Indiana basketball guard Anthony Leal used his Senior Day speech to announce he was coming back for a fifth season.

The Hoosiers honored a group of seniors including Leal, Xavier Johnson, Anthony Walker and Trey Galloway after a 65-64 win over Michigan State on Sunday afternoon.

As per IU's Senior Day tradition, each of the honorees addressed the home crowd at Assembly Hall. Leal, a former Mr. Basketball out of Bloomington South, didn't waste any time announcing his future plans.

"Hey y'all, so I've felt a lot of emotions over the last few days, it's really been hard," Leal said. "The thing keeping me going is a I really don't have to give this speech until next year."

More: Why Anthony Leal’s attitude gives short-handed Indiana a blueprint for success

Leal had the most prominent role of his career for Indiana this season. He earned a spot in the rotation for his consistent practice habits and with Xavier Johnson sidelined with various injuries. The senior played in 18 games while averaging a career-high 13.8 minutes.

The highlight of the season for Leal came when he hit the game-winner in a 76-73 win over Ohio State with 22.8 seconds to go to complete the program's largest comeback in more than 25 years. He also played an important role with 13 points including three 3-pointers in a win over Iowa at Assembly Hall.

Leal also used the time at the microphone to make an impassioned defense of embattled coach Mike Woodson.

"I do got to make something very clear, adversity is part of sports, for those of you who are so quick to give up and call for quits and everything, there's a reason you aren't coaches," Leal said. "Relax, there's no other coach in the country that I would trust with anything in my life more than coach Woodson and there's no other university that I want to represent. We are going to run it back, but you guys got to chill."

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana basketball's Anthony Leal coming back for 2024-25