Jaeden Mustaf’s first summer at Indiana gave the Hoosiers exactly what they probably hoped to see from the former Georgia Tech wing: size, toughness and a player who wants to live in the paint.
The 6-foot-6, 210-pound guard from Bowie, Maryland, transferred to IU after two seasons with the Yellow Jackets, where he posted 9.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and two assists in 26.2 minutes per game across 55 appearances. This summer, he got a chance to show how that game might fit with the Hoosiers as the United States competed in an exhibition at Assembly Hall in July and then played four games in the FISU America Games in Lima, Peru.
Mustaf did not play in the exhibition against Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf because of a minor injury. He later dealt with another brief lower-body issue in a July 7 practice, leaving early before watching the rest from the sideline. It was described at the time as not appearing serious.
When he was on the floor, though, the production was steady. Against Peru, Mustaf finished with 11 points, six rebounds and a steal while shooting 5-for-6 from the field.
He added eight points and seven rebounds against the Virgin Islands, then followed that with nine points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot against Chile. In the second game against the Virgin Islands, he produced nine rebounds, eight rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.
Across the FISU America Games, Mustaf averaged 9.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocked shots. He shot 14-for-24 from the field, good for 58.3 percent, and 9-for-14 from the line, which came out to 64.3 percent.
The summer practice notes painted the same picture of his game. On June 18, he was described as someone who can probe defenses off the dribble, attack the rim and draw fouls.
A week later, the notes emphasized that he is not likely to be a high-volume 3-point shooter, but his strength and balance help him get to the basket and finish through contact. The same notes also pointed out that his aggressiveness can lead to a few drives into congestion.
Mustaf said the environment around the group has helped keep things loose even as the work gets demanding.
“I feel like practice is supposed to be hard, but it’s also supposed to be, I mean, you’re playing basketball, so it’s supposed to be fun. You’re supposed to have fun with it. So the coaches, of course, they push us.
“But at the same time, that’s what we need to get better. And so it’s fun, it’s basketball. Doing something we love to do.”
He also explained why Indiana stood out once he entered the transfer portal, pointing to the staff, the familiarity with some of the people around the program and the pull of the school itself.
“Of course, the coaching staff. Of course, Kenny (Johnson) was here. But aside from Kenny, I mean, (Coach) DeVries, Coach Rod (Clark), two other coaches.
“I pretty much, 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.”
For Mustaf, the next step is about expanding his role without losing the identity that brought him to Indiana in the first place.
“I think just growing more and more into a leadership role, using my voice. And then basketball-wise, I would say just fine-tune everything, continue to get shots up, continue to work on the shot, make sure that’s right. And then ball handling, make sure everything, just really fine-tune a lot of things.
“Just wanna be able to help the team out however I can.”
He believes the jumper can become part of that package.
“I mean, yeah, definitely. I shoot all the time after practice, all the time. And last year, I felt like I had a good shooting year.
And 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.”
Still, the core of his game remains the same: use the body, get downhill and make the defense react.
“My body is my advantage. 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 and stuff like that.
“So I’ve kinda been good at that, so I try to continue that.”
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