The Indiana Basketball Program was once thought of as one of the most prestigious programs in college basketball. With five National Championship Banners, Indiana is known as one of the best. However, the past couple of seasons at IU have not quite lived up to these high expectations. The Hoosiers at IU are looking to return to greatness this upcoming season, and they are starting this reboot by compiling a completely new team.
At the conclusion of last season, four-year head coach Mike Woodson stepped down from his coaching position. Not only did the coaching staff lose their leader, but they also lost two of their assistant coaches in Yasir Rosemond, who is heading to Louisiana State University (LSU), and Kenya Hunter, who has taken a job at the University of Texas. The Hoosiers were on the hunt for someone to fill these major leadership positions in the program. They landed on past Drake and West Virginia head coach, Darian DeVries, to serve as the new leader for Indiana. Once DeVries arrived at Indiana University, he was ready to get to work rebuilding this powerhouse team.
DeVries jumped right into a rather sticky situation at IU. He had a roster consisting of zero players. This was due to four players without eligibility and eight players who had entered the infamous transfer portal (The Daily Hoosier). The only possible returning player from last season for the Hoosiers is Luke Goode, who is currently in the process of gaining a waiver for another year of eligibility due to an injury that caused him to be out for most of his sophomore season. DeVries clearly had a tall task in building this 2025-26 team.
The first step for DeVries was bringing his son, Tucker DeVries, along with him. Tucker played for his dad at both Drake and West Virginia. While at Drake, DeVries was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year twice. Although DeVries has not formally announced his commitment to Indiana, however, it is almost certain that he will be a Hoosier in the 2025-26 season (Inside the Hall). Also joining DeVries on the squad next year are Conor Enright and Reed Bailey. Enright is a point guard out of DePaul University, and Bailey is a forward coming from Davidson. These two were solid additions for Coach Devries, however, he was just getting started.
DeVries went on to add a number of players from smaller schools but with high potential. These players include Sam Wilkerson from Sam Houston, Jasai Miles from North Florida, Tayton Conerway from Troy, Jason Drake from Drexel, and Nick Dorn from Elon. Wilkerson is one of the best three-point shooters in the nation and was looked at by other notable programs such as Kentucky and Auburn. Miles out of North Florida was their leading scorer and was a fantastic addition for the Hoosiers. Tayton Conerway from Troy was named the Sun Belt Player of the Year last season. Jason Drake and Nick Dorn are both sharpshooters and will hopefully help the Hoosiers in the area where they have struggled the most in recent years.
Coach DeVries previously added Josh Harris, another former North Florida player, and Sam Alexis from Florida University. Alexis did not play much for the Championship Gator team last season but was still able to post solid stats for the amount of time he was on the court (TheHoosier). Alexis has huge potential and will most likely be a strong player for Indiana next season.
Overall, Coach DeVries has been making huge strides in the transfer portal during this offseason. With the addition of seven new players, the Indiana Hoosiers will look completely different in this upcoming season with a full new roster. Coach DeVries and the 2025-26 Indiana Basketball team might just be the squad to return Indiana to greatness.
From the sidelines to the headlines, this is Lauren, signing out.
