After a promising start to the season, Indiana men’s basketball suddenly finds itself in need of a sudden reset to turn things around. With a road matchup against top-5 Michigan looming on the horizon, there would have been better times for the Hoosiers to have an identity crisis.
Entering the season, and well before today’s loss at Iowa, it was apparent that Indiana was going to struggle with its size inside against high-major opponents. There were moments when Darian DeVries was able to scheme around
it, like outrebounding Washington, but it hasn’t been something he’s been able to sustain this year.
Over the last few games, though, Indiana has been plagued by another issue – the sheer volume of problems relative to the experience on the roster. Following the blowout loss at Michigan State, DeVries acknowledged that he expected his team to be able to handle environments and stages like that better than his team did this week.
Outside of lack of leadership, which can be hard to quantify, Indiana has not gotten the production it’s needed from its most experienced players outside of Tayton Conerway and Lamar Wilkerson. Tucker DeVries and Reed Bailey, two of Indiana’s top players in minutes per game, have failed to break double digits in 2/3 of the Hoosiers’ last games.
Building a roster full of these guys, can make sense, to an extent. In valuing production at lower levels and experience over recruiting rankings, there are some parallels between the roster construction here and other, more successful programs, including Indiana football.
On the other hand, DeVries is not managing this group with an eye towards the future. Starting three players who are relatively unproven at the high major level to start the season is an experiment. Continuing to do while those players struggle to adjust is… an issue.
Knowing that DeVries will have to replace a lot of this year’s roster, it makes sense that he wants to win now, and he’s going with the guys that he thinks will give him the best shot. The problem is, he’s not winning now.
When Conor Enright had to sit because of foul trouble, DeVries brought in Nick Dorn, a more athletic player with a higher ceiling and years of eligibility left. Similarly, DeVries has gone to true freshman Trent Sisley when Tucker has struggled to get it done.
Sticking with those two, or Jasai Miles, who checked in at the end of the game tonight, would demonstrate an eye towards the future in the face of a season that appears to be slipping away each time out. Instead, DeVries is opting for his older guys, hoping something will click.
There is a silver lining here, which is that DeVries will have this season to learn from when he has to fill the roster spots of all these upperclassmen this offseason, be it through the portal or high school. As there was this entering this season, there will be a chance to start with a relatively blank slate.
Losing to Iowa today, a group with just one returning player, but more balanced in terms of graduation year, only makes this issue loom larger. Other first year coaches in the conference have seemingly demonstrated an ability to build with an eye towards both the present and future with fewer resources than DeVries.
Unless Indiana can turn it around this year to validate DeVries’ determination to win now, there will be questions about his decision to fill so many roster spots with guys in their final years of eligibility.
