The college basketball world can't ignore what Darian DeVries has done in the transfer portal over the last week.
With just one player slated to return from last season, DeVries had a lot of work to do in building Indiana's roster for next season. That work is not complete, but the six portal additions he made last week have Hoosier basketball fans fired up.
Darian DeVries immediately fixing Indiana’s biggest issue should give Hoosier fans hope
DeVries has landed six players in the portal so far: SG Jaeden Mustaf from Georgia Tech, G Darren Harris from Duke, PG Markus Burton from Notre Dame, PF Aiden Sherrell from Alabama, C Samet Yigitoglu from SMU, and G Bryce Lindsay from Villanova. Together, that group of transfers makes up the current No. 1 portal class in the country according to On3.
DeVries has switched up his approach to the portal from last offseason, and so far it is yielding tremendous results.
Darian DeVries was looking for size, and he found it
During DeVries' first season at the helm of the Indiana basketball program, the Hoosiers desperately missed size, physicality, and athleticism at the 4 and 5 positions. Indiana's frontcourt was undersized, which limited IU on the glass on both ends of the floor. That resulted in the Hoosiers ranking 13th in the Big Ten with 32.4 total rebounds per game, and dead last in the conference with just 8.2 offensive rebounds per game. DeVries knew he needed to find size to build Indiana's frontcourt back up, and he found it in the form of SMU center Samet Yigitoglu and Alabama power forward Aiden Sherrell.
Yigitoglu was ranked as the No. 7 center and No. 37 overall player on the market according to 247Sports. This past season, the 7'2" center averaged 10.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting an impressive 62.8% from the floor. He was one of the most coveted true centers out there, and DeVries made sure to land him.
DeVries also brought in Aiden Sherrell from Alabama to shore up IU's frontcourt. A 6'11" power forward, Sherrell is Indiana's highest-ranked transfer addition coming in as the No. 11 overall player and the No. 5 power forward in the portal according to 247Sports. Playing in all 34 games for the Crimson Tide this past season, Sherrell averaged 11.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game while shooting 53.9% from the floor. He also shot 71.3% from the free throw line.
Together, Yigitoglu and Sherrell have the potential to form a great 1-2 punch in Indiana's frontcourt next season.
Indiana has landed proven high-major talent
Last offseason, DeVries' transfer portal strategy revolved around finding experience mid-major players. Using the process, he brought in Tucker DeVries from West Virginia, Lamar Wilkerson from Sam Houston State, Reed Bailey from Davidson, Nick Dorn from Elon, Tayton Conerway from Troy, Jasai Miles from North Florida, Josh Harris from North Florida, Conor Enright from DePaul, Sam Alexis from Florida, and Jason Drake from Drexel. The class was ranked as the No. 10 portal class in the country by 247Sports.
That plan didn't work, as Indiana went 18-14 and missed the NCAA Tournament once again. With Hoosier fans getting hungry for a March Madness run, DeVries switched up his approach to the portal.
This offseason, he is targeting proven players from the high-major level. So far, all of Indiana's portal additions have multiple years of high-major experience and multiple years of eligibilty remaining. That is a stark contrast from last year's portal class. Of Indiana's 10 incoming transfers last year, zero players had multiple seasons of experience at the high-major level and only four had multiple years of eligibility remaining. That gives IU fans a more positive outlook on the future of the program for 2026 and beyond.
Indiana's offensive efficiency should be much better in 2026-27
Indiana's guard rotation is already in good shape thanks to the additions of Burton, Harris, Mustaf, and Lindsay. Burton is the headliner of that group, as he was among the best point guards on the market. He's been one of the top scorers in the ACC over the last three seasons, leading all ACC freshmen with 17.5 points per game in 2023-24 and leading the entire conference with 21.3 points per game in 2024-25.
Lindsay is a knock-down shooter, and his pairing with Burton leading the show gives Indiana plenty of offensive hope next season. Mustaf is a physical wing who can help out on the glass as well. It will be interesting to see where Harris fits into the mix, but IU's backcourt and scoring efficiency should be much-improved in Year 2 of the DeVries era.
As DeVries continues to build his roster for next season, be sure to follow along with all the latest portal developments using our 2026 Indiana Basketball Transfer Portal Tracker.
Add us as a preferred source on Google