Written by: TJ Inman
Darian DeVries and the Indiana Hoosiers landed the commitment of top 50 wing Vaughn Karvala, a 6’6” 4-star prospect originally from Wisconsin and currently playing for Bella Vista Prep in Arizona. Karvala was a player watched during the summer by DeVries and his staff and the Hoosiers ramped up his recruitment within the past month, beating out California and Xavier for his services. Karvala joins Prince Alexander-Moody in the 2026 class for Indiana.
Vaughn Karvala is ranked number 42 in the class and his upside is very clear. Karvala has good length and size, above-average athleticism and ability to get vertical and a very pretty shooting stroke from the perimeter. During this past AAU campaign, Karvala took two-thirds of his field goal attempts from three and he projects as a plus-level three-point shooter in college that also runs the floor well and has the length to be a good defender with development.
While he has a lot of traits that should excite IU fans, expectations for his impact in 2026 should be somewhat tempered. Karvala needs to physically develop (as should be expected) and his ball-handling and decision-making need to improve for him to be trusted against high-major competition (he averaged 2.2 turnovers per game in AAU play).
The move to Bella Vista Prep for his senior season could accelerate that development as he’ll be playing strong competition all year before coming to Bloomington. Vaughn Karvala projects as a good fit for Darian DeVries’ system and with development, he should be a high-quality contributor for multiple years.
Indiana is still pursuing number one center Arafan Diane for the 2026 class with a decision expected in mid-November and Houston the rumored leader. Beyond that, IU will likely lean on the transfer portal to fill multiple holes on the roster after the 2025-2026 season.