Darian DeVries Provides Spring Indiana Basketball Update

After the official signing of all six portal prospects, IU head coach Darian DeVries met with the media on Thursday to provide an update on his program and discuss the program's additions.

Feb 20, 2026; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Darian Devries during the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

With all six committed portal prospects officially signed for the Indiana University basketball program, head coach Darian DeVries met with the media on Zoom on Thursday morning to discuss the incoming players, the remaining needs for his roster and the ongoing preparations for the 2026-2027 season.

Time and Preparation Pay Dividends

The 2025 offseason was a chaotic one for Darian DeVries. He was hired at Indiana University and found himself needing to assemble an entirely new roster and staff, and the condensed nature of the transfer portal meant he spent much of his first couple of months in Bloomington in scramble mode.

The result was a roster that lacked much high-major talent and the deficiencies ultimately cost the Hoosiers a chance at the NCAA Tournament.

With his coaching staff in place for a full year now, DeVries believes the ability to prepare for the 2026 portal played a big role in being able to land six power conference transfers in short order.

We had a full staff in place this time around and we've had a full season in place to go through the league and now have an understanding of what you need. We were as aggressive as possible to get guys on campus as quickly as we could...we wanted to do as good of a job as we could as quickly as we could.

IU Basketball head coach Darian DeVries

Addressing Hoosier Basketball Issues to Fix

DeVries and his staff knew it was necessary to add legitimate size on the interior and increase playmaking in the backcourt. IU’s head coach believes they former was done by landing big men Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu.

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We prioritized needing to get some size and physicality while finding guys that we’ll have an opportunity to retain and keep so we can start to build some stability…I think Aiden (Sherrell) can shoot the ball and can put the ball on the deck. He gives us that spacing and when he gets switches, he can take guards in the post. Samet (Yigitoglu), he’s a big, big guy. He knows what he is and he likes it. When he sets a screen, people are going to feel that.

Darian DeVries

The latter of the major needs, increasing the playmaking from the guard positions, was addressed with the addition of four new guards and wings in Markus Burton, Bryce Lindsay, Darren Harris and Jaeden Mustaf. Notre Dame transfer Markus Burton was the staff's main point guard target and Darian DeVries believes the redshirt junior will be a major difference-maker.

I really like the guards we have coming in. They can score, they can get paint touches which is critical to create opportunities not only for themselves but for the shooting that we have around them. Being able to go make a bucket, we have guys that can go do that for us and I’m excited about that. We have a lot of guys that can go make a play. Markus’ numbers speak for themselves.

Darian DeVries

Of course, the transfer portal is not the only way to add to a roster and improve. Indiana is adding three incoming freshmen to the program and Darian DeVries is excited about what they can do right away.

The trio of Vaughn Karvala, Trevor Manhertz and Prince Alexander-Moody are each top 80 recruits and DeVries has high hopes they can play a role for the team this coming season.

I’m really excited about them. All three of those guys have a chance to come in and contribute and I think they are all very talented in different ways. I love their length and versatility and Prince-Moody is a guard that can play multiple positions. I like what they bring. I’m excited for Trent. I think Trent is going to have a great summer and he’s already had a great spring. As he continues to get stronger, his shooting has come a long way. I’m excited about the jump he’s going to take this offseason.

Darian DeVries

Developing those freshmen, in addition to lone returnee Trent Sisley, will go a long way towards determining just how much the Hoosiers can improve from the 18-14 season that resulted in another missed NCAA Tournament.