6-Banner Sunday: IU hires Darian DeVries as 31st men’s basketball coach

  • Mar 23, 2025 8:31 am
 

Welcome to another edition of 6-Banner Sunday, a joint production between The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall, where we highlight the five most essential IU basketball stories of the past week, plus take a look at how the other IU sports programs are doing.

With the Hoosiers missing the NCAA tournament and their season over, the attention immediately turned to the coaching situation. This question was answered Tuesday when Darian DeVries was announced as IU’s new head coach.

Besides this, the women made their 6th straight NCAA tournament and opened with a victory. A couple of IU players entered the transfer portal and Inside the Hall published season recaps for ten IU scholarship players. We will, as usual, conclude with weekly shows and a look at other Indiana sports, led by baseball having another strong week.

Here is what is in this week’s edition:

• Darian Devries hired as IU’s 31st men’s basketball coach
• IU women beat Utah in NCAA tournament opener, will face South Carolina today
• Two Hoosiers enter the transfer portal
• Inside the Hall’s That’s A Wrap series
• Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
• Hoosier Roundup

Banner #1 – Darian Devries hired as IU’s 31st men’s basketball coach

With the Woodson era over, whispers and rumors of who might be the next coach in Bloomington persisted. However, no one knew the actual identity of IU’s next coach until it was announced last Tuesday. The answer to this was West Virginia’s Darian Devries who was rarely brought up until late in the search process.

Devries was then officially introduced at a press conference on Wednesday. Devries comes to Indiana after a season with the Mountaineers, where he improved a nine-win squad by 10 games to finish 19-13 and barely missed the NCAA tournament as the first team below the cut line. Most importantly, he made hay in the same Battle 4 Atlantis tournament IU struggled with. While the Hoosiers were dominated by Louisville and Gonzaga, Devries’ side upset the Bulldogs and took the Cardinals to the wire.

Before that, he got a Drake squad with no history of winning to a postseason appearance each year he was on the sidelines (outside of 2020, when COVID abruptly canceled all March tournaments). This included three appearances in the big dance. While having minimal experience at the highest levels of college basketball, he does come from Creighton’s Greg McDermott’s coaching tree. He is also the opposite of Woodson in that he focuses on perimeter play and 3-point shooting.

Banner #2 – IU women beat Utah in NCAA tournament opener, will face South Carolina today

On the other side of Assembly Hall, Teri Moren’s squad was selected to and won their NCAA tournament opener against Utah led by Yarden Garzon. The team is now 20-12 overall and is making their 6th straight appearance in March Madness after just five in program history before this run.

The victory also marked the tenth straight season of getting to at least 20 victories. They have a very tall task today in the Round of 32 at South Carolina, with tip time scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on ABC. No matter what, though, another successful campaign has occurred for the IU women as they play with house money as a decisive underdog.

Banner #3 – Two Hoosiers enter the transfer portal

While there was some optimism IU might make the NCAA tournament on the Men’s side, they ultimately were the second team below the cut line. This turned the attention to getting a new coach as well as what roster changes might occur.

Gabe Cupps and Malik Reneau have already entered the transfer portal. Also, Harun Zrno has reopened his recruitment with the change on the sidelines. However, fellow incoming freshman Trent Sisley reiterated he still plans to come to Bloomington next fall. Also, senior Luke Goode will pursue a medical redshirt to return for a fifth season. It is also expected that Devries’ son Tucker will follow his dad to campus and is projected to be a massive piece to the puzzle.

Outside of this, it is unclear who might be on campus for 2025-2026 as Devries heads into his first year on the sidelines. Inside the Hall is tracking the transfer portal for IU and others in the Big Ten.

Banner #4 – Inside the Hall’s That’s A Wrap series

Inside the Hall also recapped each player’s individual year for 2024-2025. Bryson Tucker, Kanaan Carlyle, Mackenzie Mgbako, Myles Rice, Reneau, Anthony Leal, Langdon Hatton, Trey Galloway, Luke Goode, and Oumar Ballo were all looked at in detail.

Banner #5 – Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows

Podcast on the Brink was recorded multiple times this week. The episodes featured WDRB’s Rick Bozich discussing the Devries hire as well as a preview of the women’s selection to the NCAA tournament with their radio voice Austin Render.

The Back Home Network was on-air multiple times in the last few days. Assembly Call’s Emergency Podcast, Crimson Cast, Doing The Work, Dribble Drive, and Xs And Joes all had shows.

Banner #6 – Hoosier Roundup

• Baseball had another good week knocking off Ohio State to sweep that series as well as defeating Evansville and UCLA before falling to the Bruins. Also, several former Hoosiers are in the MLB Pipeline and a current player was honored by the conference.

• Softball had a mixed week falling to Iowa and Penn State but also defeating Notre Dame as well as the Nittany Lions twice.

• Wrestling is competing at the NCAA Championships.

• Women’s swimming and diving set a program record by finishing fourth nationally at the NCAA championships.

• Water polo beat San Diego State and Harvard but fell to Arizona State. They also had a couple of their athletes honored.

• Men’s Tennis fell to Illinois and Michigan State.

• Women’s Tennis beat Rutgers.

• Rowing competed at the Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational to open their season.

• Finally, 88 Hoosiers received academic honors.

Thanks for your continued support of The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall. We’ll be back next weekend with a new roundup.

Now go enjoy yourself a 6-banner Sunday.

Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor

To receive 6-Banner Sunday in your inbox each week, enter your email address and choose the free subscription option from our friends at The Assembly Call.

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

Category: 6-Banner Sunday

Filed to: