. He’s also able to get up above the rim to finish lobs from anywhere on the court.
Though I don’t think anything is solidified in terms of roles or minutes, especially in the frontcourt, Alexis’ production as a sophomore at Chattanooga suggests he could be in contention for a starting spot.
He averaged 10.8 points per game that year, starting all 32 games and posting a whopping 16.2% block rate.
He also played well against high major* competition that season with the Mocs, scoring 16 points with four blocks against Louisville and 13 points with three blocks against Auburn. Those games suggest his production at Florida was an issue of minutes, not the change in competition, that led to a subpar season.
With season averages that vary so much from year-to-year, it’s hard to project just what Alexis’ role will be. He has upside to be a starter, but hasn’t proven himself consistently at the high major level. Then again, neither have any of Indiana’s other forwards.
At the end of the day, if both Todd Golden and DeVries thought this guy was worth a scholarship, I’m going to have to agree. I think he’s a guy with a lot of upside that could be just what Indiana needs inside with the shooters, passers, and creators it has.
*one of these high majors was Kenny Payne’s Louisville, so