IU basketball coach Darian DeVries made a public appearance Thursday at the Victory and Vision fan event in Carmel, Ind.
Here are some quick news items and notes from DeVries’ appearance as the program gets set to formally turn the page to the 2026-27 season:
Team activities begin June 1: IU is welcoming at least 11 new players to Bloomington this summer. Those new players plus returning sophomore forward Trent Sisley will begin arriving in late May and begin activities as a team on June 1.
Plan is to play two big men together: This one should come as no surprise, but DeVries says he’s confident 6-foot-11 Alabama transfer Aiden Sherrell can stretch the floor at the power forward spot, and the plan to start out this summer will be to play him alongside 7-foot-2 Turkish center Samet Yigitoglu. DeVries was reluctant to play Sam Alexis and Reed Bailey together last season due to concerns about foul trouble, and he doesn’t have significant size beyond Sherrell and Yigitoglu this year. But Sherrell’s versatility and the need to play with more size appears to driving a different approach this year.
IU planning to play 32 regular season games: DeVries mentioned the team is planning to take advantage of a new NCAA rule that allows teams to play 32 regular season games, one more than recent seasons. The 2026-27 schedule is expected to include 12 nonconference games, and 20 Big Ten games. Thus far we are aware of 25 opponents for Indiana’s 2026-27 season.
Unlimited practice time this summer: Because IU is taking an international trip to Peru in July, DeVries says the team will not have significant restrictions on practice time and organized team activities. In prior years when IU took a foreign tour they were permitted 10 additional practices. He says there is no such cap this summer. DeVries said IU expects to play five games while in Peru.
International players cannot participate in Peru games: Indiana will be representing Team USA in Peru. Because of the event rules, non-US citizens Samet Yigitoglu and Clemens Sokolov will not be allowed to play in the games. DeVries said both players can still make the trip, participate in all of the extra practices, and all activities in Peru except for the actual games.
2027 class size: A quick look at Indiana’s scholarship chart says IU only has one open roster spot for the 2027-28 season. As the staff goes out for live recruiting events this weekend, DeVries said he’s not sure yet how many high school players he’ll look to add in 2027 class. IU already has Missouri-based 4-star guard Chase Branham in the class. DeVries says in the ideal situation he’d like to focus on retention rather than adding so many new players each year. He’d like to add two to four freshman depending on the particulars of each year.
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