It's been 213 days since Indiana men’s basketball last took the court.
A 74-61 loss to Northwestern in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament ended a middling first season under head coach Darian DeVries, finishing with 18-14 and 9-11 in conference play.
The roster DeVries assembled during his first season in Bloomington looks vastly different entering his second.
In the offseason, six seniors graduated while three others entered the transfer portal. Among the departures were Indiana’s leading scorers, Lamar Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries, who signed Exhibit 10 contracts with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics, respectively.
DeVries reloaded the roster by adding seven new players in the portal, including former University of Notre Dame senior point guard Markus Burton, University of Alabama junior forward Aiden Sherrell and Southern Methodist University junior center Samet Yigitoglu. The Hoosiers also brought in four highly rated freshmen.
Heading into the 2026-27 season, the Hoosiers have a new identity: physicality.
Last year, Indiana was one-dimensional offensively. They attempted 28.3 three-pointers per game — the 32nd-most nationally. During Big Ten Media Days on Thursday, DeVries said he expects his group to have a more balanced attack offensively and wants the defense to take a step forward.
Behind the Bulldogs:
Butler is led by first-year head coach Ronald Nored, who returned to his alma mater.
Nored played four seasons at Butler under Brad Stevens, now the Boston Celtics' president of basketball operations. He started in the 2010 national championship game and helped the Bulldogs return to the title game in 2011.
After graduating from Butler, Nored went on to be a part of five NBA different coaching staffs. Most recently, he was the assistant head coach for the Atlanta Hawks for the last three seasons behind Quin Snyder.
Last season, Butler finished 16-16 and 7-13 in the Big East Conference, placing seventh in the conference. The Bulldogs’ season ended with a 91-81 loss to Providence University in the second round of the Big East Tournament.
Among the notable departures were Finley Bizjack, who transferred to West Virginia University, and Michael Ajayi, who signed a two-way contract with the Greensboro Swarm.
In total, Butler lost 10 players during the offseason. Last season, Bizjack led the Bulldogs in scoring with 17.1 points per game on 42.6% shooting and 34.9% from three-point range. Ajayi posted 16.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per contest. Ajayi was also named to the All-Big East First Team.
To replace the productivity from Bizjack and Ajayi, Nored added sophomore forward Samis Calderon, junior guard Eduardo Klafke and graduate student Christian Moore.
During his freshman year at the University of Kansas, Calderon appeared in 16 games and averaged 4.1 minutes per contest, even though he was a four-star high school recruit. Last year, Klafke averaged 4.6 points and 2.5 rebounds in 15 minutes across 34 games with the University of Mississippi. At The Citadel, Moore put up 11.2 points per contest on 42.9% from the field in 31 games last season.
What to watch for:
With fifth-year senior forward Sam Alexis and sophomore forward Trent Sisley being the only two scholarship players to return from last season, the Hoosiers’ chemistry remains in question. It’s unknown how Indiana will gel, especially in the first exhibition of the year.
Despite the roster overhaul, there is familiarity between players. DeVries picked up four players from Atlantic Coast Conference teams and five players who were born and raised in the DMV area — Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia — and played against each other growing up.
With Nored’s NBA coaching experience, the Hoosiers won’t have film on Butler. Yet it’s a challenge DeVries wants his group to face, especially on the road in the first exhibition game.
“You have no idea what they’re going to run, which is actually great,” DeVries said Thursday. “Now you really have to rely strictly on the principles of your defense, so there’s no cheat codes.”
Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Sunday inside Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The game will be streamed on WISH-TV.
Follow reporters Elakai Anela (@elakai_anela and eanela@iu.edu) and Kasey Watkins (@KaseyWatki87731 and kaslwatk@iu.edu) and columnist Nathan Shriberg (@NShriberg and naashri@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana men’s basketball season.
