With transfer portal additions, IU basketball lands in a preseason top 25 for 2026-27 season

Photos of IU basketball's 98-51 win against Alabama A&M.

College basketball rosters for the 2026-27 season are very much a work in progress.

IU basketball finished season one of the Darian DeVries era with an 18-14 record as the program missed the NCAA tournament for a third consecutive season.

However, the Hoosiers have six transfer portal commitments this spring, sparking optimism that year two for DeVries could bring significant improvement.

Many of the way-too-early rankings for next season haven’t been updated in weeks, but longtime CBS Sports scribe Gary Parrish is providing frequent updates of his Top 25 and 1.

On April 17, Parrish moved Indiana into the top 25 for the first time this offseason.

“It’s been a minute since Indiana has accomplished anything notable in men’s basketball, evidence being that the Hoosiers haven’t made a Final Four since 2002 or even a Sweet 16 since 2016,” Parrish wrote. “That’s rough for a blue blood. But Darian DeVries and his staff are working hard—and spending big—to change that this week. They’ve now added a total of six players out of the transfer portal in a development that’s moved Indiana from unranked to No. 19 in Version 7 of the 2026-27 CBS Sports Preseason Top 25 And 1 college basketball rankings.”

The nod at No. 19 didn’t last long, as the Hoosiers fell to No. 21 in Monday’s update by Parrish. Moving past IU were USC and Tennessee, who both made significant portal moves in recent days.

There will be many more twists and turns this month – and well into May – as programs around the country solidify their rosters for the 2026-27 season.

The transfer portal officially closes tonight at midnight, bringing clarity on who is available for programs to pursue in the coming weeks. In addition to the portal, there are still plenty of needle movers with NBA decisions to make, as well as elite unsigned high school talent and international prospects who could make an impact.

Right now, with 10 players already committed for next season, Indiana is in a solid position. The bulk of the activity in the portal is done for DeVries and his staff. With the starting lineup likely already on the roster, the coaching staff can be more patient now as it looks to fill the final spots on what it hopes will be an NCAA tournament roster for next season.

While a preseason ranking in late April means little and the program’s goal should be winning more games rather than transfer portal headlines, the roster additions this offseason have given those who follow the program hope for what is possible next winter.

After a collapse late in the season that ultimately led to IU missing the tournament – it lost six of its last seven games – another roster reset was inevitable. Rather than doubling down on the mistakes made last spring in the portal, which included moving too slowly to secure commitments, not recruiting enough size and recruiting too many mid-major guys, DeVries and his staff adjusted this month.

Indiana was aggressive in quickly wrapping up its priority portal targets, added two big men in Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu, both suited to play in the Big Ten, and all six of its commitments thus far have high-major experience.

The moves now must translate to the court and there’s still work to be done to fill the remaining roster spots, even if only for depth. DeVries and the IU staff, which includes executive director of basketball Ryan Carr, quickly flipped the program’s momentum with the six commitments last week.

Now the challenge is capitalizing on the momentum and ensuring that the transfer portal isn’t the highlight for IU basketball for a fourth straight season.

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