Indiana with 'a chance to exceed' lower expectations this year and challenge atop of Big Ten

Expectations for Indiana have always been high no matter what the roster looks like and no matter who is sitting on the bench. But, it’s nearly night and day different in the middle of May in 2025 compared to this time in 2024.

Darian DeVries comes in with an entirely new coaching staff and entirely new roster. He inherits an Indiana basketball program that has failed to make the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons — leading to the separation of Mike Woodson and Indiana.

Now DeVries, who has had success flipping rosters time and time again, needs to do it once more with the Hoosiers. With the backing of the athletic department, boosters and fans, DeVries worked quietly in the transfer portal to put together a team that fit his style and his system. It’s not always easy to do when you’re replacing double-digit players from a season ago.

While most of the roster comes from the mid-major level, the expectation is that they all bring a few specific skills that are all a common theme on the roster; shooting and toughness.

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The only question is; will all of the mid-major talent grade out at the power 4 level?

“A lot of guys coming from the mid major ranks, and that can go one of two ways,” Former Illinois and Wright State guard Mike LaTulip said on the Field of 68 Podcast. “What DeVries did do — find guys that play their ass off consistently, find guys that can space the floor and shoot it and that opens up so much. And a lot of these dudes they’re bringing in compete on the defensive end.”

While there are only three players who have logged minutes at the power 4 level, and only one season for each, the ‘production over potential’ model that works so well for Curt Cignetti on the football side is nearly identical to the model that has worked for DeVries wherever he’s been.

One of those players with a lot of production under his belt is Lamar Wilkerson. The 20.5 point per game scorer and sharpshooter — at 44.5 percent from three — comes from Sam Houston and was a hot commodity on the transfer market. The final three teams? Indiana, Kentucky and Auburn.

Landing Wilkerson at Indiana was the critical step for Darian DeVries to be able to insert that ‘star’ into his lineup. Now with a Batman and Robin type 1-2 punch in Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries, Indiana has clear structure and roles in place.

And for Field of 68 founder and college basketball analyst Rob Dauster, that duo is more than just a ‘good’ pair. It could lead the Hoosiers to exceed expectations and finish near the top of the Big Ten.

“I’m going to make my pitch for Indiana here, and you might call me crazy,” Dauster said. “But I think Lamar Wilkerson is going to come in here and have a Chaz Lanier kind of an impact this season. I think that they’re very, very similar players. I think the way that he (Wilkerson) was sold on playing alongside Tucker DeVries — is that it’s going to be those two.”

While Tucker DeVries played just eight games last season at West Virginia before a shoulder injury ended his season, he was scorching from the perimeter, shooting 47.3 percent from three on 3.3 made 3s a game. Combined, DeVries and Wilkerson made 7.7 3s a game — that is 1.4 more 3s than the entire Indiana team averaged a game last season.

Both players have averaged 20+ points in a season before and have shot-making capabilities that Indiana hasn’t seen together on the floor in quite some time.

“I think you could put (Wilkerson and DeVries) on the wings, two big-time shooters and big-time scorers” Dauster said, “You’ve got Conor Enright who’s kind of a pass-first point guard, you’ve got Tayton Conerway who is a get-to-the-rim point guard. I really like Reed Bailey as the 4-man in that lineup. I think they did a really good job adding some perimeter pieces alongside him, Jasai Miles, Nick Dorn, they need a 5. I don’t know if Sam Alexis is enough for them there and I don’t know if they’re going to find somebody.

“But I think there’s enough on that roster for them to be in that mix for top 25ish and one of those top-5 teams in the Big Ten.”

Indiana has won more than 20 games just twice since the 2015-16 season and have been above .500 just once in Big Ten play in that same span.

With expectations lower, and an entirely new roster incoming, there is no easy prediction for how this upcoming season will go. But, people remain bullish on this group that Darian DeVries has put together and think it could be one of the better Indiana teams in the last decade — albeit little success to challenge with.

“They have a chance to exceed those (lower expectations). I firmly believe that,” LaTulip added. “I think this should be a top 7 or 8 (Big Ten) team preseason and then how these pieces gel and how they adjust to the high-major level will determine how high that goes from there.”

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