Darian DeVries led the Hoosiers to an 18-14 overall record with a 9-11 mark in Big Ten play this past season, and is slated to return just a single player from last year's roster.
Indiana has now missed the NCAA tournament in eight of the last 10 seasons, and Hoosier basketball fans are hungrier than ever for a March Madness run. As he enters Year 2, DeVries needs to orchestrate a much better season in 2026-27. That means DeVries faces a pivotal offseason as he rebuilds Indiana's roster back up following an underwhelming first season in Bloomington.
Darian DeVries in the midst of a pivotal roster rebuild heading into Year 2 at Indiana
Indiana's graduating class from this past season accounted for nearly 78% of the minutes played and 84.1% of the scoring in DeVries' first season. The Hoosiers bring back only Trent Sisley, who averaged 4.2 points while playing 13.1 minutes per game as a freshman.
That lack of returning production puts even more pressure on DeVries and executive director of basketball Ryan Carr to construct IU's roster for next season.
DeVries' new portal strategy is what Indiana fans have been wanting to see
Relying heavily on the transfer portal is nothing new for DeVries, as he did the exact same thing last offseason after seeing little to no returning production from the 2024-25 roster. However, DeVries is taking a new approach to the portal that Indiana fans have been asking to see.
Last offseason, DeVries focused on bringing in experienced players who logged a ton of minutes for mid-major programs. Using that approach, Indiana's 2025 portal class consisted of 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.
Indiana's latest portal loss could hint that a much bigger win is on the way
Throughout the season, it was clear the Indiana lacked the size, athleticism, and scoring depth needed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Now, it seems that DeVries has learned from that experience and is now targeting steady and reliable contributors as well as role players from Power 4 teams.
So far, Indiana's 2026 portal class consists of Jaeden Mustaf from Georgia Tech, Darren Harris from Duke, Markus Burton from Notre Dame, and Samet Yigitoglu from SMU. With those moves, the tide could be turning for Indiana basketball.
Seeing portal additions come from Power 4 high-major programs gives Hoosier fans more confidence heading into 2026-27. The talent is there, and now DeVries needs to capitalize.
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