After the most successful season in program history, Indiana football is continuing its upward trajectory.
Head coach Curt Cignetti said in November that the Hoosiers have “reaped the rewards of being successful on the field” with recruiting, and that “everything is on the up-and-up.” And after compiling a solid high school class, IU is backing up those assertions in the transfer portal once again.
Cignetti’s first transfer class played a major role in IU’s historic season, with transfers leading the team in most significant stat categories. He’s compiled a group of transfers in this winter window that ranks even higher than last year’s. 247Sports has the Hoosiers at No. 17 in their transfer portal rankings, good for No. 4 in the Big Ten (although, in fairness, Ohio State and Penn State have surely faced additional challenges in portal recruiting from their deep playoff runs). IU has added talent in so many areas of need this offseason, the program looks reloaded for 2025.
There’s one key difference that sticks out when comparing this year’s transfer class to last year’s, and it’s something that illustrates IU’s growth in perception after a big season. Indiana has 18 transfer portal commits so far this year, compared to 31 in total between the winter and spring windows. But even with fewer overall player, IU has already brought in more Power Four talent than it did in 2024.
The Hoosiers added seven players from Power Four teams last year, with four of them — Trey Wedig (Wisconsin), Justice Ellison (Wake Forest), Ke’Shawn Williams (Wake Forest), and Myles Price (Texas Tech) playing significant roles.
This offseason, Cignetti has already secured commitments from 10 Power Four transfers. And most of them, if not all of them, could be major contributors for the 2025 team. Safety Louis Moore (Ole Miss) and offensive lineman Kahlil Benson (Colorado) return for a second stint at IU after transferring away for last season. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza (California), running back Roman Hemby (Maryland), offensive tackle Zen Michalski (Ohio State), wide receiver Tyler Morris (Michigan), and cornerback Ryland Gandy (Pitt) — among others — are the sorts of transfer additions that demonstrate what on-field success can lead to in the recruiting department.
Remaining needs
Indiana’s biggest remaining need in the transfer portal is a position manned by one of its biggest stars.
Mikail Kamara gives the Hoosiers one of the top returning edge rushers in the country. But they could really use another edge out of the transfer portal. IU lined up Lanell Carr Jr. on the other side from Kamara last season, and he had a solid if unspectacular year.
But IU does not have a lot of depth at defensive end behind Kamara. In fact, the other three returning players at the position — Ta’Derius Collins, Daniel Ndukwe, and William DePaepe — have just one combined tackle across their careers. That’s not to say one of them couldn’t step up and break out in 2025, but it’s hard to imagine the Hoosiers rolling into next season without some more experience there.
Offensively, Cignetti has done a good job of filling in holes and adding talent across the board, and he had much more to replace in that unit. The one spot that appears unclear is center, where Mike Katic’s departure left a void. IU has added two offensive linemen in the transfer portal in Michalski and Benson, but neither plays center. So will Indiana shift around some existing pieces and move someone to center? Or will the Hoosiers bring in a center from the portal?
Another interesting area to watch is the returners. Solomon Vanhorse didn’t have to do much as IU’s kick returner last season, but Cignetti did bring him in specifically as the returner. It’s unclear whether the Hoosiers would add another player to handle returns, or whether they’d assign those responsibilities to someone already on the roster.
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