The IU basketball team is departing Peru this evening, and for the players that means some well earned time off until the fall semester begins in Bloomington in a few weeks.
But for the staff, it means one final evaluation of the roster, with the benefit of five games and nearly two months of practice to consider. If they perceive a glaring void, there still might be time to address it.
The Hoosiers went to Peru with just 12 scholarship players on the team, meaning they can add one more. Under the current framework, men’s basketball teams can have up to 13 scholarship players without negative consequences as it relates to the amount of revenue the school can share with athletes.
Coach Darian DeVries says a late-cycle addition to his second Indiana team is within the realm of what’s possible. In fact, it’s an opportunity left open for just this moment.
“We still have one spot available, so we’ll see how that plays out here in these last few weeks,” DeVries said Tuesday via Zoom. “We were pretty intentional about leaving that open just to see where everything’s at as we get closer to the start of the school year. There’s certainly some flexibility there if we decide to add another piece.”
The first player who will come to mind for many IU basketball fans is Sam Alexis, who played for the Hoosiers in 2025-26 but ostensibly utilized his final year of eligibility in the process.
The 6-foot-9 Alexis joined the IU team in Peru over the last week and averaged 13 points and 4.7 rebounds over three games while shooting 81.8% from the field. With IU short on proven frontcourt depth, he seems to fit a need. Alexis could raise the outlook for the 2026-27 Hoosiers.
It’s reasonable to wonder — what was in that trip by Alexis to Peru if he’s not at least considering another run with Indiana?
But Alexis would likely need to obtain an injunction from a judge in order to be cleared to play a fifth season. That’s a path many players with his fact pattern are currently pursuing since the NCAA passed a new five-year eligibility rule, but didn’t extend the opportunity to athletes like Alexis who just completed their fourth season in the 2025-26 academic year.
Asked last week whether any efforts were currently underway by Alexis to play a fifth season at IU, DeVries declined to directly comment on that possibility.
Of course, Indiana is not limited to Alexis when it comes to fifth-year options. Many believe the list of similarly situated players available in August will only continue to grow as such players learn more about their opportunities at the professional level. For most, there’s a very real possibility a fifth year in college will be more financially lucrative than professional basketball.
The other primary path IU could pursue would be another international player. DeVries has already added three players directly from an overseas organization over the last two years.
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