Darian DeVries’ first staff in Bloomington is heavy on recruiting connections.
Indiana men’s basketball head coach Darian DeVries has been at work assembling his first staff in Bloomington ahead of the 2025-26 season.
His initial staff has a heavy focus on recruiting connections as DeVries looks to build his program for the future. Here’s a breakdown of the reported hires:
Assistants
- Nick Norton
Hey, I like this guy’s name (no relation though!).
Anyway, Norton has been with DeVries the longest, having played under him years ago before working his way up the staff ladder all the way to being named an assistant coach. He’s obviously pretty young, but if DeVries sees something there it’s fair to take him at his word. Norton could end up being a riser in the coaching ranks with time, he’s worth keeping an eye on.
- Kenny Johnson
A familiar face for Hoosier fans due to working a similar role under Tom Crean, Johnson was reportedly hired away from a similar role at Georgetown. Ed Cooley brought him on board for his knowledge of and connections around the DMV, a particularly fertile high school recruiting ground. DeVries brings him to Bloomington for the same reasons.
But Johnson isn’t just a DMV guy, he’s an all-around solid recruiter. He took the lead on James Blackmon Jr.’s recruiting under Crean and has landed multiple top-100 players at his previous stops.
- Drew Adams
Another name that should ring a bell, Adams was previously director of operations at Indiana under Tom Crean, is from Bloomington and most recently worked at Cincinnati before his reported hiring at Indiana. With his connections around the Midwest, namely the state of Indiana, Adams is to DeVries what Johnson was to Cooley, to cite the above hire. As a former coach at the AAU level with Indiana Elite, Adams is in Bloomington to help bolster Indiana’s in-state recruiting efforts and his hiring was a shrewd move from DeVries.
- Rod Clark
Clark, another reported hire, just straight up knows how to get talent in the building, having helped Tennessee land commitments from Dalton Knecht and Chaz Lanier, both of whom were massive in back-to-back Elite Eight appearances for the Volunteers these past two seasons. He has a past on the Nike EYBL circuit and coaching high-level prep basketball. Prying him away from Tennessee almost certainly wasn’t easy, but DeVries made it happen.
Strength and Conditioning
- Ryan Horn
DeVries elected not to retain Clif Marshall, and Hoosiers on SI has reported that Ryan Horn will be filling that spot on Indiana’s staff. Horn has been with DeVries since the latter’s time at Drake and has previous experience at Wichita State, Tulsa, Wake Forest and in the private sector.
Others
- Mike Bargen
DeVries hired Mike Bargen to an off-court support role in the opening weeks of his tenure, per reporting from the Indianapolis Star. The two were on staff together at Creighton before Bargen departed for an assistant role at the junior college level, eventually landing a job at Bradley, a Missouri Valley Conference rival of DeVries’ Drake program.