Indiana's Mackenzie Holmes to undergo surgery but still enters WNBA draft

Mackenzie Holmes, the all-time leading scorer for Indiana women's basketball, has declared for the 2024 WNBA Draft — but there's a twist.

Holmes shared Wednesday on social media that she will undergo knee surgery in May because of her reoccurring knee issues. These issues have affected her career on the court since high school.

With that being said, she will be ready to start at the beginning of training camp in 2025, but she will most likely miss her entire rookie season.

While this announcement from Holmes could be a drag on her draft stock, she had a very dominant collegiate career at Indiana under head coach Teri Moren.

Holmes helped Indiana make its deepest NCAA Tournament run in program history. They reached the Elite Eight in 2021 and had Sweet 16 runs in 2022 and 2024. In addition, in 2023, the program won its first regular season Big Ten title since 1983 and earned its first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Holmes ended her career as a Hoosier by losing to the eventual national champion South Carolina team in the Sweet 16. She scored 12 points and had four rebounds but was a prominent reason why the Hoosiers kept it a close battle against the Gamecocks.

Across five seasons at Indiana, she averaged at least 10.8 points per game. Her career-high average was 22.3 points during the 2022-23 season.

Holmes has a stacked resume. She finished her career with 2,530 points and a school-best field goal percentage of 63.9. Additionally, she had 990 rebounds, which is fourth-best all-time at Indiana. This season, she was named a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection by both coaches and media. She also was an AP-All-American for the past three seasons.

After her last game in a Hoosier uniform, she was emotional. Praising the program and the time that she had to be a part of it.

“I mean, obviously anyone who knows me knows how much I love being a Hoosier,” Holmes said while holding back tears. “I just pray that any high-schooler that is looking at colleges that they pick a school that they feel the same way that I have felt about Indiana.”

While she will have to be on the sideline for her rookie season, many WNBA teams still will likely show interest.

Right now, in ESPN's WNBA mock draft, Holmes is projected to be the No. 19 pick for the Connecticut Sun.