Darian DeVries and co have a lineup decision to make this summer.
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The 2025-26 Indiana men’s basketball roster is just about set.
It’ll be Darian DeVries’ first season as head coach of the Hoosiers and he started off on the right foot with a transfer portal blitz that saw him rebuild the roster from scratch far more quickly than most had anticipated.
On top of that, he’s assembled a very highly-paid staff of assistants. Some names, like Kenny Johnson and Drew Adams, should be familiar to Hoosier fans. Others, like Nick Norton and Rod Clark, aren’t as well known.
Norton has been with DeVries throughout his career in coaching after playing for him at Drake. Clark was most recently with Tennessee and was key in recruiting Dalton Knecht and Chaz Lanier, key pieces to the Volunteers’ back-to-back Elite Eight runs.
As for the roster the staff has put together, it’s pretty guard-heavy, there’s not a ton of power in the frontcourt but what’s there is both good enough and seems to suit the roster as it’s constructed. But it makes for an interesting lineup decision.
Reed Bailey, Indiana’s frontcourt add from Davidson, has the versatility to play the five or the four given his ability to dribble, pass and shoot the ball. But putting him in at the five would put Tucker DeVries at the four. That’s a natural spot for him, but it’d make for a lineup that’s pretty small by Big Ten standards.
The other option? Start Florida transfer Sam Alexis at the five. The questions there come from the facts that Alexis was very, very much a bench piece on last season’s championship roster for the Gators and he’s a bit undersized at 6’8”.
Well, last season’s West Virginia defense finished at 16th in KenPom’s efficiency metrics with a 6’8” center. Alexis has shown he’s a reliable shot blocker and he’d be the fifth scoring option on the floor, a role he’d understand and seemingly be willing to play given his time with the Gators.
You be the judge.
Do you like this staff? Who should start at the five?