BLOOMINGTON – The difficulty of Mike Woodson’s roster rebuild, ahead of a crucial offseason, rose substantially Thursday night, when five-star 2024 wing Liam McNeeley reportedly asked out of his letter of intent with Indiana.

McNeeley, the Hoosiers’ lone commitment in the graduating senior class, had been expected to compete for significant minutes as a freshman next season. But it is not just the loss of a potentially high-level shooter/scorer that will leave Woodson smarting tonight.

The 2024 class was, by design, a tremendous focus for Woodson and his staff. The Hoosiers swung a heavy bat in ’24, targeting close to a dozen top-50-or-better players deep into the calendar and eventually emerging as a finalist for three — McNeeley, fellow Montverde Academy teammate Derik Queen and New York point guard Boogie Fland.

Insider: Mike Woodson has critics, and some complaints have merit.

IU could have packed it in. It hasn't. And Mike Woodson, Hoosiers deserve credit for that.

McNeeley committed in November, openly campaigning to bring Queen and Fland with him. But Fland picked Kentucky over IU, a tough late beat for a program that had invested serious time and resources in making him its next elite freshman point guard.

Queen took his recruitment deep into his senior season, only committing last month. At times, public perception suggested the Hoosiers led for Queen (as the same perception briefly had with Fland), but the skilled forward eventually settled on in-state Maryland.

That left McNeeley, the one prize in a class Woodson and his staff had originally intended to be stuffed with them. Now, McNeeley wants out.

It’s not worth doubting the veracity of the reports. Leader of the chorus Thursday was On3’s Joe Tipton, as sourced and connected of a hoops recruiting reporter as there is in the industry. McNeeley asked out, Kansas — one of his original finalists — is circling, and Indiana now has zero incoming recruits in 2024.

The Hoosiers can also no longer count on McNeeley, a player whose reputation as a prolific and accurate 3-point shooter fit perfectly into IU’s biggest offseason need. McNeeley figured to walk into a high volume of starts, minutes and shots. Now, he no longer fits into the plan for next year

It’s a tough beat for a staff that dreamed big dreams in the 2024 class, only to see every one of them declined in the end. Given the program posted a release just Wednesday afternoon touting McNeeley’s selection as a third-team Naismith Trophy All-American, Thursday’s news appeared to be a surprise.

If it was, for a program struggling to hammer out a clear direction forward, it was unwelcome. Woodson will already lose two seniors to attrition (Anthony Walker and Xavier Johnson) after this season. Kel’el Ware will have a serious draft decision to make. IU was already one scholarship shy of its full complement, and McNeeley’s decommitment leaves Woodson another spot to fill.

Assuming for a moment Ware does leave for the draft, that’s three current or likely starters to replace ahead of next season. And that doesn’t take into account any potential portal losses, something every program should plan for out of hand in modern college basketball.

So, that leaves Woodson facing a series of ugly difficulties.

He loses a player that figured to be a key piece next season. His extensive efforts in the 2024 class have now failed completely, all that recruiting capital returning no investment. He has substantial roster work to do, perhaps more than can be reasonably completed in one portal cycle.

Just one day after it was confirmed he would return for the 2024-25 season, Woodson must now mitigate the tangible impact of losing a potentially crucial piece of his puzzle for that season, while also wearing the public-image hit this news will deal a program already perceived to be approaching crisis. He cannot afford even one more defection from next year’s projected roster, or it might reach that point.

By any possible measure, this is news Woodson could have done without. It only makes his task more difficult now, and reflects the tenuous state of the program he remains committed to stewarding back to success.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Liam McNeeley decommits as IU basketball moves closer to crisis mode