In the most tumultuous offseason for Indiana basketball since 2008, everything changed.

There is a new head coach, an entirely new coaching staff, a wholly new roster and a new outlook.

First-year program leader Darian DeVries was tasked with completely overhauling the team after everyone on last season’s roster left via the transfer portal or had run out of eligibility, all while putting together a coaching staff capable of winning recruiting battles for the best players available in years to come.

DeVries did all of that, bringing in one of the best – and certainly among the largest – transfer classes in the country, hiring a staff full of coaches who have a reputation as heavy hitters on the recruiting trail and breathing new life into a program that had grown stagnant in recent seasons.

Backing him for that two-month sprint was a financial war chest that will make the Hoosiers’ roster one of the most expensive in the sport in 2025-26. All that’s left now is to win some basketball games.

Here’s a look Indiana’s roster for the upcoming campaign.

Additions

Guards: Lamar Wilkerson (transfer from Sam Houston State), Tayton Conerway (transfer, Troy), Conor Enright (transfer, DePaul), Jason Drake (transfer, Drexel), Nick Dorn (transfer, Elon), Jasai Miles (transfer, North Florida), Aleksa Ristic (professional from Serbia)

Forwards: Tucker DeVries (transfer, West Virginia) Reed Bailey (transfer, Davidson), Josh Harris (transfer, North Florida), Sam Alexis (transfer, Florida), Trent Sisley (freshman)

Departures

Guards: Trey Galloway (out of eligibility), Anthony Leal (out of eligibility), Myles Rice (transfer to Maryland), Kanaan Carlyle (transfer, Florida Atlantic), Gabe Cupps (transfer, Ohio State), Jakai Newton (transfer, Georgia State)

Forwards: Malik Reneau (transfer, Miami Florida), Mackenzie Mgbako (transfer, Texas A&M), Bryson Tucker (transfer, Washington)

Centers: Oumar Ballo (out of eligibility), Langdon Hatton (out of eligibility)

The son

Indiana’s highest-ranked transfer, per 247 Sports, is 6-foot-7 wing Tucker DeVries, son of the new head coach and the No. 18 player in the portal this offseason.

DeVries, who has one season of eligibility left, made his high-major debut last season after following his father from Drake to WVU. He made a scintillating first impression, averaging 14.9 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 47.3% from 3-point range in eight games before a shoulder injury cost him the rest of the season. His 26-point outburst – that included an 8-for-12 performance deep – in an overtime win against Arizona seemed at the time like the birth of a star in the sport.

The question is how healthy DeVries will be and how early. He was “mostly” cleared for basketball activity in June, his father said.

The scorer

Arguably Indiana’s biggest recruiting win of the portal cycle came when it landed the 6-4 Wilkerson, a first-team All-Conference USA pick last season. The Hoosiers beat out Kentucky for the 45th-ranked player available and the No. 8 shooting guard.

It’s easy to see why Wilkerson was so coveted. He ranked 11th in the nation in scoring last season at 20.5 points per game and seventh in 3-point shooting accuracy at 44.5%. He will face an adjustment to the physicality of the Big Ten, but at 205 pounds he’s built for it and should be the Hoosiers’ most effective perimeter scorer in isolation.

The bulldog

Indiana’s perimeter defense could well be built around the 6-4 Conerway, the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year.

He is an effective scorer (he shot nearly 58% from inside the arc last season for Troy), a good distributor (he averaged 4.8 assists against 2.7 turnovers) and a winner (he led the Trojans to the NCAA Tournament and was Sun Belt Tournament MVP), but he is perhaps most valuable on the defensive end, where he ranked third in the nation with 2.9 steals per game.

With Leal gone, IU needs someone who can guard the opposing team’s top perimeter scorer and Conerway could be that player.

The project

Darian DeVries mostly rebuilt for the upcoming season, bringing in a slew of players with one season of eligibility left. One exception to that trend was Harris, who has three years left after starring for North Florida as a freshman.

The 6-8 forward averaged 13.4 points and 7.1 rebounds in just 22.5 minutes per game while shooting 55.7% from the field. His offensive rebounding rate of 13% was 72nd in the country and he flashed some ability to shoot from long distance.

Harris has the athleticism and instincts to be a standout, just maybe not this season.

Still waiting

Indiana has 12 players committed to its roster for next season. It is still holding open a spot for Homesteadgraduate Luke Goode, who is awaiting word from the NCAA on a waiver for an extra year of eligibility after only having played 10 games during the 2022-23 season at Illinois.

Goode averaged a career-best 9.1 points last season and shot 39.2% from 3-point range while starting 16 games. He would be the only holdover on the roster if his waiver gets approved.

Outlook

With an entirely new cast of players, it’s little more than guesswork as to how IU will fare. There is talent on the roster and plenty of offensive firepower, plus shooters galore. There are also question marks, including a lack of height and high-level rebounding chops.

IU’s ability to do more than play on the NCAA Tournament bubble most of the season will depend on how well and how quickly coach DeVries can get this collection of players to work in his system and play together. Kentucky’s Mark Pope and Louisville’s Pat Kelsey were each able to put almost entirely new rosters in the NCAA Tournament last season and Kelsey’s result of a No. 8 seed seems like a fair goal for IU.

The last time the Hoosiers had this much roster turnover was in 2008, when Tom Crean took over the program with an NCAA investigation looming over it. Crean’s first team, made up largely of freshmen, won just six games. Thanks to the advent of the transfer portal, this team will likely win many more.

Will it be enough to make DeVries’ first season a success? That will depend on whether the new coach made the right changes.