Former IU basketball big man Sam Alexis showed up in Peru today to join the IU basketball team at the FISU America games.
What is that all about? Is former still the right description for Alexis?
With Turkish center Samet Yigitoglu unable to play for Team USA, head coach Darian DeVries wanted to add more frontcourt depth on the trip, and allow Aiden Sherrell to play some this week at power forward — the role he’ll likely have for most of the 2026-27 season.
“Adding Sam just gives us some more versatility without two of our other bigs, just to be able to sub a little bit more, also potentially slide Aiden into the four,” DeVries said after a 115-36 win over Peru. “So just so we have enough bodies to be able to do that.
“And just having his experience from last year, being around the guys. So it’s a great opportunity for us to take advantage of him, being able to participate and kind of provide some leadership from his knowledge of last year and going into this year for this group.”
Alexis is able to join the team in Peru because the Hoosiers are playing in an international event representing Team USA.
But a recent rule change by the NCAA opened at least a back door opportunity for him to join the team full time.
Effective Aug. 1, the NCAA now allows athletes five seasons of competition over a five-year period that begins with their full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.
Alexis only played four seasons of competition and exhausted his eligibility under the old rules. As written, the new five-year rule doesn’t apply to Alexis.
But earlier this month an Ohio judge granted a preliminary injunction for 24 men’s and women’s college basketball players with the same fact pattern as Alexis suing the NCAA for eligibility, claiming the new age-based model unfairly shuts them out of further competition.
A wave of similar legal pursuits have followed, leaving one to wonder whether Alexis, who joined the team in Peru after an NBA Summer League stint with Oklahoma City, might be considering a fifth year with Indiana.
IU coach Darian DeVries was asked whether Alexis and Indiana are considering the possibility of a fifth year of college basketball. DeVries didn’t say they were pursuing it, but he also didn’t shut down the concept.
Indiana currently has 12 scholarship players on the team.
“Right now, our intention is just to have that body. That’s why we brought him here is just to add to it,” DeVries said. “Again, like I said, we originally were going to have to play six games in eight days.
“And we just didn’t think with the bodies that we had, that that was going to be enough. So thankfully, Sam was able to do it. The timing worked out with him getting done with OKC on Sunday and he was able to get here earlier this morning. So it just helps us to take full advantage of this trip.”
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