IU basketball to face stiff exhibition test on Sunday afternoon against Baylor

Baylor men's basketball players huddle on the court.

IU basketball will conclude its exhibition slate on Sunday afternoon at Gainbridge Fieldhouse against Baylor. Sunday’s exhibition will tip at 1 p.m. ET on B1G+.

Like the Hoosiers, the Bears have a completely revamped roster under Scott Drew, who won a national championship in 2021 and is beginning his 23rd season at Baylor.

Following the 2024-25 season, three Baylor players exhausted their eligibility, including Norchad Omier and Jeremy Roach. Nine players, including Rob Wright Jr., left via the transfer portal. V.J. Edgecombe left for the NBA draft and was picked No. 3 last June. Edgecombe scored 34 points in his NBA debut for the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night.

Despite the complete roster turnover, expectations are high as Baylor begins the season ranked No. 17 in KenPom and No. 35 in BartTorvik. Baylor was recently picked to finish 7th in the Big 12.

Baylor won its first exhibition against Grand Canyon, 79-74, on October 10 at Foster Pavilion in Waco.

Here’s a rundown of the Baylor roster that the Hoosiers will have to contend with this weekend:

Projected starters

Tounde Yessoufou – A 2025 McDonald’s All-American, the 6-foot-5 Yessoufou scored 21 points and made five of his nine 3-point attempts in Baylor’s first exhibition.

A native of Cotonou, Benin, Yessoufou played at St. Joseph’s in California. He’s regarded as an excellent athlete and is showing up in the first round of mock drafts for next June’s NBA draft. His body already looks NBA-ready and he won the dunk contest at the McDonald’s All-American game.

Cameron Carr – IU assistant coach Rod Clark is familiar with Carr, who played at Tennessee before transferring to Baylor. A redshirt sophomore, Carr appeared in just four games last season for the Vols due to a thumb injury on November 17, 2024. He then transferred to Baylor after leaving Tennessee mid-season.

A native of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Carr was terrific in Baylor’s first exhibition. In 26 minutes, he shot 6-for-11 from the floor, including a 3-for-5 mark on 3s, and a perfect 5-for-5 mark from the free throw line. The 6-foot-5 guard finished with 20 points.

Dan Skillings Jr. – Skillings, a 6-foot-6 senior guard, played the last three seasons at Cincinnati and led the Bearcats in scoring as a sophomore in the 2023-24 season. Over 100 games at Cincinnati, Skillings averaged 9.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.8 minutes per game. He’s a career 28.1 percent 3-point shooter.

Skillings was the third Baylor player in double figures in the Grand Canyon exhibition. He scored 17 points and led the Bears in rebounds with 11. He shot 6-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-3 on 3s.

Obi Agim – Agim, a 6-foot-3 transfer from Wyoming who also played at two junior colleges, was a third-team All-Mountain West selection last season and the league’s newcomer of the year. He averaged 17.6 points and 3.4 assists for the Cowboys and shot 43.7 percent from the field.

Agim shot poorly against Grand Canyon, but dished out a team-high six assists in 30 minutes.

Michael Rataj – A 6-foot-8 transfer from Oregon State, Rataj was excellent last season for the Beavers. He averaged 16.9 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 35.1 percent on 3s and 78.8 percent from the free-throw line. Rataj was an All-West Coast Conference first-team selection.

He got off to a slow start in the exhibition opener, scoring just three points in 21 minutes on 1-for-7 shooting.

Off the bench

Juslin Bodo Bodo – The High Point transfer missed the Grand Canyon exhibition with an arm injury and his status for Sunday is unclear. The Yaounde, Cameroon native was the Big South defensive player of the year last season for the second consecutive season.

The 6-foot-11, 231-pound junior is one of the better offensive rebounders in the country.

Caden Powell – The 6-foot-9, 224-pound senior, who is from Waco, began his career at Wyoming, where he played two seasons before suiting up for Rice last season.

Last season, Powell averaged 10.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game for the Owls. In 24 minutes off the bench against Grand Canyon, Powell finished with four points and two blocked shots.

Isaac Williams IV – A 6-foot-1 guard transfer from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Williams will provide depth in the Baylor backcourt. Last season as a freshman, the Oklahoma City native averaged 10.8 points and 3.7 assists at Corpus Christi.

In 16 minutes against Grand Canyon, he had four points, three assists and two steals.

JJ White – A fifth-year senior transfer from Omaha, White was a Summit League first team selection last season as he averaged 13.7 points, four assists and 2.6 rebounds while shooting 44 percent on 3s.

The 6-foot-1 guard played seven minutes against Grand Canyon and made his only field goal attempt, a 3-pointer.

Mayo Soyoye – The 6-foot-10, 234-pound freshman from Nigeria chose the Bears out of Blair Academy in New Jersey. He also considered Maryland and Villanova.

In the exhibition opener, he fouled out in 10 minutes and scored two points.

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Other notes on Baylor

– Two of Baylor’s freshmen will miss the 2025-26 season. Andre Igoudala II will redshirt this season (per Joe Tipton) while Maikcol Perez, a four-star prospect out of Italy, tore his ACL in a workout in September.

– The Bears were 12-for-24 on 3s against Grand Canyon and are projected to have a top 15 offense nationally, per KenPom.com.

– Baylor has won 20 or more games for seven straight seasons and advanced to the NCAA tournament round of 32 in each of the last four seasons following the program’s first national championship in 2021.

(Photo credit: Baylor Athletics)

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