Indiana men’s basketball redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries earned a spot on the Julius Erving Award preseason watchlist, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced Wednesday.
Julius Erving — the award’s namesake — was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993 after a 17-year professional career. Now in its 12th year, the honor is given to the top small forward in Division I.
DeVries followed his father, Indiana head coach Darian DeVries, to Bloomington for his final collegiate season. He played eight games last season at West Virginia University before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery, maintaining a medical redshirt season.
Throughout DeVries’ career, he’s averaged 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. In three seasons at Drake University from 2021-23, he twice earned Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year honors.
The 6-foot-7, 225-pound DeVries is a career 36.7% shooter from 3-point range and 43.5% from the field. In 112 total games, he’s scored in double figures 101 times and at least 20 points in 41 contests.
Six other Big Ten small forwards earned a spot on the preseason watchlist:
- Illinois — Andrej Stojaković
- Michigan State — Coen Carr
- Ohio State — Devin Royal
- Purdue — Fletcher Loyer
- UCLA — Eric Dailey Jr.
- Southern California — Chad Baker-Mazara
Fan voting for the award begins Friday. In late January, the 20-player watchlist — which players can play their way onto or off the list throughout the season — is cut to 10. In late February, the list narrows to five before the winner is announced on an undetermined date after the season.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) and columnist Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki8773 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
