Jasai Miles announced his intention to transfer Monday, one of three former Hoosiers in the portal so far this offseason and the only one of those three to have played in a game for Indiana.
Miles appeared in 26 games last season, averaging 9.5 minutes per game in a limited role off the bench. He averaged 1.6 points, 1.9 rebounds, and .4 assists per game in those minutes.
Before Tayton Conerway missed a few games with injuries, Miles appeared to have been weaned out of the rotation against high major
competition, seeing under five minutes in four of Indiana’s first five high major games. The exception was the Marquette game, when he saw 14 minutes and added four points.
His season high in scoring came the very next game against Milwaukee, when he went 1-3 from 3-point range en route to six points five rebounds, and two assists.
Once Conerway went down, Miles found himself in the rotation again, primarily as a defense and rebounding guy. He had two rebounds in each of Indiana’s three wins against Rutgers, Purdue, and UCLA, while remaining limited on offense. He scored just five points in that span, all of them being against Purdue.
Miles tied for the team lead in rebounds with six against Michigan State, and ended the year with another five boards against Northwestern.
At the end of the day Miles was perhaps a little too one-dimensional to see a clear path to playing time next year, barring a huge leap in his offensive production. Indiana will miss his energy and need to replace him as a depth piece, but he wasn’t likely to start next season and might be looking for a team where he’d play a bigger role.
With Miles’ transfer, Indiana’s only returning guards on the roster are Nick Dorn and Aleksa Ristic, who saw even less time than Miles did last season and could end up hitting the portal himself. Unless Prince-Alexander Moody comes ready to contribute from day one, Darian DeVries will be building his backcourt from the portal for the second straight year.
