Darian DeVries talks IU basketball’s new backcourt, Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu

Alabama transfer Aiden Sherrell.

Second-year IU basketball coach Darian DeVries addressed the media on Thursday morning to provide a spring offseason update.

DeVries will also speak later this month at Huber Winery on Wednesday, May 27, in Borden, Indiana.

In his Thursday press conference, DeVries spoke about several of IU basketball’s newcomers for next season and we’ve compiled his comments below on the new-look backcourt, Aiden Sherrell, Samet Yigitoglu and the freshmen:

On the backcourt additions: “Yeah, I really like what the guards that we have coming in, what their abilities are. They can both score. They can both get paint touches, which I think is critical to create opportunities, not only for themselves, but for the shooting that we have around them.

“Just being able to, ‘hey, when we need five, four, three, two, one, somebody’s got to go make a bucket.’ We have guys that can go get one for us and I’m excited about that. Or just go shot create for themselves and others. I think we have a lot of guys that can go make a play and that’s going to be important for us. There were times (last season) where teams switched us and we just didn’t have the ability to get by people, get paint touches, and go finish at the rim, draw fouls and so we wanted to increase our ability to do that for sure.”

On the incoming freshmen: “With freshmen, it’s a little bit like, you don’t know for sure, but I’m really excited about them. I think all three of those guys have a chance to come in and contribute and I think they’re all very talented in different ways and I’m excited about what they’re going to do. I love with a couple of them, there’s their length and their versatility and Prince Moody is a guard that can play multiple positions as well, so I think all three of them are going to come in and they’re still going to be freshmen.

“They’re going to go through some things, but I like what they bring. I think they’re all going to have an opportunity to come in and play and give us some good minutes and we’ll see what that ends up looking like, but certainly all three guys are very talented.”

On Aiden Sherrell: “I think Aiden, there’s a lot there. He can shoot the ball. He can put the ball on the deck. So he’s still going to give us that spacing. It’s a little bit different than maybe what we had, but I also think that his ability, when he gets switches, he’s going to be able to take guards down into the post and really make you second-guess whether you want to switch or not.

“But he still creates enough of the spacing that we want to make sure that we have driving lanes and post-up opportunities. ”

On Samet Yigitoglu: “Samet, he’s a big, big guy and he’s not afraid of knowing that he’s big either. Like, he knows what he is and he likes it. When he sets a screen, people are going to feel that. He can play in short roll. He can play in the post. He’s great at duck-ins.

“He just gives you that physical presence and I think the two of them together is going to be something that’s going to be a lot of fun for us as we go through the summer workouts and stuff of finding new ways to utilize both of them when they’re out there together.”

On Markus Burton: “I think Markus, like his numbers almost speak for themselves, like his ability to score at a high, high level against a really, really good competition. The thing that was impressive, though, is he can play make for people, too. It’s not just score. Like, when you watch the film from his games before he got hurt last year, he made a lot of really good decisions with the ball and pick and roll and I’m excited about that.

“His ability just to go by somebody, to go play make. And he might be one of the more elite mid-range shooters in the country. And that’s something when you think about attacking, pick and roll defense, a lot of teams are in the drop.

“But when you have a point guard that can come off that thing and get to 12 to 15 feet, a lot of teams want you to shoot that. But when you have a guy like Markus where that’s what he thrives on, that puts you in a tough spot and how you want to cover. But I think he’s going to be great.

“I’m excited about his ability to play on and off the ball because he can score without it. He can score with it. And I think he’s going to be set up to have a great year.”

(Photo credit: Alabama Athletics)

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