4. Indiana Hoosiers
When Darian DeVries arrived in Bloomington last season the Hoosiers were hoping that their nightmares had come to an end. Indiana has been far from a national contender for much of the quarter century since Bob Knight left the program. Unfortunately, Indiana didn’t exactly make that profound statement in his debut, finishing just 18-14 and in 10th place in the Big Ten. A plethora of moving pieces this offseason look to replace that senior-laden team and DeVries thinks this is a much better mix.
All but one of the seven newcomers have experience at major conference programs, highlighted perhaps by Markus Burton, the upstart guard who averaged 18.5 points per game at nearby Notre Dame. The frontcourt grabbed a major boost in 7-2 center Samet Yigitoglu, fresh off a dynamic season at SMU. Let’s not forget about Aiden Sherrell, the highest-rated piece in this class after what he’s brought to Alabama as an underclassman.
Those three are the headliners but that’s not the end. Jaeden Mustaf joins the fold after he was a double-digit scorer at Georgia Tech as a sophomore while Bryce Lindsay comes to Miami for his senior season after doing work with Villanova. The Hoosiers are investing in former Duke backup Darren Harris while also grabbing Justin Monden, a Raleigh native from Maryland-Eastern Shore who should fight for productivity.
Constructing the right basketball roster isn’t an exact science, though having the NIL resources of an Indiana never hurts. Indiana’s offseason has been productive but the actual basketball will depend heavily on how all these moving parts fit together. DeVries has shown that he can be an outstanding coach with his work at Drake but he really needs to adhere himself to the faithful in Bloomington, needing Burton and Sherrell and the others to shine.
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