When Darian DeVries arrived in Bloomington, one of the first things he set out to change was Indiana’s work on the glass. That wasn’t a minor tweak. It was a foundational reset.
DeVries, who spent eight seasons as a head coach before taking over the Hoosiers, said he had not typically leaned on heavy offensive-crash schemes in the past. His usual preference was to keep balance and get back in transition defense. But at Indiana, that formula has already given way to something far more aggressive.
The early exhibition games have shown it clearly. Against North Carolina and in the rest of the preseason slate, Indiana has played with a much more physical edge, attacking rebounds on both ends and trying to make that part of its identity.
DeVries said the emphasis was no accident.
"It was certainly something very intentional for us just from a roster construction standpoint and then also a point of emphasis that we wanted to prioritize," DeVries said. "We felt, watching last year and previous years, even the NBA now has changed back to becoming more of a priority. Last year, not getting those second and third opportunities makes it really stressful for your offense on your first shot to be really efficient."
The numbers from the North Carolina game back up the message. Indiana shot about 36 percent from the field and still managed to produce more than a point per possession because it grabbed 20 offensive rebounds. The Hoosiers also posted a 44 percent offensive rebounding rate in that game, a mark that sits among the nation’s best.
That approach does come with consequences. Crashing the glass that hard can open the door for opponents to run the other way. But DeVries said Indiana’s discipline gives it a chance to do both jobs without sacrificing structure.
"If you're going to be an offensive rebounding team and a defensive rebounding team, it's not just physicality, there has to be a discipline to it as well," DeVries explained. "You have to go, as simple as that sounds."
The change has also brought a sharper edge to the roster as a whole. Transfer guard Jaeden Mustaf and the team’s frontcourt defensive versatility have helped set that tone, giving Indiana the kind of physical presence DeVries wants from the opening tip.
With the Hoosiers set for their final in-state exhibition in Evansville before the regular season opens on November 2nd, DeVries is still focused on the small stuff: rebounding, limiting turnovers, and keeping fouls under control.
"We want to make sure that rebounding is always there," DeVries noted. "The effort, the physicality, the rebounding, that all ties together. We're getting better there every single day."
For now, the early returns suggest Indiana’s new look is taking hold fast.
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For Indiana, that makes the next step more interesting than the ranking itself. The Hoosiers are sitting in that familiar space where optimism and skepticism can coexist, with some polls keeping them just outside the top 25 while still treating them as a team on the tournament bubble rather than on the outside looking in. The debate now is less about whether Indiana is relevant again and more about how quickly this group can turn projection into something sturdier once the games start. [Read more 🡒]