Vaughn Karvala spent his first Indiana summer showing exactly why the Hoosiers wanted him in the 2026 class: size, athleticism, a real perimeter shot and enough edge to keep flashing upside in every setting he got.
The 6-foot-7, 190-pound wing from Oregon, Wisconsin was the second player to commit to Indiana in that 2026 recruiting class, and his summer gave a pretty clear snapshot of where he is right now. He’s still adding strength, still learning how to handle bigger bodies, but he also produced enough in games and practices to make the long-term appeal easy to see.
Karvala, who graduated from Bella Vista Prep in Arizona and played for Team Herro on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League circuit, got his summer started in Indiana’s exhibition against Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Assembly Hall. He scored six points on 3-for-5 shooting, missed all three of his 3-point attempts, and added two rebounds, a steal, a blocked shot and a turnover in 15 minutes.
His bigger numbers came at the FISU America Games in Lima, Peru. Karvala opened against Peru with 13 points and seven rebounds, then delivered his loudest outing of the summer against the Virgin Islands: 32 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists while shooting 11-for-14 from the field, 7-for-10 from deep and 3-for-3 at the line.
He followed that with 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting against Chile and then finished the event with four points and two rebounds in the other matchup with the Virgin Islands. Across the FISU America Games, Karvala averaged 16.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.3 blocked shots while shooting 25-for-35 from the field, 11-for-19 on 3-pointers and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line.
That production lined up with the summer practice notes, which repeatedly pointed to the same themes: his length, his athletic pop and the need for more strength. On June 18, the report said, “Like Manhertz, it will take time for Karvala to get his body to be Big Ten ready.
But he’ll have that time as a freshman. He also knocked down a solid percentage of his perimeter looks in Thursday’s practice.
Karvala has explosiveness, good size and length.”
A week later, the tone stayed positive. “It was a very good morning for Karvala, who is a good athlete capable of stretching the floor.
He needs to keep getting stronger and putting on weight, but the talent is there to earn consideration for minutes as a freshman. Karvala hasn’t tried to do too much in the two practices we’ve watched and has opted for the simple plays available, an encouraging sign for a newcomer.”
And by July 7, the long view was even clearer: “Long term, there’s a lot of potential with Karvala. He’s very active on both ends of the floor, can make perimeter shots and he’s athletic enough to get the occasional put-back in traffic. As is the case with Manhertz, he’ll have to keep getting stronger and more physical, which should come with time.”
Karvala said the biggest focus this summer has been obvious.
“The biggest thing for me is just putting on weight. That’s my biggest thing, getting stronger, trying to play with these guys that are three, four years older than me. I have to get stronger, I have to get faster and everything.”
He also made it clear that his jumper is part of the package.
“Honestly, yeah, I know my athleticism catches the eye a bunch, but I can still shoot it. But another thing is just working on just rebounding, trying to get extra possessions for us and getting rid of their offensive rebounds.”
As for how he ended up in Bloomington after growing up in Wisconsin, Karvala traced it back to the visit.
“Honestly, whenever I got here on my visit, it was home right then. Just getting to know all the people that were there last year, getting to know Tucker, getting to know DeVries. Just getting to know everybody here, I just knew it was home for me.”
The hardest part so far has been the physical side.
“Physicality, 100%. Just playing with all these guys that have 20, 30, 40 pounds on me.
Just trying to fight with Samet (Yigitoglu), who is the biggest guy I’ve ever seen. Is some of that mental as well as physical?
I mean, you have to prepare for the challenge. Just getting fully there mentally.”
And defensively, he said he’s comfortable across multiple spots.
“Two, three, and sometimes the four, depending on if they’re a roller four or if they’re a pop four, depends on which one it is, because a roller four, I’m going to have to fight a lot harder. Might need a little bit of help.”
After Indiana’s win to open the FISU America Games, Darian DeVries summed up the freshman wing this way: “I think Vaughn’s done a great job. He’s really bought into doing the things we ask.
He’s got great size, athleticism. He can really run.
He’s skilled. And you got to see a little bit of all that in the game tonight.
Well, maybe you didn’t. It depends on how clear that view was.
But he was aggressive attacking the glass. He caught a lob, shooting threes.
So he’s someone that’s just going to continue to get better and better, because I think there’s a lot there for him to continue to grow into.”
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