Each year over his last five seasons as a head coach, Darian DeVries’ offense has placed a greater emphasis on the three-point shot.
In 2020-21, DeVries’ Drake squad ranked No. 302 in the nation, with just 31.6% of their total shots coming from beyond the arc. That was a 26-5 NCAA Tournament team, proving there are plenty of ways to win basketball games.
Drake took 33.9% of its shots from three in 2021-22 (No. 272), 36.5% in 2022-23 (No. 211), and 39.2% in 2023-24 (No. 123). Each of those last two Drake teams made the NCAA Tournament as well. Again, plenty of ways to win games.
And in his lone season at West Virginia, DeVries’ squad took 46.1% of their total shots from three, good for No. 44 in the nation. That team’s fortunes took a major hit early in the season when DeVries’ son Tucker went down with an injury eight games in. The Mountaineers were shooting 29.8 threes a game to that point and making 35.3% from beyond the arc. Through eight games West Virginia’s three-point attempt rate was 49.4%, which would have been the ninth-highest rate in the nation had they kept that pace up the entire campaign.
But Tucker was the team’s best shooter, and without him the productivity from deep plummeted. The Mountaineers took 45% of their shots from three over their last 24 games and made just 31.6% on 25.5 attempts per contest.
High three-point volume with a low make rate — is probably not a winning formula. With a team built to shoot threes and the shots not falling, West Virginia went from a 6-2 start with wins over Gonzaga, Arizona and Georgetown, to a 13-11 finish.
In his second round of speed-dating roster construction, DeVries seems to have learned a lesson. If you want to shoot threes, no amount of good shooters is too many.
“Shooting is a critical piece,” he said last month at his introductory press conference. “We want plenty of depth in the shooting area because I think you can’t win if you don’t make shots. That’s a huge priority for us.”
Indiana fans have grown begrudgingly accustomed to low three-point volume over the last eight years. None of Archie Miller or Mike Woodson’s teams had a three-point attempt rate of more than 34.1%. None of their teams were ranked in the national top-250 in any season by that measure. And only one IU team in the last eight years was inside the top-200 in three-point make rate. Low volume plus low make rate also proved to not be a winning formula.
But things seem to be about to change in a dramatic fashion. Because DeVries has the shooting depth he said he wanted.
On their 2025-26 roster, Indiana will have five players who have shot 35% or better from three in a season on 95 or more attempts. Maybe six if Luke Goode obtains a waiver from the NCAA to return for a fifth season. This past season, Goode was the only player on the team who hit the 35% on 95 or more attempts marks, and no Indiana players met that criteria in 2023-24.
If you aggregate the last full season played by all 12 players currently slated to play for IU next season (including Goode and the high school stats of Trent Sisley), they made 593 threes on 1,597 attempts, good for 37.1%. How significant is that? IU only took a total of 632 threes this past season, and made just 203. And 37.1% from three would be IU’s best season since 2016-17.
Obviously Indiana isn’t going to take nearly 1,600 threes next year. Several players will see their attempts come way down. But even if you aggregate the last full seasons played by just three players on the upcoming 2025-26 team — Tucker DeVries, Lamar Wilkerson and Jasai Miles — that trio took 86 more threes than the entire IU squad a year ago, and made 71 more.
While Woodson’s IU teams were post-centric, DeVries’ initial Indiana team may not have any true back-to-the-basket post presence to speak of, meaning his approach to offense will almost certainly mirror the let-it-fly approach he utilized a year ago.
37.1% would have been a top-30 make rate throughout all of college basketball last year, and IU has the pieces to shoot better than that. Because the true coaching art will be getting the best shooters the best shots.
And it looks like DeVries has the weapons to work with.
Making threes on high volume won’t guarantee success, but coupled with the other attributes DeVries’ teams are known for — defense, rebounding and low turnovers — it should give his first IU team a solid chance to succeed.
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