IU basketball was one of Jaeden Mustaf’s six finalists as a four-star recruit out of high school.
The 6-foot-6 wing from Bowie, Maryland, ultimately chose Georgia Tech, where he started 33 games over two seasons and averaged 9.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and two assists while shooting 41.5 percent from the floor.
A coaching change at Georgia Tech last spring – Damon Stoudamire was fired after three seasons – led Mustaf to the transfer portal and a chance to evaluate his options for the 2026-27 season.
Shortly after taking an official visit to Bloomington in April, Mustaf became the first portal commitment for the Hoosiers in 2026.
A strong relationship with Kenny Johnson was a major positive for IU in its pursuit of Mustaf, as was the lure of playing at a program with a storied history.
“Of course, the coaching staff,” Mustaf said when asked Thursday what led him to Indiana. “Of course, Kenny (Johnson) was here. But aside from Kenny, I mean, (Coach) DeVries, Coach Rod (Clark), two other coaches. I kind of knew some of the guys. And then on top of that, it’s Indiana, it’s a Blue Blood. It’s hard to turn that down twice.”
After watching a pair of IU practices over the last two weeks, Mustaf’s ability to get downhill is a significant part of his game.
Last season at Georgia Tech, he ranked in the top 10 in the ACC in free-throw rate (FTA/FGA) at 49 percent. With his size and strength, Mustaf does a good job of using his size and strength to muscle past defenders and is also a capable above-the-rim finisher.
In a new look IU guard-and-wing rotation, Mustaf’s driving ability should complement the shooting prowess of Darren Harris and Bryce Lindsay.
“My body is my advantage,” Mustaf explained. “So just continuing to learn more and more how to use that, watching film and just seeing different things, seeing how I can use my body more and more to get downhill or also be able to make plays with my teammates. And just putting pressure on the defense, you wanna get paint touches.”
While not known for his perimeter shooting, it’s also worth mentioning that Mustaf owns a career 3-point shooting percentage of 37.2, albeit on limited attempts.
He made 11 3-pointers as a freshman for the Yellow Jackets and 21 last season as a sophomore. As he prepares to play in a 3-point-heavy offense, Mustaf is continuing to work on his 3-point shooting.
“I shoot all the time after practice. And last year, I felt like I had a good shooting year,” he said. “Just how we played in certain roles and stuff like that, it was like, no, I didn’t shoot as many as I probably would have thought from that percentage that I had. But here, they kinda encourage us to be confident and shoot our shots.”
Beyond the statistical contribution he hopes to make next winter, Mustaf is also one of the more experienced players on the revamped IU roster.
With Harris, Lindsay, Mustaf and Markus Burton – IU’s backcourt portal additions expected to be in the rotation – there is no shortage of experience.
“(They’re) dogs, all great guards,” Mustaf said of his new teammates. “Guards that can score, facilitate and then we all kind of get along. I think we all play off each other.”
The biggest improvement IU basketball will need to make next season is defensively.
The Hoosiers finished the first season of the Darian DeVries era with the nation’s 66th-best adjusted defensive efficiency. In Big Ten play, IU ranked 14th of 18 teams in points per possession allowed.
Adding multiple shot blockers in Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu should help, but IU must also improve with its on-ball defense on the perimeter.
The presence of Sherrell and Yigitoglu, however, should allow IU’s guards and wings to apply more pressure and force some turnovers.
“I wanna be aggressive on the ball and I kinda take pride on the ball playing defense and stuff,” Mustaf said. “The times when you do get broken down or blown by or something like that, having that back there behind you, it’s like a comfort for you. Because you know they gotta go deal with seven footers, two of them down in the paint and that’s kinda hard to finish over.”
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