i don't think devries wants to be in the portal each year and that's why he has 3 freshman coming in next season while already having a '27 commit.
but after the failure to get to their goal of tournament or bust, they're in the same spot as last year but with three freshman. you're right...that sucks.
my main issue with devries, outside of being wrong on his evaluations for some of the guys he brought in, stem from the 4 guys that redshirted. those spots needed to be filled with multi year guys who were actually going to contribute this season and be guys you could build on for next year, especially if guys like conerway or bailey struggled.none of them even played (except ristic in only garbage time). i knew they weren't going to be stars as bench guys but having guys you could point to and say "see, this guys coming back" would have been ideal.
problem is, what multi year guy with talent is going to be fine with a bench role? carlysle and rice would never have come if they weren't starters. again, it's a fine line and iu was going to be in the portal no matter what in year two, so i don't really think its that big of a deal other than that they need 5 starters instead of maybe 3.
If this was like a crean rebuild you could sit around and wait two more year on these freshman to develop but times have changed. I don't think anyone has the patience to sit around another three years waiting. The fact of the matter is he is going to once again need the poral and will once again have to build the team to win now an not in three years. He simply cannot miss the tourney again or I see no way he can recover from that.
And even the multi year guys I watched Miles the last few game I am not impressed at all. Dorn is ok if someone can set him up but he is nothing special at all.
i don't think devries wants to be in the portal each year and that's why he has 3 freshman coming in next season while already having a '27 commit.
but after the failure to get to their goal of tournament or bust, they're in the same spot as last year but with three freshman. you're right...that sucks.
my main issue with devries, outside of being wrong on his evaluations for some of the guys he brought in, stem from the 4 guys that redshirted. those spots needed to be filled with multi year guys who were actually going to contribute this season and be guys you could build on for next year, especially if guys like conerway or bailey struggled.none of them even played (except ristic in only garbage time). i knew they weren't going to be stars as bench guys but having guys you could point to and say "see, this guys coming back" would have been ideal.
problem is, what multi year guy with talent is going to be fine with a bench role? carlysle and rice would never have come if they weren't starters. again, it's a fine line and iu was going to be in the portal no matter what in year two, so i don't really think its that big of a deal other than that they need 5 starters instead of maybe 3.
If this was like a crean rebuild you could sit around and wait two more year on these freshman to develop but times have changed. I don't think anyone has the patience to sit around another three years waiting. The fact of the matter is he is going to once again need the poral and will once again have to build the team to win now an not in three years. He simply cannot miss the tourney again or I see no way he can recover from that.
And even the multi year guys I watched Miles the last few game I am not impressed at all. Dorn is ok if someone can set him up but he is nothing special at all.
of course times have changed. outside of msu, nearly every single coach uses the portal to add players each year. hell dusty may's entire team except trey mckinney are portal guys and he's in year 2.
i agree. miles was a miss. dorn is blah.
it sucks that they need a bunch of starters. but they also have a playing time, money to spend and a modern offense to sell players along with a real gm running things.
we'll see how it plays out.
@iunorth The short answer to your question(s) of how could we look so good at times and not others.......This team relied solely on 3 point shooting. If you live by the 3 and die by the 3, this is what you will get. It is "fools gold" when we blow out some team b/c Wilkerson went off, but when we really needed the 3's, they weren't there (UK, U of L to name a couple). Now, I'm not going to go do the work and look at what 3 point % we shot against Oregon and Minny but I bet it was up there.
Secondly, IMO, there weren't that many stretches in the season, if any, that we looked like a top 15 team.
Third. Purdue played like total crap, Nebraska played like total crap for 30 mins, Wisconsin got totally "home jobbed" out of a win and the UCLA game, in my book, was an "L" b/c of the way we totally tried to give the game away in the last 2 mins. I mean LITERALLY as in, do you remember Wilkerson just throwing the ball up in the air at their FT line b/c he jumped up in the air w/o anywhere to pass the ball, didn't know what to do and just threw it straight to one of their guys who scored w/o even having to put the ball on the deck????? There were other plays down the stretch of that game, and obviously we technically won the game, but we looked like a Middle School team trying to break the press in the last 2 mins. I quit watching.
A team needs to be able to shoot 3's at a 38-40% clip to succeed in today's game, but a team cannot be a one-trick-pony. Need to be able to hit some threes to keep a team honest but that better not be a team's only asset.
I respect your opinions, but this is how I saw the season unfold.
We need skilled bigs, a pg that is more than just a dribbler, and much better perimeter defenders! Our perimeter D has been plain awful for years, ever since Archie thought his defensive schemes were the best ever in cball! Defense can win championships!
@redandrowdy As Barkley said in his commentary during the UK game, if your team identity or main strategy is the 3, then you can't make a lot of mistakes in any other part of the game. You need to defend consistently and well, can't foul too much, can't turn the ball over, can't take bad shots, gotta hit free-throws, etc.
Pretty sure the ideal construction is always going to be balance. Coaches are too good at the high levels. They all adjust to take away your best trait. Yes, our coach too... So you need weapons to adjust yourselves. The mid-range shooter has gone away some though.
Defense maybe an exception. The very tough defensive teams always seem to be in it. More perimeter oriented these days but not exclusively. We seemed very average on defense. Just not enough athleticism. Or want to. Hope that changes big time.
Looks like Jasai Miles can be taken off the roster. He's in the portal. More to come.
Jamie, you will be a busy man keeping up with roster happenings over these next few days in April.Have had this ready for a bit but I guess I didn't post it.
Anyway, here is the updated roster/depth chart for guys with eligibility still for the '26-'27 season.
This will be updated as guys come and go but I also included a page with the walk on's and '27 commits.
The links either go to their IU page (if they barely played or didn't play at all), their Bart Torvik page or, for the recruits, their 247 page.
As always, if you see mistakes, please let me know.
Tough season and really hoping the portal plus the three '26 commits (and near 5* Chase Branham in '27) can lay some sort of foundation for the future.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pB4xh17Hc-D5-UPrc4zB-pB7KjFEjMZgTnN41MqYwOw/edit?usp=sharing
i will be.
that said, i already removed him before...it's been pretty obvious that he, drake and harris are gone. i'm just waiting on dorn.
@bigmike If the field does indeed expand to 76 teams, it would take a major collapse for IU not to get a bid. Shit, Auburn would have been in under that format, and they were 17-16 at selection time.
I can't wait for NCAAT matchups between .500 teams. Gross.
@bigmike If the field does indeed expand to 76 teams, it would take a major collapse for IU not to get a bid. Shit, Auburn would have been in under that format, and they were 17-16 at selection time.
I can't wait for NCAAT matchups between .500 teams. Gross.
That is going to make it hard to fire anyone now given the how can you fire a guy who has been making the tourney argument . Might as well just let every team in at this point. This is now becoming like the toilet bowls in football.
@arioznahoosier4554 With an expanded field, "play-in" games should be just that ... and shouldn't be part of the NCAAT. If you make the final 64 via play-ins, only then are you considered a tournament team. Seems reasonable to me.
The NCAA is fighting FIFA for the title of worst organization in sports. Both are pathetic.
They should be shrinking the field not expanding it. Make the NCAAT 32 teams and make the NIT the next 32 and then both tournaments will be interesting. If I'm not mistaken, no 9--16 seed has ever won the NCAAT so it's only "participation trophy" thinking that says more than 32 teams have any business playing in it. Well that and wanting to sell tickets I guess.
@ams66 I don't believe they'll ever shrink the field, but the correct # is pretty obvious: 64. Just as football it's 16. But, the NCAA has to put their spin on it and can't do the obvious thing.