Darian DeVries Gives Indiana Basketball Injury Updates: Latest on Drake, Harris, Ristic

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana men's basketball won't be any closer to full health when it hosts Kansas State at 8 p.m. Tuesday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, and reinforcements still appear far from arriving.

During his press conference Monday afternoon, Indiana coach Darian DeVries said he doesn't have a clear timeline for the returns of three injured Hoosiers in freshman guard Aleksa Ristic, junior guard Jason Drake and sophomore forward Josh Harris.

"They're getting better," DeVries said. "That's the main thing. They're all progressing, starting to do more things within practice, so that's a good sign. We'll be excited, again, to have those guys back and get them started working back into some minutes into the lineup and things."

Ristic sustained a lower-body injury at practice in September, as did Harris, who's still wearing a boot on his right foot. Drake suffered a lower-body injury in practice before the Hoosiers' three-game exhibition series from Aug. 5-12 in Puerto Rico, a trip he didn't make.

During pre-game warmups, Ristic and Drake often sit on the bench, boot-free. Harris still has his boot, but he's shed the scooter he used to ride around Assembly Hall during the October exhibitions.

Ristic and Drake are expected to provide depth to an Indiana backcourt sorely needing it. The Hoosiers have only two primary ball-handlers in senior guards Tayton Conerway and Conor Enright — Conerway is averaging 29.6 minutes per game, while Enright is playing 26.2 minutes per contest.

Indiana starts Conerway and Enright, but often, Conerway checks out first before replacing Enright at a later whistle. The Hoosiers occasionally allow senior guard Lamar Wilkerson to bring the ball up the court, too.

Ristic handled on-ball responsibilities as a backup combo guard during the Hoosiers' exhibition games in Puerto Rico, though Drake, a transfer from Drexel, projects as Indiana's top backup point guard.

Harris served as Indiana's No. 3 big man in Puerto Rico, trailing seniors Reed Bailey and Sam Alexis. The 6-foot-8, 225-pound Harris was the last scholarship player off the bench across the three exhibition games, averaging 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game while going 9-for-14 shooting, a 64.3% clip.

During the preseason, Indiana tinkered with two-big lineups using both Bailey and Alexis, but the two have largely split minutes this season. Alexis is averaging 21.8 minutes per game, while Bailey, who's started every game, is playing 18.2 minutes per contest.

The Hoosiers' only other traditional big man is 6-foot-10, 240-pound freshman Andrej Acimovic, who's the lone player on Indiana's roster — scholarship or not — still yet to see minutes this season.

"We're still up in the air a little bit on what that's going to look like for him throughout the rest of the season, but he's doing a good job," DeVries said Monday. "He's approached every day, and he's learning what we're doing at both ends of the ball. But he's doing some good things for us out there."

With Acimovic adapting to the college level and the trio of Harris, Drake and Ristic still rehabbing, the Hoosiers' rotation has been limited to nine players — late-game mop-up duty aside — for a majority of their early-season slate.

And that doesn't seem too close to changing.