Indiana Hoosiers
November 9th, 2025 at United Center in Chicago, IL
Head Coach: Darian DeVries (169-68 overall, 0-0 at Indiana)
Three-Year NET Average: 60.0
Three-Year kenpom Average: 55.3
Projected 2025-26 T-Rank: 42
Photo from the Herald-Times
State of the Program
If the state of Indiana's program was healthy, Darian DeVries wouldn't be here. Mike Woodson underperformed kenpom projections all four years during his IU tenure and missed the NCAA Tournament each of the past two years. For a program that still views itself as a blue blood, that just wasn't good enough. DeVries is well regarded after winning 20+ games in each of his six years at Drake, amassing a stellar 150-55 record before going to West Virginia for one season. His Mountaineers went 19-13, narrowly missing the NCAA Tournament in what was arguably the biggest Selection Committee snub in NCAA history. While IU also had a strong case for being in, Woodson's fate had already been decided and DeVries being available early due to WVU being unjustly left out made for a quick early marriage. Thanks to that move and a busy transfer window, there is once again optimism in Bloomington.
Rotation
If you look up "mid-major all-star team" in a basketball dictionary, there would be a picture of this Indiana squad next to it. PG Tayton Conerway was the Sun Belt Player of the Year. He's an excellent distributor who is great at getting to the rim. According to EvanMiya.com, he's actually better defensively than offensively, ranking in the 99th percentile of all defenders last year and boasting the 3rd best steal rate in the nation. He's joined by Conference USA first-teamer Lamar Wilkerson in the back court. He's a weapon beyond the arc and solid secondary ball-handler, though historically his efficiency falls off against better competition. Jasai Miles was an ASUN third-team performer for North Florida who will likely have the most competition for his spot. He was a productive scorer and rebounder but will probably be a fifth option in this system. Tucker DeVries joins his father from West Virginia, but made his name at Drake where he was Freshman of the Year, two-time MVC Player of the Year, and two-time MVC Tournament MVP. Along with Conerway, he'll be expected to star for this team. He is a threat to score from anywhere on the floor, can create for himself and others, mixes it up on the glass, and can hold his own on the defensive end. He still has to show he can perform reliably at the high-major level but if his Drake levels of success translate he's an All-American candidate. Reed Bailey was a first-team Atlantic-10 player for Davidson where he was a volume scorer, but not hyper-efficient. His passing is probably his best attribute, as he's only average on the glass and is a poor interior scorer despite his height. While he shot well from three last year, his 41.5% conversion rate was on 1.3 attempts/game and he was a career 24.1% from deep coming into last year so I'm not convinced he can replicate that. Off the bench, Conor Enright (Drake with DeVries), Nick Dorn (Elon), Sam Alexis (Chattanooga), and Josh Harris (North Florida) all made their names at the mid-major level, even if they had high-major stops before arriving at IU. Expect Alexis' defensive intensity to push Bailey for the starting job in the middle, while Harris feels most likely to break through to the starting lineup given a potential freshman to sophomore year jump.
Style of Play
This will be DeVries' third job in as many years, so it's hard to gauge exactly what this team will look like. Based on his history, we can make some educated guesses. These aren't teams that drive to the rim looking to score. When they drive, it is either to kick the ball out to a shooter or to find a cutter. They take a lot of midrange, partially highlighted by Tucker DeVries' success at that level, but it persisted last year at WVU even though they were objectively bad at those shots. From the drive and kick, cut frequency, inside out, and pick and pop action frequency, expect a lot of ball movement. They are patient working for shots, only once in the last six years ranking in the top-200 in offensive possession length. I think what could snakebite this offense is taking bad shots. DeVries, Wilkerson, Bailey, and Harris all take midrange shots at a much higher rate than the norm, and Coach DeVries seems to encourage those shots. When you simply have more talent, like Drake often did in the MVC, it can still result in efficient offense (average 63.5 offensive rank from 2021-24), but when you are playing teams with comparable talent, like last year's West Virginia (#134 offensive rank in 2025), the scheme doesn't look as impressive.
Defensively, Coach DeVries is a floor raiser. In the kenpom era, Drake has finished in the top-115 of defensive efficiency five times, with four of those being under DeVries. At WVU, he took them from #178 in 2024 to #15 in 2025. They play rigid man-to-man defense, limit second shots, and use their length to limit easy looks off the catch so offenses have to go one-on-one against them. Coach DeVries should also benefit from having both an elite defensive spearhead in Conerway and competent defenders like DeVries, Dorn, and Alexis. The problem is that aside from Conerway and DeVries, the best offensive players and best defensive players are not the same people, which will lead to a need to mix and match lineups. In addition, while West Virginia had a tremendous overall improvement, some of that can be chalked up to luck. Historically, three-point percentage defense is rarely something that aligns with particular programs (outside of Houston). The Mountaineers ranked #8 in 3PFG% defense last year at just 29.7%. That's the best mark of Coach DeVries' career, ranging from ranking #16 to #330 with an average rank of #116. His 3PFG% defense is a complete scatter plot. That coupled with uncharacteristically good rim protection leads me to believe Indiana's defense won't be as good as West Virginia's was a year ago.
2025-26 Outlook
This team feels very hard to evaluate for 2025-26. There's no one returning and while there are some monster performers from lower levels, expecting all these guys to translate up successfully seems like a big ask. Last year's West Virginia team that was snubbed was still deservedly on the bubble with most of their rotation players starting their careers at other high majors. This roster isn't that. I suspect this team will take longer to gel. The early successes WVU had last year came because Javon Small and Tucker DeVries had All-American level performances early on coupled with their high-major talent playing their roles. This feels like a longer build. Indiana will likely end up around the bubble like West Virginia a year ago, and while they have the ability to get on the right side of that bubble, Marquette's experience should give them an advantage in the first week of the season.
What We've Learned
In terms of rotation, Enright started ahead of Miles, giving IU a two-point guard attack. While it's only one game, DeVries is trying to modernize his offense. Indiana's shot chart against Alabama A&M looks like a Nevada Smith fever dream, with just one of their fifty-eight shots taken in midrange. Offensively, Indiana had a quick trigger and it seemed like any time AAMU went under a screen, Indiana took the three. They got their twos at the rim in transition, off back-door cuts, and other forms of pick and roll. They also played beyond the whistle, clearly focused on taking advantage of the new continuation rules. Indiana overwhelmed AAMU with talent. IU was a bit loose with the ball and were soft on the offensive glass, so there are areas they can be exploited. It will be important to chase them off the three-point line, fight over screens, and keep the Hoosiers out of the paint. They move the ball a lot, so Marquette will need active hands to disrupt the offensive flow and create turnovers.
Shot Chart from @INBBallSource on Twitter
Defensively, they stuck to man-to-man, which will be something to monitor considering how Marquette's first two opponents both went heavy on zone. Conerway was the tip of the defensive spear, though Enright showed some token pressure in early possessions. In the half-court, they went over screens to take away the three, though the AAMU screen efforts were not very effective. Frankly, AAMU was out of their league and it was difficult to come out with many strong defensive takeaways.
Marquette Connection
#7 Marquette came into Chicago as -13.5 point favorites over DePaul on January 14, 2025. Marquette built an early 21-10 lead before DePaul surged back to take a 40-39 halftime lead. At the center of that was Conor Enright. The now-Indiana guard dished out 11 assists on the night. 7 of his 11 points came in the final 1:42 of regulation, including a game-tying layup that forced overtime with 3 seconds to play as Ben Gold goaltended the shot. In overtime, Enright did his best to keep DePaul in it, including assisting on two Isaiah Rivera threes in the final 13 seconds (part of a 12 points in 43 second explosion from Rivera) but it wasn't quite enough as Marquette escaped with the 85-83 victory.
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