There’s a lot of preseason buzz surrounding Mike Woodson’s 2022-23 Indiana Hoosiers squad. In addition to who the Hoosiers return, they add 5-star power forward Malik Reneau.

Race Thompson met with the media on Thursday. The first question he fielded was about Reneau, who committed and signed with Indiana in April.

“Malik is a strong body,” Thompson told reporters. “He already seems like he’s ready to play in the Big Ten, talented big man, handle the ball, shoot the ball, and has a lot of moves in the post. He’s really impressed me, especially in the past two days he’s been doing really well, and I’m excited to get on the court with him.”

Thompson recalled one of Reneau’s most impressive moves so far.

“He hit like a little shimmy 1-foot fadeaway that was pretty nasty that kind of turned my head a little bit,” Thomspon said. “I would say that’s one move that he made in practice the other day. He had a Euro step yesterday on like 2 people that was really nice. I’ve been really impressed with him.”

Answering another Reneau question later, Thompson added, “My early impressions of him are that he’s a great player. I have not seen a lot of film of him in high school. When he got here he was bigger and stronger than I had expected him to be, and he’s just, like I said earlier, seems like he’s already ready to play in the Big Ten. In the weight room he’s strong, on the court he’s strong, he’s athletic, and he’s skilled.

“He’s definitely going to be an exciting piece for us. I think he can help us out a lot.”

Hoosiers fans have a lot to be excited about for 2022-23 with Reneau joining the squad.