With four players held out of IU basketball’s open to the media practice on Tuesday, and a fifth limited, new coach Darian DeVries could only make light of the situation.
“Yeah, it looks like we’re investors in boots right now,” a laughing DeVries said.
Some of the injuries are familiar to Indiana fans that follow the team closely.
Nick Dorn has been out for several months as he recovers from a foot injury. He joined the team on their summer trip to Puerto Rico but did not play. Dorn is clearly progressing, as he participated in some portions of practice, something he didn’t do when the doors were open to the media two months ago.
Dorn did not participate in 5-on-5 activities, however, and he said Tuesday he’s not sure when he’ll have a full green light. The 6-foot-7 transfer from Elon appeared to be moving through drills at a good pace and without restrictions or discomfort.
Guard Jason Drake did not attend the Puerto Rico trip, and he’s still being completely held out of practice with a lower body injury. The Drexel transfer’s injury dates at least back to late July.
The new additions to the injury list are North Florida transfer forward Josh Harris, and Serbian freshman guard Aleksa Ristic. Both of them were wearing boots on Tuesday.
Also out Tuesday was North Florida transfer wing Jasai Miles, who had an illness.
“Some of them are very short-term, some of them a little bit longer term,” DeVries said. “Certainly our practice depth has been cut into immensely here, so it’s made some things challenging from a practice standpoint.
“We have a few of the guys that are getting closer to getting back. One guy out with some sickness today, so that’s a minor one. One is out with a sprained ankle. But with these new roster limits and stuff, there’s not a lot you can do to even add to that so it does make things a little challenging.”
Dorn and Miles are the most likely to be significant contributors for Indiana this season, and both should be ready by the start of the season.
“We’re hopeful we’re getting out this out of the way in the preseason and working our way back to getting healthy,” DeVries said.
Indiana fans will have several chances to monitor how the injured players progress over the next month. The team has a public scrimmage on Friday night at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, and two exhibition games in the weeks to come.
The Hoosiers open the season on Nov. 5 against Alabama A&M.
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