2026-27 Roster/Portal/how to fix the roster?

[WayneFleekHoosier]

48 minutes ago, str8baller said:

Lol…C’mon. Trusts definitely a little revisionist history. Go back to last years time in the portal thread and read through the comments. “Devries has a plan!” “Getting proven production guys fron MM…just like Cig!” “Love getting MM guys who want to prove they belong instead of P5 guys chasing money!” “These guys are perfect for Devries system!”  
 

Here’s everyone’s favorite HS coach with a pretty glowing report of Conerway:

 

We’re all just fans here so no big deal. But people were absolutely excited about last years roster and thought it fit Devries “system.” 

It’s wild to see these takes now.  Convenient memory loss.

[Hoosierfanyuh]

Just now, WayneFleekHoosier said:

It’s wild to see these takes now.  Convenient memory loss.

Alot of conerways deficiencies were due to his effort, in my opinion, he drove me nuts 

[Uspshoosier]

11 minutes ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

It’s wild to see these takes now.  Convenient memory loss.

Seems like something you would see on a free message board.  It was wild back in the day hearing Trevor Thompson  and Anthony Lee were huge misses for IU.  It is what it is unless people are keeping score?

[str8baller]

1 hour ago, Hoosierfanyuh said:

Alot of conerways deficiencies were due to his effort, in my opinion, he drove me nuts 

Effort and basketball IQ, I think.  But I join you in the “he drove me nuts” camp. 

[WayneFleekHoosier]

1 hour ago, Uspshoosier said:

Seems like something you would see on a free message board.  It was wild back in the day hearing Trevor Thompson  and Anthony Lee were huge misses for IU.  It is what it is unless people are keeping score?

Unless you are using mistruths to support a debate. And pinpointedly countering my posts with said mistruths.  It’s my nature to call that out like one would in any debate.  
 

Otherwise, i like the diversity of thought.  No one is right 100% of the time.  And that’s why I continue to post here because it’s a good balance of takes, and the reality lies somewhere between the extremes.  

[HoosierHoopster]

2 hours ago, str8baller said:

Lol…C’mon. Trusts definitely a little revisionist history. Go back to last years time in the portal thread and read through the comments. “Devries has a plan!” “Getting proven production guys fron MM…just like Cig!” “Love getting MM guys who want to prove they belong instead of P5 guys chasing money!” “These guys are perfect for Devries system!”  
 

Here’s everyone’s favorite HS coach with a pretty glowing report of Conerway:

 

We’re all just fans here so no big deal. But people were absolutely excited about last years roster and thought it fit Devries “system.” 

Revisionist cuts both ways -- everyone, clearly everyone, knew he came in with no staff and had to scramble. Many of us, myself included, liked that he was able to get experienced guys who excelled as mid-major players, but none of us thought that was the model he'd be following -- we thought he did well under the circumstances, and that making the tourney was realistic (and yeah, he just missed it). And if you're saying otherwise, give me a break.

[Jeff Flabjohns]

Both On3 and Parrish at CBS updated their way-too-early top 25 rankings for next year.

On3 has us at 11, one spot behind Purdue. Parrish put us at 21

[str8baller]

1 hour ago, HoosierHoopster said:

everyone, clearly everyone, knew he came in with no staff and had to scramble. Many of us, myself included, liked that he was able to get experienced guys who excelled as mid-major players, but none of us thought that was the model he'd be following

This is just wrong. I’m not speculating, I went back and read through the thread. You can too.  This isn’t “gotchya” either because I have some takes like that in there as well. 
 

The funny thing is we started off hot last year landing Tucker, enright,  Gonerway, Bailey and Wilkerson almost right away. Nobody said anything about assistants holding us back. Then a lull set in and people—rightfully so—worried about Bailey being the starting 5 and who we would get to help down low and off the bench. Leo Curtis and Thiam were some names thrown around.  
 

It wasn’t assistants who slowed Devries down, it was a couple of misses and failing to supplement the core guys he initially brought in.  

[HoosierHoopster]

34 minutes ago, str8baller said:

This is just wrong. I’m not speculating, I went back and read through the thread. You can too.  This isn’t “gotchya” either because I have some takes like that in there as well. 
 

The funny thing is we started off hot last year landing Tucker, enright,  Gonerway, Bailey and Wilkerson almost right away. Nobody said anything about assistants holding us back. Then a lull set in and people—rightfully so—worried about Bailey being the starting 5 and who we would get to help down low and off the bench. Leo Curtis and Thiam were some names thrown around.  
 

It wasn’t assistants who slowed Devries down, it was a couple of misses and failing to supplement the core guys he initially brought in.  

No that’s wrong. He joined with 0 assistants. The early worry - correctly - was that he had no assistants and he started behind. People expressed worry because we had 0 recruits- he started slow with no assistants. Then he landed those guys and people, myself included, thought he did well to land them. That is freaking situational. My point, again, is no one thought getting mid major players was the model — of course it wasn’t- if you’re actually arguing otherwise put down the crack pipe. 

[Home Jersey]

20 minutes ago, str8baller said:

It wasn’t assistants who slowed Devries down, it was a couple of misses and failing to supplement the core guys he initially brought in.  

I think both of you are making some valid points here.

Ultimately I think this quoted part is the takeaway from year 1 and believe the staff would agree considering this roster construction indicates we should expect a different play style next year. Glad they have the self awareness to course correct when mistakes are made.

I think not being fully staffed from the jump was a hurdle to success but not insurmountable. And to his credit, he did almost overcome the deficiencies to make the tournament with a roster that he has all but called a sorry bunch. 

Many thought this roster would be the prototype for DDV's play style so we could land higher profile talent next time out. Not the MM approach would be the plan IMO. Many also had valid concerns about lack of interior presence. 

Offseason fodder is just that - fans always search for silver linings and optimism. This conversation originated out of the point being that Sisley is being relied on for a big role next year and some fans view that as a question. No staff is infallible. Forums are for discussion. No point in keeping score. Don't think that's going on here.

And the good news, all that being said... year 2 has a roster full of P5 guys. Some more questionable than others. The staff will get another chance to show what they're made of. Raw talent and athleticism won't be an excuse... we should all expect to compete in top 5 or 6 in the B1G and make the tournament comfortably, minimally IMO

[Home Jersey]

Also pretty funny IMO the answer to the thread's titled question is: 

"Replace 12 out of 13 players"

[RaceToTheTop]

5 hours ago, Hoosierfanyuh said:

Alot of conerways deficiencies were due to his effort, in my opinion, he drove me nuts 

The less he played, the worse it got.

[str8baller]

12 hours ago, Home Jersey said:

Many thought this roster would be the prototype for DDV's play style so we could land higher profile talent next time out. Not the MM approach would be the plan IMO. Many also had valid concerns about lack of interior presence. 

This is where the amnesia is killing me…lol. From the moment it was announced Woody was moving on there was tons of chatter on this board about not playing 2 bigs, playing a bunch of perimeters who can jack 3’s and play “modern basketball” (presumably small ball). And people were happy that Devries’ style was just that.
 

It’s only relevant in this thread as so much as we can try and guess at any players that might be added next. This roster still needs one more big (quality to be determined) and is a little short on shooting.

 

My guess is if Devries has his way It will be a cheap developmental big and maybe a proven shooter if we can snag one. Why? Because he likes to play small ball and will likely want to split time with Yigi and Sherrel on the floor. He built his first rosters at both WVU and IU as 4-out small ball rosters. That last statement would have elicited nearly unanimous agreement at this time last year.  
 

But maybe he’s really committed to putting a 5 with Sherrel on the floor at all times in which case they have to add a 5 who is proven they can play 10-15mpg. As far as I can tell he’s never built a roster like that, but he obviously has help building the roster this year.