Before the Trent Sisley loyalists get on me, let me note that he was an exception to Darian DeVries’ original blank slate rework of the program, being a Mike Woodson recruit who stuck around for the new regime. Andrej Acimovic is a second hold over, but having entered zero games last season, he has a blank stat sheet.
And he still could hit the portal!
With the announcement that Nick Dorn would hit the portal, which followed the news that Aleksa Ristic would hit the portal, which followed the news that Jasai
Miles would hit the portal, which followed the news that Josh Harris would hit the portal, and so on, and so on.
Without getting into an evaluation of any of the above players, I think you can say that it’s a bad look to have all but two of your roster players with eligibility to hit the portal after year one.
DeVries has not been shy about the fact that he would need to upgrade the talent this offseason – a fact that’s hard to argue with after missing the NCAA Tournament in year one – but was there really not a single guy who could contribute next season among that group?
Nick Dorn would have had the most obvious path to regular playing time next season, be it as a starter or seeing significant minutes off the bench. It would require him developing as a player to become more consistent in the Big Ten, but developing a player is something a staff should feel confident in its ability to do.
Granted, the staff saw more of these guys in practice every day than I did, so they would have a better idea of each player’s ceiling. But the possibility that none of these guys would have developed into impact players does not reflect well on either the staff’s ability to recruit big time players, evaluate players, or develop players.
Hopefully not some combination of the three that can’t be overcome by the immense resources that Indiana has.
Whatever the reason for the exodus, DeVries has to start at square one again for the second time in two years. He has the tape of guys like Lamar Wilkerson, who thrived on his offense and might be a reason that Indiana has landed a visit from top portal guard Markus Burton, so there is a chance he can upgrade the roster from last year.
On the other hand, he’s not recruiting just a guard, or even just a guard and a center. Even if Trent Sisley takes a huge leap next year, emerging as a starting forward, DeVries has to land four other starters. And then role players around them, guys like, gee, I don’t know, Nick Dorn, who proved helpful to Indiana’s spacing everytime he stepped on the floor, whether he was scoring or not.
It’s early in portal season and Indiana should have a legitimate change to land a number of difference-makers, the kind that can give DeVries a much needed rebound in year two. The staff would do well to start getting momentum soon though, as Michigan was able to poach perceived Indiana target J.P Estrella.
No matter what you think about the guys Indiana has lost to the portal this year, DeVries has put himself in a bad spot here early in his tenure. He’s going to have to fight hard and pay top dollar for talent to get his way out of it.
