Indiana is in the mix for one of the state’s top 2027 guards, as Jason Gardner Jr. trimmed his list to eight schools on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-1 point guard out of Fishers High School now has Auburn, Florida, Mississippi State, DePaul, Creighton, Ohio State, Stanford and Indiana on his list. Gardner is an Indiana native, and his high school is less than 75 miles from Assembly Hall.
According to 247 Sports’ Composite Rankings, Gardner is the No. 5 player in Indiana and the No. 63 overall recruit in the 2027 class. He already has at least 20 Division 1 offers.
Gardner’s game is built on speed and pressure. He’s a wiry-strong, downhill guard who uses a ball-on-a-string handle to get defenders moving, then blows past them with a sharp first step. In the halfcourt, he can work his way into the paint almost at will, where he can finish at the rim or dish to a teammate for an easier look.
That decision-making is part of what makes him so effective. Gardner usually makes the right read once he collapses a defense, whether that means taking the layup himself, kicking out to a shooter or dropping the ball off to a big man.
In transition, he’s even tougher to stop. His straight-line speed stands out, and he finishes well on the break thanks in part to his vertical pop.
The one area that still needs real work is the jumper. Gardner has a low release point, which can be an issue for an undersized guard, and he isn’t yet a confident shooter.
Indiana already has one 2027 commitment in Chase Branham, a sharpshooter who could fit well next to Gardner. But the bigger question is how Gardner would slot into a backcourt that could already be crowded with veterans.
Markus Burton, Bryce Lindsay, Jaeden Mustaf and Prince-Alexander Moody are all eligible to return next season, though Indiana’s roster has already shown how much can change from one offseason to the next after the Hoosiers lost nearly their entire rotation this summer.
If even some of that group is back, Gardner may have a hard time finding minutes right away. If the roster turns over again and he lands in Bloomington, though, he could give Indiana exactly what it lacks at times: burst, pace and instant energy.
In that role, Gardner could help push the tempo, create offense in the open floor and make things happen in the halfcourt. Paired with Branham, he also has the kind of upside that could give Indiana a dangerous backcourt combination down the line.
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