ROSEMONT, Ill. - Indiana doesn’t look anything like the one-man show it was a year ago.
That was the clear message coming out of Big Ten Media Day on Thursday, where Darian DeVries spent plenty of time talking about a roster that has been turned over almost entirely and now offers the kind of balance the Hoosiers simply didn’t have last season. Lamar Wilkerson is gone after leading the team with 20.9 points per game, and in his place sits a deeper, bigger group with multiple ways to score.
“There’s just a lot more versatility, and a lot more depth,” DeVries said Thursday at Big Ten Media Days. “One night it could be one of seven guys to go get 20, so we can really spread that out.”
That shift starts up front. Indiana added Aiden Sherrell, a 7-foot Alabama transfer who averaged 11.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and ranks as the program’s highest-rated transfer portal pickup from the offseason. DeVries pointed to Sherrell’s fit as a major reason for optimism, especially with the Hoosiers putting a premium on size and rebounding.
“There’s definitely an emphasis right now about having that size and rebounding.” DeVries said.
“We were able to get big, especially at the 4 and 5, with Aiden; he still has the skill to give us the spacing that we love to. For us, it was a perfect fit.”
Indiana also brought in 7-foot-2 center Samet Yigitoglu from SMU, and brought back Sam Alexis for his fifth season of college basketball, though his eligibility is currently set for 2026 after a lengthy court process. That overhaul matters for a team that finished 13th in the Big Ten in total rebounding and second-worst in offensive rebounding last year.
“We have more size; we are more able to secure defensive rebounds,” DeVries said. “Now, if a guy’s not on, we have other guys that we can go to on the bench. It gives us way more opportunities to survive an off night.”
The backcourt got a facelift, too. Indiana added Markus Burton, who averaged 18.5 points per game at Notre Dame last season, along with Darren Harris from Duke, Jaeden Mustaf from Georgia Tech, and Bryce Lindsay from Villanova. At the moment, Burton, Sherrell, and Yigitoglu appear to be the early starters, while Harris, Mustaf, and Lindsay are still fighting to separate themselves before the exhibition slate.
Burton, an Indiana native, played only 10 games for Notre Dame last season, but his résumé still carries weight. In three seasons in South Bend, he picked up two All-ACC selections and ACC Rookie of the Year honors. DeVries made it clear what Burton brings to the table.
“Markus Burton scores. That’s the option he brings,” DeVries said.
“He’s an elite-level scorer; he can get to the rim. He has an incredible mid-range.
We call that his superpower.”
Harris has drawn praise as well.
“The biggest thing you’re going to see from Darren Harris is just his ability to shoot the ball,” DeVries said of the transfer guard. “He’s very similar to Lamar last year; like when he hits one or two, there are three, four, or five coming very quickly.”
The freshman class is another piece of the puzzle. DeVries’s first full high school recruiting class includes four players, the most since 2022, and three of them rank among the top 115 players nationally: Vaughn Karvala, Trevor Manhertz and Prince Alexander-Moody. The group got an early taste of college basketball on Indiana’s summer trip to Peru, and DeVries said the learning curve has come with both promising moments and typical first-year bumps.
“Our freshmen have shown some great moments. They’ve also shown some freshman moments,” DeVries said Thursday.
“What I love about them, they are incredibly coachable. They come to learn.
They have a smile on their face every day; they just love competing.”
Indiana still has questions to answer, including two open starting spots and a roster with 11 new faces trying to settle in quickly. But the Hoosiers are no longer built around one player having to do everything.
With more size, more shooting and more depth than a year ago, they enter the season with options - and Sunday’s exhibition at Butler will offer the first look. The game is set for 6:30 p.m.
ET at Hinkle Fieldhouse and will air live on WISH-TV.
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