Second-year IU basketball coach Darian DeVries met with the media via Zoom on Wednesday morning as the program prepares for its 2026-27 season opener against Eastern Illinois on Monday.
The Hoosiers beat Butler 96-68 in their exhibition opener, North Carolina 76-58 in their second exhibition and Western Kentucky 79-74 in their final exhibition.
Here’s everything DeVries said in his Wednesday media availability:
On Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu helping to open things up for Sam Alexis:
“Yeah, it definitely gives us … like he doesn’t always have to have the most physical guy, so now it’s just, it allows him maybe to have a little bit more of an advantage. Even when he’s at the five, just having another bigger guy out there with him from a rebounding perspective, even a defensive rebounding, it helps us, too, but on the defensive side as well, Sam and Aiden, especially when they’re out there together, just their versatility to switch screens and stay down and be able to stay in front of guards while the other guy is kind of, protecting the rim a little bit at times, I think that’s really helped our defense, too.”
On the good and bad from the three exhibition games:
“Yeah, number one thing was just I was really pleased with and in the three games, we were at a 40% offensive rebound rate, which would have been third in the country (last season). Again, like we talked about, it’s a small sample size, but pretty good competition, too, so I thought it was a good starting point. We defensive rebounded at a 79% clip, which was that would have put us number one in the country last year, so that’s a component that I was really pleased with.
“The thing that we got to get better at is the turnovers. We’re around 17% turnover rate, and we got to get that closer to 12. That was what led the country last year, so you’re only talking, two, three turnovers a game to get that percentage, but that’s where we got to get to, and that’s one area right now that, we’re really, really focused on while continuing to make sure that the rebounding is just a number one priority. But overall, the rebounding at both ends of the four has been exactly what we were looking for.”
On what they learned from the Western Kentucky exhibition:
“Yeah, I thought there was a lot of positives from it. Offensively, that was the first team we played that really, kind of trapped us. They forced baseline and I thought it took us a while to, kind of find a way to, attack it, and we weren’t running anything. We were about as vanilla as you could be, but we should still be able to figure that stuff out, and I thought the guys did a better job as we went along of throwing it inside and making them pay for some of their double teams. When you miss as many free throws as we did and didn’t shoot it well, that’s what you get, but what I liked about it is even in a game like that, you’re not shooting it well, you’re missing free throws, that’s how you get beat in most games.
“But we were able to defend well enough and still rebound well enough to keep us there, and then, as you said, we got a lot of those freshmen in there, a lot of minutes in the second half. I thought they came in and gave great production and that was something we really wanted to be able to get those guys in the last exhibition game, give them some meaningful minutes, and they took advantage of it, which I thought really said a lot about their readiness and ability to come in and perform in a tight game situation. So that was exactly what you want to get out of an exhibition game.”
On what Western Kentucky did defensively and what he’d like to see against that type of pressure:
“When they’re aggressive in the ball screen’s, just playing out of the short roll a little bit more, and then, spraying there some of the double-team beaters, I guess, sets that you’re going to run, even when they’re pulled in, just being able to, run some of your quick hitters to try to take advantage of those things, so, those are the actions maybe we would have ran a lot more of just to try to take advantage of that, but, again, I thought as the game went on, we got some good opportunities, some good looks. We just didn’t convert on them and we got to the free-throw line, which I loved. Again, I thought over the three games, I thought our ability to draw fouls was really a positive as well.
“Certainly got to connect on those free throws to get rewarded for it and make it pay off, but getting there is the first job, so I thought we did a good job of that overall in the three games, and then the Western Kentucky game was certainly one of them. We just didn’t make them, so we got to be better there.”
On if the group is learning how to take advantage from the offensive rebounds it is getting:
“I didn’t think we converted as well as we need to on some of our second and third chance opportunities, but we’re getting them, and that’s good, and our shooting is really, it’s been solid in the games, but, from what we’ve seen in practice and knowing the type of shooting we have and with the inside presence we have, I think that’s going to be a real strength of ours as we continue to move forward.
“It’s just that ability to, collapse defenses, force them to have to play our interior, and now all of a sudden we’re standing out there shooting horse shots, so overall that’s kind of what we’re leaning towards or heading towards right now that I think is going to look really good as we continue to play here.”
On the shooting not being as good in games so far as it’s been in practice:
“Yeah, I’m not worried about, say Markus Burton was 1 for 11. I’m not worried about Markus’ ability to score. I think he’s got plenty of a track record of proving that he can score at this level. And he had dislocated his finger about a minute and a half into the game, and they popped it back in, and he continued to play, so I’m sure that didn’t help any. But overall, even Darren Harris, in some of our exhibition games, he’s been solid, but he didn’t shoot it great in our last one, but I know how well he shoots the ball. So, I like our shooting.
“I like our depth at shooting, and that’s going to be something, again, with our interior play as well and our ability to throw it inside. I think they’re going to really connect and play well off of each other.”
On where this team has grown with its defense:
“Yeah, I like our connectivity on the defensive end. That’s really improved, just our communication, guys learning, when to switch, when not to, those type of things. We’re keeping the ball in front of us a lot better.
“The Western Kentucky game, we weren’t quite as good, so that was disappointing at times. But overall, I think the guys have done a good job of forcing the ball into our bigs and making them have to finish over the top of size. On the interior, we just have so much more of a presence there as guys get in the paint.
“And now they’re having to finish over us and then we still got another big on the backside able to clean it up on those misses. But overall, that’s where we’ve really grown, I think, as a defense, is just keeping the ball in front of us, making them shoot over the top.”
On the importance of getting Samet Yititoglu established on the block:
“It’s a little bit two-fold. I feel like we’re missing him still, and it’s something we, yesterday and today, we put a ton of time in, and we have been. We just got to throw him the ball more, and that’s partly on him. He’s got to demand it more down there, but we got to throw it to him when he’s open and gets a guy on his back.
“And then you force those double teams and now you’re able to get something on the backside or those kick-out threes. So, again, we got to make that a priority, for him to touch the ball down there. Even Sam, Sam’s pretty good down there, too. We got to throw it into him more. Again, playing a little more inside-out so we can get more of those easy catch-and-shoot opportunities, which then lead to somebody seeing one or two go in and now you got everything going for you.”
On being prepared for the season given the amount of games they’ve already played dating back to the summer:
“Yeah, it’s been a great advantage for us. It’s eight total games, five in the summer and three in exhibition. So, we’re ready for the opener.
“We got to continue to grow and get better, like every team across the country, and that never stops until your last game. But I feel like the guys are in a really good space, especially for being all new guys and learning how to play with one another. That’s where some of the turnovers come from at times.
“They’re still learning the offense and where guys are going to be and when to cut, when to hold, those type of things. But overall, I’ve been really pleased with the progress we’ve made and then be able to see it on game night. I think we’ve had a lot thrown at us that we’ve been able to learn from, and the guys are taking it and applying it to practice. So that growth has certainly been noticeable from our end.”
