What Darian DeVries Wants To See From Indiana Basketball In Exhibition Game

With a new coaching staff and 13 new scholarship players, it's hard to go into Indiana's exhibition game on Friday with many surefire expectations. Perhaps the only guarantee is Indiana comes out with a victory against Marian, with all due respect to Pat Knight's NAIA program.

The Hoosiers won all three games as part of their trip to Puerto Rico in August, defeating the Puerto Rican All-Star team once and Serbian professional team Mega Superbet twice. But those games weren't televised, so for most Indiana fans, Friday's 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall will be their first look at the revamped Hoosiers against an opponent.

(For information on how to watch the game, CLICK HERE)

Coach Darian DeVries is looking for a few big-picture traits from his team.

"Play as hard as we can. That's number one. That's number one every single night that we go out there," DeVries said. "Are we maxing out at both ends of the floor in terms of our effort and communication?

"And then B, just especially on the offensive end, just the unselfishness and the ball movement. That's going to be a big key for us to be effective as a unit. We don't have a lot of one-on-one guys, so we really rely on kind of that type of movement and actions and cutting and those types and screening to kind of generate some of those paint touches. Those will be critical for us on the offensive side."

Tucker DeVries Indiana Basketball — Indiana's Tucker DeVries shoots in the 3-point contest during the Hoosier Hoops on Kirkwood event on Oct. 2, 2025. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

DeVries aid he'll experiment with lineups a bit during the exhibition game, something he's frequently done in practice. Part of that is due to injuries to Nick Dorn, Aleksa Ristic and Jason Drake, which gives DeVries a rotation of around seven or eight players, though he'd like to get closer to a 10-man rotation when the season ramps up.

He has installed most of the offense already, but said he won't reveal much of it on Friday. Instead, he's simply looking for his team to function in a motion offense, with a greater priority being placed on regular season games. He'll constantly add things to the offense and adjust as the season moves on, as he gains a better understanding of how teams will defend the Hoosiers.

Most of the defense is installed too, but DeVres doesn't want to get overcomplicated in the exhibition. He's looking for the Hoosier to play fast and physical, while accurately applying in-game adjustments. Special situations are something he's cleaned up the most of late, such as out-of-bounds plays or end-of-game scenarios.

The Hoosiers aren't a finished product –– no one is in October –– so DeVries is focused on his team getting better as they go along.

A few players to watch on Friday are Tucker DeVries, a two-time Missouri Valley Conference player of the year who averaged 14.9 points per game at West Virginia last season, as well as Sam Houston State transfer Lamar Wilkerson, who averaged 20.5 points per game on 44.5% 3-point shooting last season.

Following Friday's matchup with Marian, Indiana has a second exhibition game on Oct. 26 against Baylor at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The regular season then begins on Nov. 5 against Alabama A&M at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.

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