BLOOMINGTON — The public portion of Indiana’s busy summer will also mark the effective end of it.
Beginning with Wednesday’s home exhibition against College Jean-de-Brebeuf, an opponent traveling from Montreal, the Hoosiers will put their extra practice time to good use through the end of the month. Following that tune-up game, Darian DeVries will take his team to Lima, Peru, for this year’s FISU America Games. Opponents and game times to be determined.
Preliminary conclusions to be drawn, as well. Rarely does a college team offer such an open window into its evolution in the summer months, but with a roster turned almost entirely over from last year, DeVries will happily trade the extra court time for any advance scouting the next three weeks provide.
That doesn’t mean we’ll get a full picture of the Hoosiers between now and then. In fact, we’ll still orient ourselves toward fall with plenty of questions. Which begs the most important one: What can we learn about Indiana between now and the start of August?
Here are four things we’re watching.
Everything starts with Markus Burton for Indiana basketball
Notre Dame transfer Markus Burton did a little bit of a lot of things across 69 games in South Bend. Indiana will need much the same now.
Like a quarterback in football, so much evaluation of any basketball team passes through the lens of its point guard. How organized is everyone? Does leadership shine through, or is it lacking? Does a team keep its poise in pressurized moments? Is everyone generally on the same page?
All of that begins with a point guard, much less one who’s spent three years dominating the ball and the offense for an ACC program.
Burton’s comfort with everything DeVries asks of him, coupled to Burton’s own feel for where the points of intersection are between his own offense and his need to create for others, starts any conversation about expectations and outlook for Indiana this winter. Which makes an evaluation of his progress in the summer, while incomplete, still important.
How does Darian DeVries deploy two bigs in IU basketball lineup
There’s the question of how DeVries — for so long attached to an offense that tended to play smaller — adjusts his offense to accommodate these bigger, more size-driven lineups.
And then there’s the question of how SMU transfer Samet Yigitoglu and Alabama transfer Aiden Sherrell play with and off one another, at both ends of the floor.
Defensively, they hand Indiana a formidable interior presence. Sherrell is athletic enough to switch most of the time, and Yigitoglu, listed at 7 foot 2, 280 pounds, light enough on his feet to switch consistently with Sherrell.
At the other end of the floor, they will need to complement one another, rather than getting in each other’s way. It’s worth pointing out Sherrell, who shot nearly 34% on 80 3-point attempts last season in Tuscaloosa, also played the five most of the time. By his own admission, he’s adapting to expectations and responsibilities at the four, though he appears to possess the tools necessary to make that switch.
He’ll still play some five, of course. IU can’t keep both bigs on the floor all the time.
Since Yigitoglu can travel to Peru but cannot play there, Wednesday against Brebeuf will be our only look at the two of them together this summer. However limited that might be, best make it count.
What Indiana basketball does when it has to go smaller
Again, we’re guaranteed to get a look at that too.
Because Yigitoglu is from Turkey, and Indiana will technically be suiting up as Team USA in the America Games, the SMU transfer can’t compete in Peru. He’s expected to travel with his teammates but watch from the sideline, leaving DeVries to determine what to do without him.
Sherrell’s experience at the five makes it straightforward to slide him over (albeit probably not without some rest). The better question will be what DeVries does with the space left behind.
Trent Sisley seems like an obvious candidate for minutes here. Vaughn Karvala would make a lot of sense too, depending upon the consistency of his shot.
And keep one eye on Trevor Manhertz. Karvala’s classmate still has work to do building his body, after Manhertz reclassified into 2026 to enroll a year early. But the 185-pound forward looks all of his listed 6-8 frame, and his reputation for stretching his offense behind the 3-point line is not embellished. These games provide an ideal opportunity to see if he’s flattened the freshman learning curve at all.
Always keeping one eye on IU basketball freshmen
Which leads comfortably into our last (and perhaps most cliché) point: You’re always curious about freshmen this time of year.
Karvala’s athletic tools are as apparent as Manhertz’s shot is smooth. Prince-Alexander Moody might, in some respects, be the most college-ready of the three, at least right now.
All should get their chance this month. Yigitoglu will have to sit out the games in Peru, as discussed. Clemens Sokolov, the 7-foot freshman from Germany, has yet to arrive on campus. That leaves DeVries with 10 healthy scholarship players, and a lot of games to navigate in a short window. If anyone gets hurt or needs a minutes restriction, his rotation tightens itself.
DeVries will need all three of his freshmen at some point in the next three weeks. Which means each will get the opportunity to prove himself worthy of a longer look come preseason.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 4 things we want to learn as Indiana basketball set to begin its summer games
Reporting by Zach Osterman, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Zach Osterman, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
