Sam Alexis says he’s returning to IU basketball for the 2026-27 season
- Alex Bozich
- 29m ago
Sam Alexis said in an Instagram post on Sunday that he will return to IU basketball for the 2026-27 season.
“Let’s do it again, Hoosier Nation,” Alexis wrote.
The 6-foot-9 forward won a temporary injunction Friday from a Tennessee judge for an additional season of eligibility. That ruling applied to 19 players.
Later on Friday, however, a judge in Colorado ruled that all Division I players who began their careers in 2022-23 are part of the class eligible for another season of eligibility.
The legal fight stems from a rule passed by the NCAA in June allowing five seasons of competition in five years that was not applied retroactively.
NCAA president Charlie Baker released the following statement on Friday night after the court rulings.
“Without targeted intervention from Congress, college sports cannot set nationwide rules everyone can play by and without Congress, failed professionals will continue to use college sports as a fallback option — robbing the next class of young athletes of college scholarships. It is long past time leaders across college sports call for the immediate passage of the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act — a bill supported by student-athlete leaders, Democrats, Republicans and NCAA schools from all three divisions. Today’s rulings and the chaos they bring to college sports are exactly why it’s time to pass this bill.”
Unless the NCAA overturns the court rulings, Alexis will be eligible to play for the Hoosiers next season.
Alexis began his career at Chattanooga, where he played for two seasons before transferring to Florida for the 2024-25 season, during which he was part of a national championship roster.
Last season for the Hoosiers, Alexis averaged 8.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 blocked shots and 1.2 assists in 21.3 minutes per game. He shot 68.7 percent from the field.
Over 121 career games – 55 starts – Alexis owns career averages of 7.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 assists in 18.3 minutes per game.
Alexis played with the IU roster, which represented the United States, in the recent FISU America Games in Lima, Peru. In that event, he averaged 13.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.3 blocked shots. He shot 18-for-22 from the field (81.8 percent) and 3-for-8 from the free-throw line (37.5 percent).
The addition of Alexis – assuming his eligibility ruling sticks – bolsters IU’s frontcourt depth significantly. He joins a unit that already includes Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu.
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