Former IU basketball player Tucker DeVries was in Indianapolis on Thursday for a pre-draft workout with the Indiana Pacers.
Following the workout DeVries took questions from the media, including one query about what he hopes to show NBA personnel ahead of the draft. He had an interesting response to that question.
DeVries seemed to suggest he hopes the league will see the old version of his game that led to him winning the Missouri Valley Conference’s Larry Bird Trophy that goes to that league’s Player of the Year. It just so happens Bird was in attendance watching DeVries workout on Thursday.
“I think it’s kind of refreshing everybody on what I’m capable of,” DeVries said. “I think the improvements body-wise of being able to slim back down to probably be in my more natural position, and then being able to move in space a little bit better, is probably the biggest thing. You are not going to change a whole lot of who you are in two months, but in that aspect you can.”
It’s no secret that as a power forward for IU in 2025-26, DeVries was playing out of his natural position. His father, head coach Darian DeVries said as much on multiple occasions.
But it was interesting to hear Tucker talk specifically about how he carried extra weight to take on that role, and how that impacted his game. In many ways he sacrificed his game for IU by carrying extra weight and playing out of position. He averaged a career-low in points this past season while shooting career lows both from the field overall, and from three.
The full video of DeVries’ media session along with a 1-on-1 session produced by the Pacers, via the Indiana Pacers on YouTube, are below.
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