Darian DeVries enters Year 2 at Indiana with the kind of pressure that comes with a season that fell short of expectations. The Hoosiers need a sharper 2026-27 campaign, and while the offseason has brought some encouraging movement, there are still real questions hanging over the program.
The good news for Indiana is that the roster has been reworked with purpose. DeVries landed a transfer portal class that is drawing strong reviews, and the incoming 2026 recruiting group includes multiple players who could step into roles right away. Even so, the biggest issue from last season has to be solved before anything else: the frontcourt.
Indiana struggled badly at the 4 and 5 spots last season. DeVries said the Hoosiers simply didn’t have the size and athleticism required to hold up in the Big Ten, and the numbers backed that up.
IU finished 13th in the league in total rebounding and last in the conference with just 8.2 offensive rebounds per game. To address that, DeVries went into the portal and added PF Aiden Sherrell from Alabama and C Samet Yigitoglu from SMU.
Both players bring the kind of physical presence Indiana was missing. Sherrell comes in at 6'11" and 255 pounds, and he finished second in the SEC with 2.2 blocks per game last season.
Yigitoglu gives the Hoosiers a 7'2" center who can impact the game above the rim at both ends. As a sophomore at SMU, he averaged 10.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 62.8% from the floor.
Trent Sisley is back, and freshmen Vaughn Karvala and Trevor Manhertz are also expected to help. But if Indiana is going to make the leap it needs in DeVries’ second year, Sherrell and Yigitoglu have to deliver. If that pairing works, the Hoosiers should look a lot different in the paint than they did a season ago.
The other big test is whether this transfer group can actually function as a unit.
That was an issue last year, too. Indiana’s portal class from the previous offseason was ranked No. 10 nationally by 247Sports, but the talent never fully translated into a smooth operation on the floor. The group lacked high-major experience, and the fit never quite came together.
The result was an offense that never found a steady rhythm in 2025-26. Indiana was stagnant, easy to defend, and far too slow.
That’s not the way DeVries wants his teams to play. At Drake, he built teams that moved the ball, pushed the tempo, and hunted shots early, especially from beyond the arc.
Indiana fans didn’t see nearly enough of that style last season.
For the Hoosiers to take a real step forward in 2026-27, the new transfers have to mesh. DeVries also has to get his system installed cleanly over the next few months. If that happens, Indiana has a path to looking much more like the team its fans are waiting for.
In Other News...
Indiana Just Landed A Massive National Spotlight Moment
Indiana has a fresh national-stage reminder that its recent rise has reached beyond Bloomington. ESPNs early 2026 ESPY nominations put multiple Indiana-connected figures in the spotlight, with former Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza drawing notice in two separate individual categories and the football program earning a place among the nations top teams. Add former IU basketball standout OG Anunoby to the list, and it becomes a pretty strong showing for an athletic department that has been pushing itself back into bigger conversations.
Mendozas double nomination speaks to how quickly his profile has grown, while the football teams presence in the Best Team field gives the program another platform after a perfect championship run. Indiana will have plenty of company among the nominees, with the category crowded by recent winners and title teams, but just getting into that mix says plenty about where the Hoosiers stand right now. The only real question is how much more hardware this burst of attention can bring back to Bloomington when the awards are handed out. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Just Lost Another Experienced Arm To The Portal
Indianas pitching depth took another hit this offseason as an experienced arm moved on after one year in Bloomington. The left-handed reliever had already bounced from Delaware to Indiana, and he entered the portal after his latest stop with the Hoosiers, part of the wider roster churn that has become a constant for programs trying to keep veteran bullpen pieces in place.
His departure adds another layer to Indianas search for reliability on the mound, especially with a pitcher who had already logged a few seasons of college baseball and could give a staff some stability. Instead, he is headed to USC for his fifth collegiate season, while the Hoosiers are left to sort through another turnover point as the roster continues to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Vaughn Karvala Faces One Big Test To Earn Indiana Minutes
Vaughn Karvala arrived at Indiana with the kind of profile that usually gets attention right away: a highly regarded freshman who committed and signed in November and brings the athleticism and scoring pop that made him one of the more intriguing names in the class. For the Hoosiers, though, the excitement around his arrival comes with an immediate reality, since freshmen are walking into a roster built around experienced transfers who have already spent multiple years at the high-major level.
That makes Karvalas path to minutes less about reputation than readiness. His talent gives Indiana another upside piece to develop, but the first challenge is simply finding a way to break into the rotation ahead of older, more seasoned options. The Hoosiers will keep watching how he adjusts, because his role could grow quickly if he shows he can handle the physical side of college basketball and keep his game translating against adults. [Read more 🡒]