Darian DeVries will essentially have a whole new roster in Year 2 of his tenure with the Indiana Hoosiers. Soon-to-be-sophomore Trent Sisley is the only returning player from last year's team, and IU's graduating class accounted for nearly 78% of the minutes played and 84.1% of the scoring from this past season.
Indiana's incoming recruiting class features a good mix of talent and DeVries has put together a solid transfer portal class that is earning high praise across the college basketball world. Indiana's 2026-27 roster currently sits at 11 players, and while he has a few more spots to fill, it's safe to assume that DeVries has his main core of players for next season.
The talent, high-major experience, and potential seems to be there, and now it's on DeVries to put it all together. With IU's offseason moves nearly complete, what is Indiana's ceiling for the 2026-27 season?
Indiana can rise up in the Big Ten standings next season
Life in the Big Ten is never easy, but things could be looking up for the Hoosiers.
This past season, Indiana finished the regular season with an 18-14 overall record and a record of 9-11 in Big Ten play. Those marks had the Hoosiers slated as the No. 10 seed in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. There's no doubt that DeVries needs to improve Indiana's rank in the Big Ten standings next season.
Last year's portal haul featured 10 total players that mostly came from the mid-major ranks. Along with high-major inexperience, the Hoosiers lacked size and physicality at the 4 and 5 positions. That is a recipe for disaster in the talent-rich Big Ten. DeVries has addressed both of those issues in major ways this offseason.
All six of Indiana's portal commits have multiple seasons of experience at the high-major level. The portal class consisting PG Markus Burton (Notre Dame), SG Jaeden Mustaf (Georgia Tech), G Darren Harris (Duke), SG Bryce Lindsay (Villanova), C Samet Yigitoglu (SMU), and PF Aiden Sherrell (Alabama) have Indiana well-positioned to finish better than 10th in the Big Ten this upcoming season.
However, the Hoosiers shouldn't be expected to completely take over the conference just yet.
The Hoosiers should be considered an NCAA Tournament team heading into 2026-27
At this point in time, it's tough to expect Indiana to overtake perennial Big Ten powers like Michigan, Illinois, and Michigan State in the conference standings. All three of those programs are well-positioned to be national title contenders again next season.
Teams like Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin all figure to be competing for a Big Ten title as well. Fred Hoiberg led Nebraska to its best season in program history last year, and Ben McCollum is finalizing a contract extension to stay in Iowa City for the long haul after last year's Elite Eight run. That could spell bad news for DeVries and the Hoosiers moving forward.
With that in mind, don't expect the Hoosiers to take over the Big Ten in dominating fashion. The roster moves DeVries has made this offseason certainly raise IU's floor, but the ceiling is still probably a 4th-6th place finish in the Big Ten. In that scenario, the Hoosiers would be a surefire NCAA Tournament team in the new 76-team field.
After missing out on March Madness in each of the past three seasons, Indiana basketball fans are desperate for not only a tournament appearance, but a March Madness run. If the 2026-27 team reaches its potential and lives up to the hype, a tournament win, or win(s), is well within the realm of possibility.
Add us as a preferred source on Google