Indiana men’s basketball’s summer and fall have been marred by injuries to four of 13 scholarship players.
The Hoosiers are slated to get their regular season underway against Alabama A&M University at 8 p.m. Wednesday. And they’ll likely do so with an expected key contributor taking the floor for the first time in a Cream and Crimson uniform: junior guard Nick Dorn.
“We do hope to have Nick available for Wednesday,” Indiana head coach Darian DeVries said on the Inside IU Basketball radio show Monday. “So, that was great news for us.”
Dorn, who underwent two surgeries in the offseason to repair a Jones fracture in his foot dating to last season at Elon University, got a “good” medical report Monday, DeVries said.
The 6-foot-7 Dorn traveled with the Hoosiers to Puerto Rico in August but didn’t play in any of the three contests. He also didn’t see action in Indiana’s two exhibition wins over Marian University and Baylor University.
It’s unclear what role Dorn will have in the Hoosiers’ opener; however, his return marks progress in terms of Indiana’s thin rotation.
“So, we’ll still see a little bit on Wednesday what that looks like for him ‘cause he’s still working his way back in to getting into shape and going through full practices, which he was starting to do last week,” DeVries said. “So, excited to get him out there and see what he can do, but certainly on the right track right now of getting him back sooner than later.”
Dorn is expected to be a helpful addition to the Hoosiers’ 3-point shooting this season. He’s a career 35.6% shooter from beyond the arc, which redshirt senior guard Conor Enright said he’s displayed in practice.
“I’ve seen him shoot in drills, and he makes 20 in a row,” Enright said Monday. “He can definitely shoot it.”
While Dorn’s return appears imminent, sophomore forward Josh Harris’ doesn’t. The University of North Florida transfer has sported a boot on his right leg while using a scooter to maneuver Oct. 17.
“Unfortunately, he’s going to be out for a while as well,” DeVries said. “We do have some injuries. It’s just part of it.”
The two other injured Hoosiers — junior guard Jason Drake and freshman guard Aleksa Ristic — remain sidelined. The former is dealing with a lower-body injury that kept him out for much of the offseason while the latter sustained a right leg injury during a September practice.
“Guys just got to fill in and find a way to make it happen,” DeVries said. “When those guys get back, we’ll look forward to getting them back into those rotations.”
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.
