Darian DeVries Lists Transfer Portal Needs For Indiana Basketball

Following Wednesday's 74-61 loss to Northwestern that likely ends Indiana's season, the first question to coach Darian DeVries aimed at the future.

Because after an 18-14 first season, the pressure is on for year two to be better. Generating that improvement will hinge on DeVries' ability to reconstruct a roster that's set to lose its top five scorers and starting point guard.

He has three high school recruits joining the team, including small forward Vaughn Karvala (No. 51), small forward Trevor Manhertz (No. 65) and combo guard Prince-Alexander Moody (No. 80) –– a freshman class that's ranked No. 19 nationally by the 247Sports Composite.

Seven scholarship players from the 2025-26 roster can return to Indiana for next season, including Nick Dorn, Trent Sisley, Jasai Miles, Jason Drake, Josh Harris, Aleksa Ristic and Andrej Acimovic. But Dorn was the only one of that group who averaged at least five points per game, and last four combined to play just 30 minutes. That leaves DeVries with few, if any, building blocks for 2026-27.

The transfer portal has to be a big emphasis again this offseason, and that's not inherently a problem. But this time around, DeVries has to do a better job of acquiring talent, putting the pieces together and getting them to play as a unit.

What Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries is looking for in transfer portal

Darian DeVries Indiana Basketball — Indiana Hoosiers coach Darian DeVries instructs his team against the Michigan State Spartans at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

"As we've talked about a little bit as the season's gone on, just developing more depth and having more size and physicality for this league is going to be critical," DeVries said. "I thought that was something that we just didn't have a lot of depth there to sustain it over the course of a 20-game league schedule."

"So that's certainly something we have to prioritize to give ourselves just a better chance on the interior, rebounding, being able to post and being able to get guys in and out and sub and have some depth there. So that's something that we'll have to really search hard for."

Taking an optimistic view, DeVries should have an easier time building a roster in his second try. He's had all year to evaluate the players on his roster, plan for the future and consider what he needs for next season.

His staff is already in place, and he'll have the help of Ryan Carr, who Indiana hired away from the Indiana Pacers to be the Hoosiers' executive director of basketball, a position focused on roster building.

Compare that to last offseason –– when DeVries was hired on March 18 and had to speed-run the process of signing 13 scholarship players and a new coaching staff –– and his current situation is far more favorable.

That's not to say it'll be easy. From a more pessimistic perspective, Indiana's mediocre results in 2025-26 could make it difficult for DeVries to convince high-level talent to come to Bloomington and acquire enough NIL money to land those players.

But at least this time around, DeVries has more time to plan and recruit, and he acknowledged the mistakes that contributed to Indiana missing the NCAA Tournament this year. Now it's all about learning those lessons and ensuring year two comes with a noticeable step forward.