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Indiana
men’s basketball head coach Darian DeVries spoke with the media on Thursday to provide a few offseason updates.
The Hoosiers signed all six of their transfer portal commitments as of his press conference, with former Villanova guard Bryce Lindsay doing so following his visit this week. DeVries touched on Indiana’s approach to the portal, the frontcourt pairing, additional work that needs doing and more.
Here’s seven notes from his presser.
- Yes, Indiana was very intentional about getting size, physicality and high major experience in the portal. You could tell all this from looking at Indiana’s portal class, but DeVries was true to his word when he said Indiana would prioritize the frontcourt during the offseason and learned a few things during his first season of Big Ten play.
- DeVries is excited for the Aiden Sherrell-Samet Yigitoglu frontcourt pairing. He spoke about how the two can help open up Indiana’s playbook with their ability to score inside, Sherrell’s 3-point shooting and the ability to punish opposing switches. He expressed even more excitement about its potential on defense between rebounding and rim protection. He’s never coached a player with Yigitoglu’s height as a head coach.
- The staff has a bit more work to do to fill out the roster. DeVries noted that Indiana’s been trying to add some depth on the interior as the program has continued hosting a few prospects in the frontcourt. Indiana could use another piece at center behind Samet Yigitoglu, for practice and occasional minutes. He noted there’s additional depth to be had, but was most specific in the frontcourt.
- Having two creators in the backcourt seems to be a point of emphasis for DeVries. Indiana landed both Markus Burton and Bryce Lindsay for its backcourt, both of whom bring scoring and distribution to the floor. The Hoosiers started two distributors in Conor Enright and Tayton Conerway to open DeVries’ first season.
- Indiana’s three freshmen will have the opportunity to contribute in their first season. Obviously you can’t truly know with freshmen until they’re in that environment, but Indiana’s trio will have the chance to show what they can do. DeVries mentioned their length and versatility, specifically mentioning Prince-Alexander Moody’s ability to play multiple positions.
- Trent Sisley has already made some progress during the spring. DeVries is looking forward to what he can do over the summer, but mentioned that Sisley has already put a lot of time into working to improve his strength and his 3-point shot, with the staff already seeing early results.
- DeVries doesn’t have a strong opinion one way or another on tournament expansion. He likened it to the transfer portal, saying he’ll just be following whatever the path is.
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