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IU basketball tips off first of three exhibitions tonight in Puerto Rico

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IU basketball forward Tucker DeVries shoots in Cook Hall.

IU basketball tips off its three-game exhibition tour in Puerto Rico tonight at 7 p.m. ET against Universidad de Puerto Rico Bayamón.

The Hoosiers will also play the Serbian team Mega Superbet on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET and Monday at 11 a.m. ET. For those in Puerto Rico wishing to attend the games, tickets are available here.

There will be no live TV, streaming or radio coverage of the exhibitions, but Inside the Hall reporter Josh Pos will be on site for all three contests and we will have extensive coverage on the site for the duration of the trip.

It will be the first look at game action for a completely rebuilt roster and there’s plenty of intrigue when it comes to IU’s lineups, the pace and shot diet for the offense and how the defense looks as players adjust to a new system.

IU didn’t retain any scholarship players from last season’s roster that finished 19-13 and missed the NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers could be shorthanded in Puerto Rico due to a few injuries, but the core of the roster is expected to be available when the action tips off tonight.

Nick Dorn is not expected to play in Puerto Rico and the status of Drexel transfer Jason Drake is up in the air. Freshman big man Andrej Acimovic has not arrived on campus and is not with the team on the trip.

The new-look IU roster is expected to be led by a group of upperclassmen added to the program via the transfer portal.

Senior guard Lamar Wilkerson, a 6-foot-5 transfer from Sam Houston, averaged 20.5 points per game last season and shot 44.5 percent on 3s. The Hoosiers won Wilkerson’s commitment in a heavily contested recruiting battle, which helped give the program momentum in the portal back in April.

Tucker DeVries, a two-time MVC player of the year at Drake, is in his fifth season of college basketball after a shoulder injury cut his season short last winter at West Virginia. Over four seasons at Drake and West Virginia, the 6-foot-7 DeVries has career averages of 17.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

Troy transfer guard Tayton Conerway has traveled a unique path through college basketball. The 6-foot-3 guard from Burleson, Texas, began his career at two different junior colleges before arriving at Troy for the 2023-24 season. Last season for the Trojans, Conerway was named the player of the year in the Sun Belt and led the program to an NCAA tournament appearance. Conerway was third in the country in steals.

Davidson transfer big man Reed Bailey was one of the top frontcourt players at the mid-major level last season. The 6-foot-10 Bailey averaged 18.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists last season for the Wildcats.

The Hoosiers will also feature DePaul transfer Conor Enright, who spent three seasons with DeVries at Drake, as well as North Florida transfers Jasai Miles and Josh Harris, Florida transfer big man Sam Alexis, freshman forward Trent Sisley and Serbian freshman guard Aleksa Ristic.

Indiana arrived in Puerto Rico on Monday and spent Tuesday on a food tour in Old San Juan.

In his press conference last Wednesday, IU coach Darian DeVries emphasized that the off-court experiences will be as important as what the Hoosiers do on the floor this week.

“For us to be able to go on a trip like this and have it be just us for the most part and them just being able to hang with each other and spend some different type of time outside of the basketball court, you get guys that come in, they’re all at different stages of their lives,” DeVries said. “A lot of them are older guys. They don’t go out as much anymore and those type of things. For them to be all in a group together in one setting is going to be great for us and then to get to play those three games on top of it. It should be an awesome trip, fun experience for all of us and we’re looking forward to it.”

(Photo credit: IU Athletics)

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