2025-2026 IUBB Season Expectations

[AH1971 3,146]

Just now, iu eyedoc said:

Because saying that is obviously ignorant.  So, by declaring the HC is patently a bad HC if he doesn't make the tourney, the year in which he has to piece together the entire roster, is a way to say he is not and will not be the guy without saying it. There is no way IU is just going to ride along with a 50-60th level HC for years, so ipso facto if he doesn't make the tourney he should be fired.

Same goes for the comments that start like this, "You don't need 2-3 years" or "With a $10 million payroll" 

There will be people on this board who place a definitive ceiling on DeVries after this season with however the year plays out.

[Hoosierfan2017 24,880]

19 minutes ago, iu eyedoc said:

Well there is one guy that has already declared that he is not a top 50-60 coach if they don't make the tourney next season. Would you expect IU to just ride with a bottom of the barrel P4 coach?

Lol I didn’t “declare” anything. This is what I said:

“Then why shouldn’t a tournament appearance his first season be the expectation? 68 teams make the tournament. A fraction of them have bigger budgets than IU. Unless DD isn’t a top 50-60 coach, making the tournament should be entirely doable.”

Which part do you disagree with? The only reason one would think making the tournament next year isn’t “entirely doable” is, absent extraordinary circumstances, if DD is a bad coach. If DD is the coach that many on here believe him to be, then making the tournament next season shouldn’t be an issue. Just last year he was the first team out at a P5 school while missing two of his three best players. IU was the second team out and we got destroyed in the non conference and went .500 in conference. Making the tournament isn’t hard. We’ve struggled to do so recently because of coaching. A top budget + above average coaching should equal a tournament appearance at minimum.  

Like, geez, IU football just made the playoff in Coach Cig’s first season and some are really going to act like making the tournament shouldn’t be the expectation for IU basketball this season. WVU is a pretty solid basketball school, especially this century. DD left because he wanted more. More resources, more “brand,” more money. With those things come more expectations. He knows that has been working his tail off in the portal. 

[AH1971 3,146]

5 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Lol I didn’t “declare” anything. This is what I said:

“Then why shouldn’t a tournament appearance his first season be the expectation? 68 teams make the tournament. A fraction of them have bigger budgets than IU. Unless DD isn’t a top 50-60 coach, making the tournament should be entirely doable.”

Which part do you disagree with? The only reason one would think making the tournament next year isn’t “entirely doable” is, absent extraordinary circumstances, if DD is a bad coach. If DD is the coach that many on here believe him to be, then making the tournament next season shouldn’t be an issue. Just last year he was the first team out at a P5 school while missing two of his three best players. IU was the second team out and we got destroyed in the non conference and went .500 in conference. Making the tournament isn’t hard. We’ve struggled to do so recently because of coaching. A top budget + above average coaching should equal a tournament appearance at minimum.  

Like, geez, IU football just made the playoff in Coach Cig’s first season and some are really going to act like making the tournament shouldn’t be the expectation for IU basketball this season. WVU is a pretty solid basketball school, especially this century. DD left because he wanted more. More resources, more “brand,” more money. With those things come more expectations. He knows that has been working his tail off in the portal. 

Uhh no. You've inferred that IU should make the tournament simply on payroll alone in multiple other posts.

Reality, you have no clue how well these guys will perform up a level, with added expectations and pressure, etc

Like I said in an earlier post, it's entirely possible that we way overspent. Nobody knows. That's why judging a first year coach who put together a brand new roster in less than a month is patently stupid. 

[iu eyedoc 4,448]

Just now, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Lol I didn’t “declare” anything. This is what I said:

“Then why shouldn’t a tournament appearance his first season be the expectation? 68 teams make the tournament. A fraction of them have bigger budgets than IU. Unless DD isn’t a top 50-60 coach, making the tournament should be entirely doable.”

Which part do you disagree with? The only reason one would think making the tournament next year isn’t “entirely doable” is, absent extraordinary circumstances, if DD is a bad coach. If DD is the coach that many on here believe him to be, then making the tournament next season shouldn’t be an issue. Just last year he was the first team out at a P5 school while missing two of his three best players. IU was the second team out and we got destroyed in the non conference and went .500 in conference. Making the tournament isn’t hard. We’ve struggled to do so recently because of coaching. A top budget + above average coaching should equal a tournament appearance at minimum.  

Like, geez, IU football just made the playoff in Coach Cig’s first season and some are really going to act like making the tournament shouldn’t be the expectation for IU basketball this season. WVU is a pretty solid basketball school, especially this century. DD left because he wanted more. More resources, more “brand,” more money. With those things come more expectations. He knows that has been working his tail off in the portal. 

 

3 hours ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

Then why shouldn’t a tournament appearance his first season be the expectation? 68 teams make the tournament. A fraction of them have bigger budgets than IU. Unless DD isn’t a top 50-60 coach, making the tournament should be entirely doable. 

So if he doesn't do what a top 50-60 coach should do what does that make him?

[Josh 13,230]

Simple expectations.

• No blowout losses
• Make the tournament 

In year two it's the same plus you need to be competitive for the top 5 in the league.

In year 3 and beyond you need to compete for the league title.

[Trish 14,477]

Good morning,

Expectations are simple this upcoming year, make the NCAA tournament. If Kevin Young can do it at BYU, CDD can do it at Indiana his first year, with even a higher NIL budget in comparison.

 

[Hoosierfan2017 24,880]

1 minute ago, AH1971 said:

Uhh no. You've inferred that IU should make the tournament simply on payroll alone. 

Reality, you have no clue how well these guys will perform up a level, with added expectations and pressure, etc

Like I said in an earlier post, it's entirely possible that we way overspent. Nobody knows. That's why judging a first year coach who put together a brand new roster in less than a month is patently stupid. 

If IU “way overspent” and brought in guys who can’t perform at the Big 10 level then that’s on the coach. He didn’t walk into the situation and get told “here’s your team, go win with them.” He’s chosen every player on the team with a budget larger than that of nearly every other team in the country. Missing the tournament next season would be a failure of a year.

[IUCrazy2 2,970]

3 minutes ago, iu eyedoc said:

Twitter people = hot seat. LTFOL

Pissy fans=hot seat.

Here is my honest thoughts on next year.  22 wins and solidly in the tournament, which is enough for me.  Not going to continue to argue with you all.  This is all really just personal opinion.  If you aren't in the tournament in two years your seat is warm with a not insignificant portion of the fans.  If that happens, it becomes harder to do your job.  We have seen it with the past two hires.  Yes, every coach at Indiana gets at least 4 years but outside of Crean when the program was burned to the ground and you had to recruit freshman to build it, that tends to be the point where the natives get restless.  They got restless with Crean in year 3.  "Well fans need to realize we suck and lower expectations...."  Respectfully, not happening until the Bob Knight era fans are no more.  If things are not turned around by then, some of you all will get your wish on turning down the dial.  Until then, market and spend like you are still a blue blood and people will have those expectations.

I think we have a guy that should at the very least improve on the **** show this has been for 20+ years but I think some of you all are deluding yourselves if you think he could go two more years of missing the tournament unscathed.  Woodson was a ******* Hoosier Hero who made the tournament two years in a row and was in trouble by the middle of year three.  That is reality.  "Well you want to fire him after one year."  No, I don't.  It just gets ******* tiresome to have to do this defensive song and dance whenever we talk expectations.  My bar, and a bunch of other fans' bar is the tournament.  That is the pass/fail line when grading the year.

 

[AH1971 3,146]

4 minutes ago, Hoosierfan2017 said:

If IU “way overspent” and brought in guys who can’t perform at the Big 10 level then that’s on the coach. He didn’t walk into the situation and get told “here’s your team, go win with them.” He’s chosen every player on the team with a budget larger than that of nearly every other team in the country. Missing the tournament next season would be a failure of a year.

Ok, so you're admittedly basing the expectations for next year on the allotment of money spent and not the actual quality of the player, further proving my point? You're going to have to overspend to put together a roster of 13-15 new faces. 

A wait and see approach with next years squad seems much more applicable.

[Hoosierfan2017 24,880]

9 minutes ago, AH1971 said:

Ok, so you're admittedly basing the expectations for next year on the allotment of money spent and not the actual quality of the player, further proving my point? You're going to have to overspend to put together a roster of 13-15 new faces. 

A wait and see approach with next years squad seems much more applicable.

That’s the reality of college basketball with the transfer portal. Every team has to deal with players coming and going every year. Baylor just lost every player on its roster. DD is choosing how to spend his allotment of money. If he does so in a way that doesn’t result in a tournament appearance, why shouldn’t the blame fall on him? If an NBA GM blows money on bad players, the team doesn’t say “it’s ok, it’s not your fault the players you picked didn’t play well.” 

[AH1971 3,146]

Just now, Hoosierfan2017 said:

That’s the reality of college basketball with the transfer portal. Every team has to deal with players coming and going every year. Baylor just lost every player on its roster. DD is choosing how to spend his allotment of money. If he does so in a way that doesn’t result in a tournament appearance, why shouldn’t the blame fall on him? 

I'm not talking about where the blame lies, I'm talking about putting a first year coach on the proverbial hot seat after inheriting a roster with ZERO players on it. I don't care how much money you have to spend, getting 13-15 new guys to play for a new coach with little to no familiarity of one another is no easy task. And when you're only recruiting pitch out of the gate is money, you're bound for some growing pains. 

And I don't care if one or two other coaches somewhere else have done it. You can count on one hand the number of coaches in college basketball who prefer to retool their rosters every single season and I don't get this gist that DeVries is one of them. The only thing I'm going to really judge DeVries on this year is the system he runs and how well he can get guys to buy in and play hard night in and night out. This is a marathon, not a sprint. 

[Jet812 552]

1 hour ago, iu eyedoc said:

Because saying that is obviously ignorant.  So, by declaring the HC is patently a bad HC if he doesn't make the tourney, the year in which he has to piece together the entire roster, is a way to say he is not and will not be the guy without saying it. There is no way IU is just going to ride along with a 50-60th level HC for years, so ipso facto if he doesn't make the tourney he should be fired.

Do coaches improve with time?  If he is 50-60 this year can he only move up if people retire?  Was Dan Hurley a top five coach in his first few years or have his rankings followed his results?

[Jet812 552]

58 minutes ago, AH1971 said:

Uhh no. You've inferred that IU should make the tournament simply on payroll alone in multiple other posts.

Reality, you have no clue how well these guys will perform up a level, with added expectations and pressure, etc

Like I said in an earlier post, it's entirely possible that we way overspent. Nobody knows. That's why judging a first year coach who put together a brand new roster in less than a month is patently stupid. 

It has been done successfully recently - you’re suggesting they’re just lucky?  Our payroll should insure that we make the tournament if the resources are used effectively by a competent staff, you know, like UofL & UM.  Why should we expect less?

[AH1971 3,146]

2 minutes ago, Jet812 said:

It has been done successfully recently - you’re suggesting they’re just lucky?  Our payroll should insure that we make the tournament if the resources are used effectively by a competent staff, you know, like UofL & UM.  Why should we expect less?

There are always outliers to every norm. You can expect whatever the hell you want, not telling you otherwise. But this fanbases expectations haven't jived with reality for much of the last 20 years. It'll click one day....I hope at least.

[Home Jersey 15,961]

4 minutes ago, Jet812 said:

It has been done successfully recently - you’re suggesting they’re just lucky?  Our payroll should insure that we make the tournament if the resources are used effectively by a competent staff, you know, like UofL & UM.  Why should we expect less?

Nobody is expecting less. They’re just saying having a year like UK or UM or UL is not a minimum requirement for DDV to work out here. People who are rightfully upset by missing the tournament would just have to deal with it and hope he does better next year. Our payroll doesn’t guarantee a thing. 

[HoosierHoopster 8,304]

Starting point here is the players he's bringing in, the system/style of play we can expect, and DeVries' track record.

Love this quote from Deuce:

“Just being able to create for others and still do what I’m capable of doing with the shooting. And being able to play fast, that’s kind of what he wants to implement with the offense is to play faster and get out and go. And I feel like that’s when I’m at my best and I feel like they’ve seen that just from watching me at Drexel. When I play fast, that’s when I’m playing my best basketball and that’s kind of what they want to do.” And he talks about how he is first and foremost a competitor. Like the other dudes brought in, kid's a tough player.

DeVries has already brought in a group of veteran, skilled players who create / assist at a high level, shoot at a high percentage on high volume, rebound well and play fast - leading to a transition get out and go game. 

We were once call the 'Hurryin' Hoosiers'. It's been a minute. I don't care about the 'budget,' that doesn't give me any expectation. What I care about is the type of players -- level of experience, shooting, creating, toughness, quickness/athleticism and overall talent -- and the system he's building.

I see a tourney team here. I agree a tournament berth should be expected -- based on what we see in the players brought in and system being built and DeVries' track record. Really, no reason to expect otherwise.

That said if he builds the right foundation and we play well and hard but somehow miss the tourney, I'll be disappointed but unless there's Woodson-like failures, that won't affect my long-term outlook.

From everything I've seen so far, I believe DeVries is the right guy to get IU back to the level we all want.

[Napleshoosier 10,873]

https://x.com/thehoopherald/status/1914150077444038821?s=61

i like this!

[pumpfake 4,506]

One thing I really like is the addition of several experienced, competent 3-pt shooters.  For too long we've used 3 ponters too sparingly and when we needed more, we just brought in a single guy. 

[WayneFleekHoosier 51,366]

58 minutes ago, pumpfake said:

One thing I really like is the addition of several experienced, competent 3-pt shooters.  For too long we've used 3 ponters too sparingly and when we needed more, we just brought in a single guy. 

I will Ditto this.  Shooting is such a translatable stat, it’s a shame we didn’t prioritize it in the past.  Woodson literally was trying to recreate 80’s NBA where every team had 1 sharpshooter.   Centers were dominant.  

i think Centers can still be dominant but it takes a special one.   Edey was a prime example.  

Anyway, modern basketball should be a lot more fun.  
 

 

[Asha’man 1,097]

I think the floor is a NCAA tournament appearance. The ceiling, who knows. We could compete for a conference title, a la Michigan this year. Or the ceiling could be a .500 record on conference and we end up a 8/9 seed. Probably be somewhere in the middle. But I’m optimistic it will be a good first year.