Indiana men’s basketball is set to open the 2025-26 season on Wednesday night against Alabama A&M at Assembly Hall. The game will be the official debut of the Hoosiers’ new look roster and marks the true
beginning of the Darian DeVries era in Bloomington.
Here’s three things to know ahead of the matchup.
Nick Dorn’s health
The Hoosiers have been dealing with some injuries throughout the preseason, with multiple players unavailable for practice. Jason Drake and Aleksa Ristic, who’d ordinarily provide some ballhandling depth, will not be available at the beginning of the season.
Nick Dorn, a transfer wing from Elon, could very well suit up against Alabama A&M. He suffered a foot fracture last season that ended his time with the Phoenix, with the procedure needing to be redone. He was unavailable during Indiana’s prior exhibitions, including during the program’s foreign tour in Puerto Rico.
DeVries got some good news on Dorn earlier this week, he said during an appearance on his radio show. The staff is hopeful he’ll be available.
Lineups and pace of play
Indiana has started the following lineup in its exhibition games:
- G Conor Enright
- G Tayton Conerway
- G Lamar Wilkerson
- F Tucker DeVries
- F Reed Bailey
It’s pretty small overall, with 6’6” Wilkerson at small forward, 6’7” DeVries at power forward and 6’10” Bailey at center. It’s a lineup built to score points with two ballhandlers in Enright and Conerway capable of making plays in the halfcourt of pushing the ball down the court in transition and shooting talent between Wilkerson and DeVries.
Bailey brings some passing ability himself and has a few different ways of getting points on the board including in the post, off the drive, as a cutter and occasionally from long range. He’s a different kind of center than what Indiana has seen in recent years, but it’s easy to see his fit.
Without Drake or Ristic, Indiana may not be able to go as deep into its bench as it’d like. Look for Sam Alexis and Trent Sisley to see plenty of minutes as fresh legs, with the former offering a bit more athleticism at the five and the latter looking to contribute as a true freshman.
The Bulldogs
Like Indiana, Alabama A&M also has a new head coach for the 2025-26 season. Donte Jackson was brought in from Grambling State, where he had multiple successful seasons but finished under .500 overall and in conference play in 2024-25.
He’s brought some members of that last Tigers roster with him. Those teams didn’t take, or make, all that many shots from 3 and usually played at a pretty slow pace in recent years. So, the opposite of what DeVries is running at Indiana.
