Indiana’s 2025-26 roster will be built this spring by new coach Darian DeVries, who will navigate the transfer portal to assemble his first team in Bloomington.
Inside the Hall will examine some of the prospects linked to the Hoosiers this spring. Today: Texas Tech center Federiko Federiko.
Numbers to know
103 career games at Pittsburgh and Texas Tech: 5.5 points, five rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots in 21.2 minutes per game. Federiko shoots 68 percent from the field and 52.1 percent from the free throw line.
Background and potential fit
The new IU coaching staff continues the search for capable frontcourt players in the transfer portal and one of the latest names to emerge is Texas Tech transfer center Federiko Federiko.
The 23-year-old has spent the previous three seasons at the high major level – Pittsburgh and Texas Tech – and has one season of eligibility remaining.
Born in Cairo, Egypt, and raised in Helsinki, Finland, Federiko played his final prep season at First Love Christian Academy in Washington, Pennsylvania. After initially committing to West Virginia, Federiko went the junior college route and began his college career at Northern Oklahoma, a junior college in Tonkawa, Oklahoma.
In one season for the Mavericks, Federiko appeared in 29 games and averaged 11.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocked shots per game. He earned NJCAA honorable mention All-America and helped lead Northern Oklahoma to a 21-8 record.
He signed with Pittsburgh in April of 2022 and spent two seasons with the Panthers under Jeff Capel.
In his sophomore season, Federiko had his most productive stat line, averaging 6.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.7 blocked shots per game. He followed that up with 5.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.5 blocked shots per game as a junior for the Panthers in the 2023-24 season.
After entering the transfer portal in the spring of 2024, Federiko signed with Grant McCasland at Texas Tech for what he believed would be his final season of eligibility. At Texas Tech, Federiko was a valuable contributor on an Elite Eight team that finished 28-9.
In 35 games, including six starts, he averaged 5.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and blocked 27 shots. He scored in double figures three times, including a 23-point, 12-rebound performance in a win against Oral Roberts in December.
Over the past three seasons, Federiko has proven himself as an elite offensive rebounder and a capable shot blocker. In his first season at Pitt, he ranked 40th nationally in block percentage, according to KenPom.com, at 7.9 percent. In year two for the Panthers, his block percentage of 7.1 ranked 65th in the country.
In each of his three seasons at the Division I level, he has ranked in the top seven of his conference in offensive rebounding percentage. His offensive rebounding percentage of 14.4 at Texas Tech ranked 28th in the country.
He’s also proven to be an elite finisher. Last season at Texas Tech, he shot 74.3 percent from the field, the ninth-best mark in the country.
Indiana was mentioned Monday by Joe Tipton of On3.com as one of several schools expressing interest in Federiko. Junior college players were granted a waiver in January for an extra season of eligibility due to a lawsuit in federal court involving Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia.
The Hoosiers need an efficient frontcourt finisher who can rebound, block shots and finish plays at the rim. Federiko can do all of those things. Given the scarcity of capable bigs in the transfer portal, he’ll be a coveted target for many programs in the days to come.
Scouting video
(Photo credit: Texas Tech Athletics)
Category: Recruiting
Filed to: Federiko Federiko
