'There’s no reason to expect anything less than' a tournament appearance for Indiana basketball under Darian DeVries in year one

Every year Indiana basketball has high expectations.

These expectations have always been there going back to 1926 when the Hoosiers won their first conference championship. 

The expectations were there when Branch McCracken won two national titles and only increased during Bob Knight’s legendary tenure. 

Since Knight left the program, Indiana basketball has consistently struggled to meet the high expectations that surround the program.

Making the tournament should never be the goal for a program of this caliber, but after two straight missed tournaments Indiana basketball is looking to get back to where they belong as a program. 

Jamie Shaw, Senior National Recruiting Analyst for On3Sports, believes it is not far-fetched to expect the Hoosiers to return to the tournament in year one under Darian DeVries.

“There’s no reason to expect anything less than that. I think it’s very reasonable. The A.D. went out and got his guy in the era of the transfer portal,” Shaw said on Indiana Sports Beat Radio with Jim Coyle. “You see programs like Louisville and Kentucky last year who did not have a single returning player on the roster and they both made the NCAA Tournament.”

This kind of turnaround is not new for DeVries either. Last season he led West Virginia to a 10-win improvement while completely rebuilding the roster with nine transfers. 

West Virginia was controversially held out of the tournament but DeVries showed he can execute a massive turnaround in year one.

While Shaw believes Indiana basketball should expect to return to the tournament, he emphasized it would be a challenge.

“It’s a tough road. It’s a long road. It’s a very competitive road to be in but that’s the landscape we’re at,” Shaw said of Indiana rebuilding through the transfer portal.

With the massive NIL budget that Indiana Basketball possesses, DeVries has all of the resources to add high-impact players in the portal. 

The most important thing for DeVries is adding the right players.

“Right now he’s trying to establish what his culture, what his identity is going to look like,” Shaw said.

Last year Indiana was able to add some of the top players in the portal and still missed the tournament. 

Finding guys that fit his system and culture is equally as important as landing the top guys for DeVries.

“Him and his staff are gonna have to pinpoint quickly what it is they value in a player and what players they have inroads with who they can bring in,” Shaw said.

DeVries has already gotten a jump start building his culture with the additions of his son, Tucker DeVries, and Conor Enright who played for him at Drake. 

While those two will help DeVries set the tone for the new era of Indiana basketball, they are just the start as there are a ton of holes on the roster to fill.

“You got to be able to formulate a core of players that you can go to war with,” Shaw said.

You don’t need to go 10 deep in college basketball today as the top teams typically don’t get past their eighth man when it matters most.

None of this year’s Final Four teams had more than eight players play 10-plus minutes in their Elite Eight victories. 

“As long as you can fill out as much of that seven or eight-man rotation as quickly as possible with players that you’re comfortable with and then go from there with more to fill out the depth aspect of it you’re in a pretty good spot,” Shaw said. 

Having the depth to go to 10 or more guys is always a bonus, but you need seven or eight guys you can trust in today’s game.

DeVries already has added a few key pieces and is off to a good start, but he has plenty of work left to build the rotation.

While Indiana basketball will likely add a ton of experienced players in the portal, Shaw also expects the program to add to their 2025 recruiting class. 

“I would expect them to probably bring in a couple of high school kids, maybe two to fill out the roster as some are opening up,” Shaw said.

The Hoosiers will have four-star freshman forward Trent Sisley coming into the program but could add a few more freshmen as most of DeVries 2025 recruiting class from West Virginia decommitted from the school after he took the IU job.

DeVries has plenty of work to do between now and the start of next season as he builds the roster. 

Despite that there is no reason to expect anything less than a NCAA Tournament appearance in his first year with Indiana basketball.