As Darian DeVries’ first Indiana basketball roster comes together, the strengths and weaknesses of his developing team are emerging.
As of Tuesday afternoon, DeVries and IU had eight players, with a possible ninth depending on how the NCAA handles Luke Goode’s hardship waiver request for a fifth season.
The new staff has done a solid job adding facilitators and shooters to the team. They’ve got a good foundation of players at the two guard spots, along with a wealth of guys who could man the three or four positions.
Here’s a look at the positional versatility of the nine players (including Goode) currently tied to the IU roster:
- PG – Tayton Conerway, Conor Enright, Jason Drake
- SG – Lamar Wilkerson, Conor Enright, Jason Drake
- SF – Lamar Wilkerson, Tucker DeVries, Jasai Miles, Trent Sisley, Luke Goode
- PF – Reed Bailey, Tucker DeVries, Trent Sisley, Luke Goode
- C – Reed Bailey
Indiana added Drexel transfer guard Jason Drake on Tuesday. You can never have enough guards and wings who can shoot in modern college basketball, so even after Drake the staff might keep looking to add at those spots. Obviously, younger players who are a bit more open to coming off the bench would be easier to land in the roles that are a bit crowded.
But the position-by-position illustration above highlights the glaring need as DeVries continues to assemble his first Indiana squad: He needs rebounding and rim protection. The one clear position that doesn’t have a lot of competition at the moment is center.
In fact, you could reasonably argue IU still doesn’t have a true center.
Reed Bailey is 6-foot-10 and 230 pounds, so he could certainly man the five. But his skillset (41.5% from three, 3.8 assists) suggest he’s an optimal stretch four, while his rebounding (6.1 rpg) and shot blocking (.8 bpg) numbers don’t point to a dominant big man, especially as he makes the jump to high major.
In certain matchups or game planning scenarios Bailey could play center, and he might at times. But an educated guess on his minutes allocation would be 80% at the four, 20% at the five.
Indiana needs what Bailey doesn’t offer in abundance — rim protection, dominant rebounding, and a lob/dunker threat on the block. With so many good shooters on the perimeter, IU probably isn’t looking for a traditional back to the basket big man who would arrive on campus expecting a heavy load of post entry passes.
Instead, players like Texas Tech transfer Federiko Federiko, who IU has contacted, seems to fit the bill: efficient low shot volume scoring from the paint, rebounding, post defense, shot blocking.
And a developmental big man like Fridrik Leo Curtis would certainly be an option that makes sense for added depth. Look for more names to emerge in the days to come. With the portal closing today, we should know the complete list of big man prospects in the next day or two. We’ll take a look at some of the more intriguing potential targets.
If you add two centers to the current eight, and possibly add Goode, then DeVries and crew are down to just needing to fill a couple spots if they use all 13 scholarships.
At that point they could choose to swing for the fences for a late big splash add or two if enough financial resources remain, or they might opt to work on younger additions that will give the roster continuity and class balance beyond the upcoming season.
You can always track the latest with IU and Big Ten roster movement and portal prosects here:
IU basketball, Big Ten 2025 offseason portal names, roster tracker — UPDATED (4/22)
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