Indiana’s latest men’s basketball commit, 4-star wing Vaughn Karvala, looks like the kind of prospect that will thrive under the head coach Darian DeVries.
At 6’6” 180 lb., Karvala can do a little bit of everything on the court. A top-50 who can handle the ball, protect the rim, and shoot from 3-point range at his size is a big part of what Indiana has been missing for the last couple coaching tenures, so landing him is another step towards modernizing Indiana basketball.
As you’d expect with just
about anyone DeVries recruits at this point, Karvala has a nice looking jump shot and is not afraid to shoot from deep. As a junior at Oregon high school in Wisconsin, before transferring to Bella Vista Prep in the EYBL Scholastic League, Karvala shot 41.9% from three.
Now that he’s playing against higher level competition, his stats have taken a bit of a dip, but watching the film, there’s a lot to like about his shot. His release is smooth, vertical, and repeatable, both fast enough and high enough to get off when he doesn’t appear to have much space on the perimeter.
For his size, he’s also strong off the dribble, capable of creating for himself. With his lean frame, he doesn’t tend to finish around the rim. Instead, he opts for the midrange – something he can create well for himself with a variety of moves inside the arc.
Whether DeVries will allow him to take these shots in college remains to be seen. They aren’t the most efficient shots, and it’s not in the repertoire of too many guys on this current roster, but Karvala is a little different from the guys that this new staff has recruited to this point.
What sets him apart from other lengthy shooters and makes him a bonafide top-50 prospect is his athleticism.
Karvala is capable of playing above the rim in transition and rebounds well for somebody who projects to spend a lot of time on the wing. He won’t be guarding bigs in the paint, but he can block shots against smaller players as the help man on drives.
With his skillset, I expect Karvala to be in the running for serious minutes next year, if not competing for a starting spot. We don’t know how DeVries will manage freshman yet, and there’s always the transfer portal.
That said, he has the tools to contribute right away with his perimeter shooting and transition ability. He may struggle to defend initially, but that hasn’t been a priority for DeVries in roster construction so far in his tenure.
