Everything Indiana Men's Basketball Darian DeVries Said To The Media At Huber's

STARLIGHT, Ind. – The Hoosier Connect annual fundraising event at Huber’s Orchard, Winery and Vineyard took place on Wednesday evening.

The event, which was been a post-Memorial Day tradition for many years now, featured Indiana men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries and football coach Curt Cignetti.

DeVries met with the media before he spoke to a large crowd of Indiana boosters and fans at Huber’s.

Here’s everything DeVries said to the media.

On the new roster …

DeVries: I'll tell you a lot more here in about a week. The team gets here this this weekend, so we'll start workouts on Monday. But I like the way the roster came together. I think we got great depth in shooting the basketball, which is a priority for us. I think, for the most part, we got good positional size, and a lot of the spots in the center were a little smaller, but every other spot, I think we got some some great size there. And I think overall, we got great depth. And I like the way, I think the pieces were all kind of connect together. They can complement each other pretty well. So like I said, we'll know a lot more here in the next couple of weeks, but excited to get them on campus.

On Tucker DeVries health …

DeVries: Yeah, for the most part, we're getting closer. We're waiting for that final clearance for the full contact, but he's able to do all the shooting, drill works, lifting, which is modified a little bit. But I think by the time we get rolling here this next week, maybe within that first week, we should be fully cleared for full contact and be good to go there.

How does DeVries structure things week-by-week to acclimate the team …

DeVries: The nicest part with taking a trip (to Puerto Rico) is we get those 10 extra practices so we can spread it out, and we'll do maybe one a week where we can get some extra film study in, do some install that type of stuff that maybe takes a little bit more time that you don't have when you only have the four hours a week. So that's the way we'll try to utilize that the most. Then you get those those game opportunities, but more importantly, just some time to spend together when you got a whole new group, just to kind of build that cohesiveness on and off the floor. I think it's a terrific time for us to go do that.

On adding to the roster and open spots to fill …

DeVries: Yeah, we still have a couple open spots, so we're still actively recruiting to see if there's something that that fits and makes sense, and we can kind of go a lot of different directions with that. As the roster stands today, and we still have those two extra spots. So we'll see what that plays out like. But we are still actively recruiting.

Building Indiana versus building West Virginia last year …

DeVries: Yeah and then I had to do it my first year at Drake, a very similar deal as well, where we didn't have a lot of guys returning. So you're kind of putting a whole new roster together. One of the advantages of it is when you you're everybody you're recruiting is bought into kind of your vision and things, and you're not having to try to convince somebody that was returning of your vision. So that part, there's some benefit there. Obviously, the downside is every single guy on the roster is new. The familiarity with the university, the town, everything, is starting from scratch there. But I think the biggest thing is just getting them all together, getting them on the same page. Watching how that plays out in terms of roles and connectivity and things, because you don't have anything else to go off of. These weren’t long recruitments in a lot of cases. So for us, it's about figuring things out as we go as well. And they're figuring one another out there, figuring out their new coaches. Coaches are figuring out each other and the new players. So, but it's also a fun process too. It's fun to see where it starts in June and where it ends up by the end in March.

On nonconference scheduling and inheriting games against Kentucky and Marquette and adding Louisville …

DeVries: I think those are some great games for us. Terrific games regionally, for sure. That's a lot of fun for not only the teams, but the fan bases. It should present some great challenges. Got a 20-game Big Ten schedule as well. I think for us again, it's those three games on our (Puerto Rico) trip that are going to be important too, because you just have to play, and you got to figure some things out, the good and the bad, and learning how to play with one another. So as we go through nonconference, we're going to figure some things out in a hurry with some of those games that we have on the schedule. And then, try to get ourselves prepared for Big Ten play.

On meeting Indiana fans …

DeVries: This is terrific for myself and our staff, and we got almost everybody down here (at Huber’s), because it seems like all they’ve been doing is just entertaining for recruits and stuff. It's nice to be able to get out and go meet some people, be able to kind of share, just on a more personal level, to meet as many fans and donors and things that we're excited to become a part of. So this is going to be a great event for us tonight, in a lot of different ways, to get out and meet so many people.

On the status of Luke Goode and Anthony Leal and their waiver process …

DeVries: Their waivers are still in process. My understanding is there's been, as you probably all know, that a ton of waivers have been filed, so I think there's a little bit of a backup there. So from a timing standpoint, we don't really have a lot of clarity on when those decisions will be made. Sooner the better that's really out of our control.

On challenge of putting the roster together on short notice …

DeVries: I think the biggest challenge is we want to make sure that everybody we're bringing in is what we want, not only for this year, for long term, in terms of establishing who we want to be, what we want that to look like, making sure they can complement each other on the floor, off the floor, and then also, you're putting the staff together simultaneously, so trying to balance both as you as you're going through it. But at the same time, not take any shortcuts to make sure that we're doing this right from day one. And if it takes a little longer, then it takes a little longer, but we tried to do it as quickly as we could, but also being very smart and calculated about it.

What might a Plan B if Goode and Leal don’t get waivers approved …

DeVries: That's why we've kind of held back a couple scholarships here of trying to see where this process plays out for them and then make decisions based off that. And like I said, hopefully we'll have a better idea on the timing of that stuff, sooner than later, to see where that all falls.

On what he and his staff look for from high school recruits …

DeVries: A lot of the same stuff we were just looking for in the portal. Now it's just with the high school players. So we want guys that are about the right things, good team guys, a good feel, and IQ, some skill level that’s what we look for. Does it fit kind of how we want that roster to look like, but the feedback has been great. We feel like we're in a good place with some of the guys we're recruiting. We're very excited about that and we'll continue to work very hard at putting an emphasis on the high school side of it.

On bringing in players with a pedigree of winning …

DeVries: It's certainly one of the factors, but it wasn't something that they had to have. Over the years, we've taken guys that maybe came from a team that wasn't that successful the year before, but it's always an added benefit, like, were they able to help their team win? That’s a great quality to have as well. But we don't make it so that's the only guys that we look at, because sometimes there's a situation where wasn't their fault necessarily. But it is always nice when you can collect as many guys that know how to win. They're out winning, as those qualities tend to shine through pretty quickly.

On revenue sharing and roster construction …

DeVries: I think the biggest thing, as everybody found out quickly, was the NIL piece dramatically in terms of what rosters we're going to take to kind of put together. And thankfully, we're at a place that was very supportive, and then have some great donors in place and people in place to help facilitate that. Then we're able to adjust on the fly as we were putting together a roster. And then anytime you're in the portal, those things can get a little tricky, as you're trying to put that many guys on a roster at one time.

On learning the character of players …

DeVries: You have to do as much of your work as you can, and it's using your contacts, your connections with yourself, with your staff, with other people around, to find out as much information you can about each individual that you're recruiting. It can be a two, three, four-week process. So it's just very soon, very quick, but for the most part, as you're going through it, you have a pretty good idea. As you've been out recruiting, watching these kids come through the high school ranks, go through their college ranks, you have a pretty good idea already on most people, and there's always somebody that you can touch that has a really good feel for what the kids are about.

On the most enjoyable part of the job so far …

DeVries: I think it's been really fun to watch a staff come together, watch the team has come together, and now getting closer to getting on the practice floor, that's what I'm really looking forward to. But as I said before, we just haven't had a ton of time to get out in the community, other than going to breakfast, lunch and dinner with the recruits, and then you're entertaining and showing everyone around. So watching that all come together and getting that close to that finishing point where here's our team, here's our staff. Now let's go get to work on the basketball portion of it.

Could anyone else be added to the staff …

DeVries: Yeah, there's potential for maybe, maybe one more staff member. And then so we mentioned with the players, another potential effort for a couple openings there as well.

On the mix of shooters versus bigs and what kind of rim protection Indiana might have …

DeVries: Comfort zone (on that) is pretty good. I don't anticipate us having great rim protection. Like I said, we're a little undersized at the five spots, but there's a lot of different ways to have rim protection. It isn't always blocked shots. There's a lot of ways to protect the rim. So I think overall, on paper, I like the balance we have. I think there's a lot of things that we can play to and try to have his strengths again. That comes down to we got to take it from paper to the floor and that process that starts here this next week.

On what prevents Indiana from being stronger at the five spot …

DeVries: Actually, I feel really good about the five. I like the guys we have, I think they fit how we want to play offensively. I think they have the ability to really have the ball in their hands and be facilitators and playmakers. I think we have good depth there. I like what those guys are going to bring. And there'll be nights that they'll be undersized on the defensive end, but there's a lot of a lot a lot of ways to offset that. Size doesn't always determine how effective you can be as a defender or offensive player so the right mindset goes a long ways and I think our guys will bring that mindset.

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