Not even two full years into his Indiana tenure, Darian DeVries is starting to develop some tendencies with regards to roster construction, particularly the last three or four of the 15 available roster spots.
Some coaches decide to leave those spots empty, but so far, DeVries has demonstrated an affinity for international players. Tuesday’s commitment from Felix Kiehlneker only continues that trend.
In year one, Indiana had Aleksa Ristic and Andrej Acimovic, the latter never stepping foot on the court
for an NCAA contest. Ristic, on the other hand, appeared in 12 games, knocking down a pair of threes for six total points on the season.
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This year, DeVries added Clemens Sokolov, a seven-foot center from Germany who projects to be a bench guy behind Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu.
With neither Ristic nor Acimovic on this year’s roster, it remains to be seen how Sokolov projects into Indiana’s future. Sam Alexis’ eligibility has added another complication to this year’s roster, as he would likely be ahead of Sokolov on the depth chart if he’s granted a final season. I would expect Kiehlneker to be a similar kind of prospect, at least early on.
International players are more or less impossible to scout, especially given the number of leagues available and the hierarchy of those leagues within their respective countries. Even when there is tape available (I cannot find any of Keihlneker on YouTube), it’s not easy to evaluate the level of competition involved.
It’s not really a negative that neither Ristic nor Acimovic went on to have big impacts last year before leaving Indiana. There’s not really a college program in the world that keeps 15 scholarship players happy with their roles and playing time, so the reality is that every team will have a handful of these players.
Because DeVries can’t promise playing time to every single recruit, it makes sense to take on some international prospects every year. More established, sure-fire recruits are likely to seek destinations where they will see the court, so the other option is probably just leaving the roster spots open.
Filling the roster with guys who have the potential to develop over time is basically a no-lose situation. If they turn out to be impact players, great. If not, having a seven-foot body around for practices never hurt anyone.
