Darian DeVries continues to rebuild Indiana's roster from the ground up. Soon-to-be-sophomore Trent Sisley is the only returning player from last year's team, and the Hoosiers lost a graduating class that accounted for nearly 78% of the minutes played and 84.1% of the scoring from this past season.
DeVries has used the portal to land six experienced high-major players who give the Hoosiers plenty of potential next season. The incoming recruiting class is also full of exciting talent, and as it stands, Indiana's 2026-27 roster seems to be in a solid place.
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Indiana's latest recruiting win comes from overseas, as DeVries landed a commitment from German 7-foot center Clemens Sokolov on Friday. Here are three things to know about Sokolov's addition to the roster.
Clemens Sokolov has plenty of international experience
Sokolov heads to Bloomington coming off a season in which he played for VR-Bank Wurzburg Baskets Akademie in the third division of the German basketball league system. He saw steady results, averaging 6.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks per game while seeing 23 minutes of action per contest.
He also has experience playing for Germany in the FIBA U17 World Cup (2024) and FIBA U18 World Cup (2025), and played for ULM in the U18 adidas Next Gen Euro League in February 2025. Sokolov will turn 19 later this month, and should start his Hoosier career as a freshman.
Sokolov brings much-needed depth to Indiana's new-look frontcourt
After DeVries' first season in Bloomington, the IU coach stated that building up the frontcourt was a top priority this offseason. So far, DeVries' frontcourt additions look promising. Last month, DeVries added 7'2" center Samet Yigitoglu from SMU and 6'11" power forward Aiden Sherrell from Alabama through the portal. Together, they have the potential to be among the best frontcourt combinations in the Big Ten.
But more depth was needed. Sisley coming back helps, but he is still relatively unproven after playing just 13.1 minutes per game and averaging 4.2 points during his freshman season. Bringing in Sokolov adds some much-needed depth to IU's frontcourt, and specifically the center position. DeVries didn't have a true center on last year's roster, but he now has a pair of 7-footers to patrol the paint next season.
Sokolov is DeVries' third international signing at Indiana
Last year, Indiana's incoming recruiting class featured Serbian combo guard Aleksa Ristic and Bosnian center Andrej Acimovic. Neither of those international signing worked out all that well for DeVries. Ristic appeared in 12 games and averaged just 0.5 points in 2.5 minutes of action per game, while Acimovic didn't see any playing time at all.
Sokolov marks DeVries' third international signing and the first of this offseason. Needless to say, Hoosier basketball fans are hoping it works out better than Ristic and Acimovic, who both left Bloomington via the portal this offseason. Sokolov shouldn't be expected to see serious minutes early on, but the potential is there for him to make some contributions next season.
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