Forced to rebuild his roster via the transfer portal for a second year in a row, IU basketball coach Darian DeVries has assembled one of the nation’s best incoming transfer groups in 2026.
With seven new players coming to IU via the transfer portal including six from the high-major ranks, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello says IU amassed the No. 6 portal haul this offseason.
While the transfer class is national top-10, Indiana is ranked in the No. 20 to 30 range in most early outlooks for the 2026-27 season. That’s because the Hoosiers returned just one player from last year’s team, sophomore forward Trent Sisley. IU also has three 4-star freshman who arrived on campus this month, but they’ll like need time to develop into major contributors.
Indiana has leaned heavily into the transfer portal each of the last two years, but the hope is they won’t be so dependent a year from now. The Hoosiers have 11 of 12 scholarship players eligible to return in 2027-28, and if 5-year eligibility is passed by the NCAA, several players would gain an extra year of eligibility in 2028-29 as well.
Here’s how ESPN described Indiana’s No. 6 ranked transfer haul:
6. Indiana Hoosiers
Markus Burton (18.5 PPG at Notre Dame)
Bryce Lindsay (12.3 PPG at Villanova)
Aiden Sherrell (11.1 PPG at Alabama)
Samet Yigitoglu (10.7 PPG at SMU)
Jaeden Mustaf (10.4 PPG at Georgia Tech)
Justin Monden (6.0 PPG at Maryland Eastern Shore)
Darren Harris (3.3 PPG at Duke)After taking over a program with zero returning players last spring, it’s another total rebuild for Darian DeVries, who welcomes back one player from last season. The Hoosiers welcome in three top-30 transfers: Burton, Sherrell and Yigitoglu. Burton is an outstanding playmaker and scorer when healthy (he’s been injured much of the last two seasons), and Sherrell and Yigitoglu were two of the most sought-after bigs in the portal. Lindsay, Mustaf and Harris will compete for minutes on the wings — Lindsay and Harris can really shoot it while Mustaf brings more toughness and physicality.
ESPN ranked Indiana’s transfer class behind only Tennessee, Louisville, Texas, Kentucky and St. John’s, No.’s 1 through 5, respectively. The only other Big Ten team in the top-13 was No. 10 Michigan, with just three incoming players via the portal. Borzello acknowledges portal class size influences the rankings, with bigger incoming groups gravitating towards the top.
How well does ESPN rank transfer classes? Or perhaps a better question — how much does this matter?
Last year the network had IU’s 10-player haul at No. 7, and that was only good enough for an 18-14 season and the second team out of the NCAA Tournament.
Perhaps a slightly better incoming group, at least relatively speaking, and a slightly bigger NCAA Tournament, will do the trick this time around.
For complete coverage of IU basketball, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- You can follow us on X: @daily_hoosier and find us on Facebook and Instagram
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
