Indiana men’s basketball is used to lofty preseason expectations from outsiders. But not this season.
The Hoosiers, who enter their first season under head coach Darian DeVries, were unranked in The Associated Press’ Preseason Top 25 poll released Monday.
The Cream and Crimson received one vote from the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Andy Greder, who slotted Indiana at No. 25 in his ballot. No other voter placed the Hoosiers in the top 25.
DeVries brought in 13 new scholarship players during his first offseason in Bloomington, as each scholarship player from last season’s squad either exhausted their eligibility or transferred elsewhere.
Of the 18 Big Ten schools, six made an appearance in Monday’s poll. Purdue sits as preseason No. 1 for the first time in program history. Michigan is No. 7 while UCLA sits at No. 12.
Illinois and Michigan State are No. 17 and No. 22, respectively, while Wisconsin checked in at No. 24.
Five other Big Ten schools received votes in the poll: Oregon (98), Ohio State (23), Southern California (10), Washington (seven) and Iowa (six).
During former head coach Mike Woodson’s four-year tenure, Indiana was ranked twice in the preseason — the highest being No. 13 in his second year. However, the Hoosiers appeared in the final rankings just once. Now, DeVries will look to change that recent trend.
Indiana’s two-game exhibition slate begins against Marian University at 7 p.m. Friday inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The Hoosiers will then travel to play Baylor University on Oct. 26 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
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.
