Let’s talk Roster! 2026/2027

[HoosierHoopster]

Kinda nice, ESPN’s final 2026 recruiting rankings has IU at 25th. 
So 3rd top portal class, 25th 2026 class rank 

[AH1971]

Dorn might end up being a piece we wish we kept when all said and done. His ability to stretch the floor in a 2 big lineup may be missed. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

From The Daily Hoosier

[Stuhoo]

3 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

From The Daily Hoosier

Justin Monden is quite literally the only player whose eligibility expires after this season.

Wow - that's excellent.

[AZ Hoosier]

30 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Justin Monden is quite literally the only player whose eligibility expires after this season.

Wow - that's excellent.

So, regardless of how useless, unproductive or irrelevant he is, he's only here for one year. I guess that's somewhat comforting.

[Artie86]

2 hours ago, AZ Hoosier said:

So, regardless of how useless, unproductive or irrelevant he is, he's only here for one year. I guess that's somewhat comforting.

....It's posts like this, that I hope players like Justin Monden, read and lights a fire under their hind end. 

 

[Stuhoo]

54 minutes ago, Artie86 said:

....It's posts like this, that I hope players like Justin Monden, read this and it lights a fire under their hind end. 

 

And if that doesn't light a fire under their hind end, Buffalouie's still sells "Volcanic" wings.

[WayneFleekHoosier]

Our roster build is insane. 
 

so our best lineup is probably starting Yigi and AS together. But if we do or want to, we have Sisley that can come in as an undersized 4 and no 5 that will be ready to play at this level.

Again, our best lineup likely starts Burton, and Lindsay but we don’t have a 1 to come in with any proven worth if those 2 start. 
 

This is why I need a job on the staff.  And this is why don’t build a roster with 3 unproven freshman  and 3 practice guys who can’t contribute.  
 

Wild. 

Edited May 15 by WayneFleekHoosier

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Last night there was an event in Carmel with both Cig and DDV.  During that event DDV mentioned that the upcoming trip to Peru allows for an additional 6 weeks of practice and not the traditional 10-days.  International players can't play in the event, but they can practice with the team, make the trip and participate in all of the other activities involved with the trip.

Full Q and A at the link below.

https://www.on3.com/teams/indiana-hoosiers/news/coach-qa-indiana-coaches-curt-cignetti-darian-devries-speak-at-victory-vision-a-night-with-iu-athletics/

[fwgreenway]

10 hours ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Our roster build is insane. 
 

so our best lineup is probably starting Yigi and AS together. But if we do or want to, we have Sisley that can come in as an undersized 4 and no 5 that will be ready to play at this level.

Again, our best lineup likely starts Burton, and Lindsay but we don’t have a 1 to come in with any proven worth if those 2 start. 
 

This is why I need a job on the staff.  And this is why don’t build a roster with 3 unproven freshman  and 3 practice guys who can’t contribute.  
 

Wild. 

As it stands before the season even gets rolling, it's reasonable to suspect those four guys (Yigi, AS, Burton & Lindsey) to be on the floor together quite a bit. Again as of now looking in it feels a little suspect we don't have more proven depth at the 4/5 and 1. But....I assume this staff has a plan to work around the potential weakness within this roster build. Of course the big question is will they be able to compensate and/or will we be proven wrong about a perceived lack of depth? Again, hoping they can pull a rabbit out the hat with the last couple of scholarships. 

[jermhoosierfan]

54 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Last night there was an event in Carmel with both Cig and DDV.  During that event DDV mentioned that the upcoming trip to Peru allows for an additional 6 weeks of practice and not the traditional 10-days.  International players can't play in the event, but they can practice with the team, make the trip and participate in all of the other activities involved with the trip.

Full Q and A at the link below.

https://www.on3.com/teams/indiana-hoosiers/news/coach-qa-indiana-coaches-curt-cignetti-darian-devries-speak-at-victory-vision-a-night-with-iu-athletics/

Here is the video of the Q and A.  He is happy that they have size which was probably their biggest weakness last year IMO.

[IUHoosierJoe]

11 hours ago, WayneFleekHoosier said:

Our roster build is insane. 
 

so our best lineup is probably starting Yigi and AS together. But if we do or want to, we have Sisley that can come in as an undersized 4 and no 5 that will be ready to play at this level.

Again, our best lineup likely starts Burton, and Lindsay but we don’t have a 1 to come in with any proven worth if those 2 start. 
 

This is why I need a job on the staff.  And this is why don’t build a roster with 3 unproven freshman  and 3 practice guys who can’t contribute.  
 

Wild. 

Why don’t you apply?

[Pagoda]

Okay, I get the roster concerns.  There is validity there.

But just for fun, let me know what people would do with the last three roster spots assuming the following criteria which seem to be where we are:

1) You've got about $500K for the last three spots.

2) You cannot ask Scott Dolson for more money.

3) You can suggest we should have not signed someone.  For example, say we should have passed on Aiden.  Then that's ~$4.5M saved and now we've got $5M for four spots.

4) Once again, you cannot ask Scott Dolson for more money.

Let me know.  And the plan cannot be asking Scott Dolson for more money.

Edit: lol.  Or ask anyone else for more money.  No Pam, or Mark, or Cook, or Simon, or the guy who owns BuffaLouie's...

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

I'd go over Dolson's head and ask President Whitten for more money!

[Stuhoo]

12 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

Okay, I get the roster concerns.  There is validity there.  But just for fun, let me know what people would do with the last three roster spots assuming the following criteria which seem to be where we are:

1) You've got about $500K for the last three spots.

2) You cannot ask Scott Dolson for more money.

3) You can suggest we should have not signed someone.  For example, say we should have passed on Aiden.  Then that's ~$4.5M saved and now we've got $5M for four spots.

4) Once again, you cannot ask Scott Dolson for more money.

Let me know.  And the plan cannot be asking Scott Dolson for more money.

Let's add some flavor to that last criteria:

1. You've already asked Scott Dolson for more money multiple times. EACH TIME PAM WHITTEN WAS THERE TOO (take that, Old Fart). The first time Scott and Pam said "Yes, but this is the last and only time I'll entertain the question."
2. Yet you asked again. The second time you asked Scott and Pam said "NO."
3. You tried asking one more time. Scott and Pam stated they would immediately reduce your future money pool if you EVER asked again during this cycle, or if you went behind their back to donors or the Board of Trustees.

[Uspshoosier]

7 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

Let me know.  And the plan cannot be asking Scott Dolson for more money.

Accept the fact that IU basketball isn’t elite and was lucky to get the money they got to build the roster they have and fill it in with 3 spots that cost next to nothing.  Hope the roster is good enough to produce a winning conference record.  If it is then hopefully retain and build another roster that can produce another winning conference record.   

[HoosierHoopster]

5 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

I'd go over Dolson's head and ask President Whitten for more money!

A certain IU alum billionaire, shark tank…

[Stuhoo]

4 minutes ago, Uspshoosier said:

Accept the fact that IU basketball isn’t elite and was lucky to get the money they got to build the roster they have and fill it in with 3 spots that cost next to nothing.  Hope the roster is good enough to produce a winning conference record.  If it is then hopefully retain and build another roster that can produce another winning conference record.   

[Home Jersey]

8 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

Okay, I get the roster concerns.  There is validity there.

But just for fun, let me know what people would do with the last three roster spots assuming the following criteria which seem to be where we are:

1) You've got about $500K for the last three spots.

2) You cannot ask Scott Dolson for more money.

3) You can suggest we should have not signed someone.  For example, say we should have passed on Aiden.  Then that's ~$4.5M saved and now we've got $5M for four spots.

4) Once again, you cannot ask Scott Dolson for more money.

Let me know.  And the plan cannot be asking Scott Dolson for more money.

Based on where we are, with the $500k we assume is left, I'd spend it on a Euro that can play the 4/5 and be an 8th or 9th man next year. Hoping that's what we do with the final spot. Having two "practice players" is totally fine with me.

If we do get that playable front court depth, my concern about roster construction largely fades, although everyone could nitpick if they really wanted to. Shooting doesn't look like the strength it was last year but the offense should be more balanced and defense should be better with more athleticism and rim protection. 

In terms of where we've spent so far, I'm curious about a few things.

1) The process with Lindsay came together very quickly and seemed straightforward transactional, do we get the ROI we need from him? I like Lindsay and hope so. Not sure what we spent on him to seal the deal within like 48 hours. How much leg work had been done beforehand? We'll never know, can only judge based on results on the court

2) We prioritized Harris early. Did we nail that scout? What did we see in his very limited action at Duke that made us confident he'd be productive here? And how much did it cost to get him vs how much did Nick Dorn want? Will Dorn prove to be a more productive ACC player for Lucas? 

3) Sherrell has been described by Alabama fans as not really a guy you throw the ball into and count on to get a bucket. I'm least concerned about this, but we spent a pretty penny here and need him to play like it.

When it comes to your hypothetical, those are the questions that stand out to me in terms of how we could've spent differently to build a different roster. It's not easy when you're filling 12 spots but I'd say the staff has done pretty well overall. We were never going to have a truly elite roster. Need to earn the investment this year though. 

[str8baller]

27 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

Okay, I get the roster concerns.  There is validity there.

But just for fun, let me know what people would do with the last three roster spots assuming the following criteria which seem to be where we are:

1) You've got about $500K for the last three spots.

2) You cannot ask Scott Dolson for more money.

3) You can suggest we should have not signed someone.  For example, say we should have passed on Aiden.  Then that's ~$4.5M saved and now we've got $5M for four spots.

4) Once again, you cannot ask Scott Dolson for more money.

Let me know.  And the plan cannot be asking Scott Dolson for more money.

Edit: lol.  Or ask anyone else for more money.  No Pam, or Mark, or Cook, or Simon, or the guy who owns BuffaLouie's...

I’ll take a stab at the general philosophy, even though I haven’t been all that critical of this roster. In fact I think they did a pretty good job. But I assume the counter is something like: 

 

Take Sherrells $5mil and split up between the 4 and 2 spots. Could you get Estrella and Blackwell for $5mil combined? Probably not, but go a couple spots in each ranking respectively and you will get there. How about Vasks and Kwame Evans? 
 

Now that you have a 2 guard you can take the 1-2mil?? they gave Lyndsey and go get yourself a couple mid major backups at the Pg and C spot who 1) don’t mind not playing much, but ate 2) willing to come for a big payday. If you succeed, you’ve alleviated much nervousness throughout IU message board land. If you fail, you’ve likely down graded your starting lineup so you can have two unplayable guys like Tayton Conerway and Payton Sparks beef up your depth chart but largely sit the bench and be tall cheerleaders.