Nick Dorn’s portal exit sparks full-blown rebuild for Darian DeVries and Indiana

The Indiana Hoosiers continue to see player after player enter the college basketball transfer portal.

On Thursday, junior guard Nick Dorn became the latest Hoosier to test the portal waters. He is the 5th player from Indiana to officially enter the portal, joining Jason Drake, Jasai Miles, Josh Harris, and Aleksa Ristic.

Indiana junior guard Nick Dorn enters the transfer portal

Dorn spent the first two seasons of his college career at Elon before transferring to Indiana. This season, he appeared in 30 games with 12 starts and averaged 8.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per game while playing 23.2 minutes per game. He also led the team with a three-point percentage of 38.0%.

Dorn had his moments in his lone season as a Hoosier, as he averaged over 20 points per game in a four-game stretch at the end of January. However, he fizzled down the stretch and scored double-digit points just twice in his last 10 games.

Dorn's move to seek a new opportunity puts even more pressure on Darian DeVries as he enters his second season in Bloomington in 2026-27.

Indiana enters full-blown rebuild in Year 2 of Darian DeVries era

DeVries will have almost an entirely new roster for his second season at the helm of the Indiana Hoosiers basketball program. Indiana's graduating class of six players accounted for the vast majority of the minutes played and scoring production from this past season, and five player eligible to return are now in the portal.

Darian DeVries aims for Lamar Wilkerson replacement with first visit from the portal

During last year's portal season, DeVries 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. None of those players will be on the 2026-27 roster.

Indiana is now down its top-seven scorers from last season. The lone confirmed returner at this time is Trent Sisley, who averaged 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds while playing just over 13 minutes per game.

Roster overhauls are becoming the new normal in college basketball, as NIL and the transfer portal lead to players changing homes on a regular basis. But DeVries doesn't have much room for error in constructing IU's roster for next season.

His first go around in Bloomington was underwhelming, and after watching Dusty May win a national title in Year 2 at Michigan, Hoosier fans expect DeVries to deliver a much better campaign in 2026-27.