What was accomplished in year one of the Darian DeVries era at Indiana?
That’s a really good question.
A lot of time and effort went into it, there’s no denying that.
But was a foundation laid?
Consider this: IU is losing at least 84.1% of its scoring from this season, 94% of its starts, and 78% of its minutes played.
And that’s all at least, because of course the seven scholarship players eligible to return next season are all free to leave via the transfer portal.
So even if 2025-26 was a bit of a “put the roster together to at least get us through this season” campaign as AD Scott Dolson suggested earlier in the week, what benefit did that provide the 2026-27 edition of the Darian DeVries era? Again, what foundation was laid?
DeVries was asked that question Wednesday night following what appears to have been a season-ending 74-61 loss to Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament.
His response was either a dodge or misunderstanding of what was asked, as he discussed how happy he was with the day-to-day approach of this year’s team, and how they maintained a positive attitude through adversity. That’s great, and those are the kind of cultural intangibles that can carry over from year-to-year.
But who is going to carry that torch, and who is going to follow?
Here are the possible returning stats for 2026-27:
- Nick Dorn: 8.1 ppg, 38% from three
- Trent Sisley: 4.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg
- Jasai Miles: 1.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg
- Aleksa Ristic: .5 ppg
- Jason Drake – Did not play
- Josh Harris – Did not play
- Andrej Acimovic – Did not play
Indiana probably couldn’t win at the mid-major level with that lineup.
One player who can return, who played the second most minutes and scored the second most points this season, freshman Trent Sisley, saw his playing time decline dramatically late. He averaged just 4.8 minutes and scored just .9 points per game over the last eight contests, and he didn’t play at all in two games.
The lone scholarship player from Indiana on the roster, Sisley was the most popular player on the team coming into the season. He’s got a lot of fan support, but young and inexperienced, it would be a lot to ask Sisley to be the foundation of the program next season. In any event, he expressed enthusiasm for his sophomore campaign despite a disappointing end to year one, both on an individual level, and for the team.
“I think coach is trending in the right direction,” Sisley said Wednesday evening. “I trust coach a lot, I look forward to what he has for us coming up. I’m just excited for it.”
Dorn looked like an emerging superstar midseason, with an electrifying seven-game stretch that saw him average 13.7 points while shooting 44.6% from three on eight attempts per game.
But like the team as a whole, Dorn hit a wall on the back third of the season. As the scouting report on him sharpened in focus, Dorn seemed to lose confidence. And with that, went some degree of confidence he can be a foundational piece of next year’s team as a senior.
Still, Dorn expressed optimism this season wasn’t a lost cause for Indiana.
How is the program trending?
“It’s going up. Laid a great foundation,” Dorn said after the loss to Northwestern. “The first year was a lot of guys coming from all different places. I feel like we did good, and now we’ve just got to keep building on it for the future.”
But again, how can IU basketball build from this disappointing 18-14 season?
As we’ve laid out here, very little production or playing time will carry over to 2026-27, and by extension, very little culture. This was not a group of freshman taking their lumps, developing for the future.
Perhaps that starts next year, when a three player, top-20 recruiting class arrives to ostensibly join the seven players listed above eligible to return.
But obviously three freshman and seven players who saw limited action are not going to carry the team. Indiana is going to have to aggressively rebuild via the transfer portal once again.
And therein lies perhaps the only thing foundational in place from year one of the DeVries era.
The staff has been together for a year. Resources have been amassed for a year. Recruiting for next year’s roster, in whatever ways permissible under the current wobbly rules structure, has been ongoing for a year. Executive Director Ryan Carr is in place now too.
This go around, there will be no excuse that time, resources and staff were in short supply, and a team had to be thrown together on the fly.
Indiana should have every opportunity to be last year’s quick turnaround Michigan and Louisville, and this year’s Virginia and Villanova.
Hoosier fans don’t want to hear that right now after missing the NCAA Tournament for the eighth time in the last 10 years. After all, IU has suffered double-digit losses every season since 2015-16, and only reached 20 wins three times.
But by the same token, next year’s team, whoever they are, should have next to nothing to do with the last 10 years. And in this case, that’s the good news.
There will be a new cast of characters, and at some point a month or two down the road, hope will reluctantly blossom again in Bloomington.
And what about DeVries?
The verdict is still out.
His two-year, 37-27 run as a high major coach is not encouraging. But his six 20-win seasons at Drake, with two conference titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances cannot be ignored.
“He’s the right guy,” guard Conor Enright said Wednesday night in Chicago. Enright played three years for DeVries and won two conference titles.
“He’s going to get better every year. He’s a great coach. Year one, we put 15, 17 guys together, put a new staff together. I think IU fans need to believe in coach because he’s going to get it done, for sure.”
With little foundation to build from, belief is all IU fans have to cling to right now. And understandably, there’s not much of it these days.
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