Let’s talk Roster! 2026/2027

[BA47591]

21 hours ago, Home Jersey said:

Sam raises the floor for this team so much. Matchups will vary of course, but a 5 of Burton, Lindsay, Mustaf, Sherrell and Alexis sounds pretty good to me.

I'd think Sisley and Yig could play well together. If PAM contributes and Harris hits shots at a 35%+ clip, the team could make some noise in the B10. And that's not factoring in anything at all from Karvala or Manhurtz since I'm not thinking they'll be huge parts of the rotation as conference season goes on.

Looking ahead a bit, if (probably a big if) we retain Burton, Lindsay, Mustaf, Yig, Sisley and add borderline 5 star Branham + sophomores PAM, Karvala, Manhurtz, we'd only need a couple portal pieces to be really deep, talented, and have the roster balanced eligibility wise.

Hopefully year 2 is the best year for IUBB in a long time and sets us on an upward trajectory. It's more attainable than it has been 

I think our ideal scenario would be Harris having been resurrected and starting with Mustaf at the wing positions. Both can shoot it, Harris once upon a time, very well at a high volume. Then Lindsay and Sam as our first perimeter player and big off the bench. That being the bones of our rotation would allow some mix and match with Trent and the frosh from night to night. Let's see what Coach does with this much talent. 

One day soon 1-3 will be Branham, Karvala and Moody.

[Home Jersey]

18 hours ago, BA47591 said:

I think our ideal scenario would be Harris having been resurrected and starting with Mustaf at the wing positions. Both can shoot it, Harris once upon a time, very well at a high volume. Then Lindsay and Sam as our first perimeter player and big off the bench. That being the bones of our rotation would allow some mix and match with Trent and the frosh from night to night. Let's see what Coach does with this much talent. 

One day soon 1-3 will be Branham, Karvala and Moody.

I'm bored and thinking about the basketball team, even though there's only 32 days til football season, which will be awesome. 

I think you're right that Yig starts. I bet he and Sherrell won't be on the court together for much more than 8-12 minutes a game.

Not sure about Harris starting. Maybe that was the plan before we landed Lindsay, who we seemed to move very aggressively on and closed quickly. Lindsay started for Nova last year. It would be a big jump for Harris to start after being 9th man for Duke and getting 10mpg. His role will definitely be bigger here whether he starts or not. And maybe he does start if DDV prefers getting Lindsay's production off the bench. I think who finishes games will largely depend on match ups, but our "best 5" IMO will likely be Burton, Lindsay, Mustaf, Sherrell, Sam. 

Hopefully we have some real momentum after this season. It would be a real treat for football and basketball to be elite / great at the same time. 

[68Hoosier]

11 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

I'm bored and thinking about the basketball team, even though there's only 32 days til football season, which will be awesome. 

I think you're right that Yig starts. I bet he and Sherrell won't be on the court together for much more than 8-12 minutes a game.

Not sure about Harris starting. Maybe that was the plan before we landed Lindsay, who we seemed to move very aggressively on and closed quickly. Lindsay started for Nova last year. It would be a big jump for Harris to start after being 9th man for Duke and getting 10mpg. His role will definitely be bigger here whether he starts or not. And maybe he does start if DDV prefers getting Lindsay's production off the bench. I think who finishes games will largely depend on match ups, but our "best 5" IMO will likely be Burton, Lindsay, Mustaf, Sherrell, Sam. 

Hopefully we have some real momentum after this season. It would be a real treat for football and basketball to be elite / great at the same time. 

I thought I read somewhere that the staff was pushing for 2-year NIL deals with these transfers to help with continuity.  I may have had wishful dreams but for some reason that sticks in my mind.  

[HoosierHoopster]

^^ 

Burton, Lindsay, Mustaf, Sherrell, Sam to start - hopefully, though regardless think this lineup gets the most run. Do think Lindsay starts.

Yigi may start but his play over the summer didn't earn a starting spot

Lindsay / Harris could go back and forth, starting, from bench, depending on practice play and whether staff wants Lindsay handling bulk of off-bench point guard play.

Moody likely getting pretty decent minutes, he's continued to look like he's beyond a typical frosh and is ready to go

Sisley likely gets good minutes and tend to think Karvala will get some run

[Pagoda]

2 minutes ago, HoosierHoopster said:

^^ 

Burton, Lindsay, Mustaf, Sherrell, Sam to start - hopefully, though regardless think this lineup gets the most run. Do think Lindsay starts.

Yigi may start but his play over the summer didn't earn a starting spot

Lindsay / Harris could go back and forth, starting, from bench, depending on practice play and whether staff wants Lindsay handling bulk of off-bench point guard play.

Moody likely getting pretty decent minutes, he's continued to look like he's beyond a typical frosh and is ready to go

Sisley likely gets good minutes and tend to think Karvala will get some run

I’m thinking Sam over Yigi too now that I’ve seen Yigi.

[str8baller]

1 hour ago, Home Jersey said:

I think who finishes games will largely depend on match ups, but our "best 5" IMO will likely be Burton, Lindsay, Mustaf, Sherrell, Sam

Yigi v Sam I bet will be heavily lineup dependent, regardless of who starts. Some of those big lineups we saw last year like Illinois and Michigan will probably have Yigi over 20min a night. In general, I think I like Sam better most nights. I liked him a lot last year, but I was obviously higher on him than the staff so who knows. In the end you would think they both hover around that 20mpg mark equally splitting time. 

[Jeff Flabjohns]

Against MSU, ILL, Purdue, UM I’d bet Yigi plays fully alongside the opponents seven-footer and gives us 25+ min. 
Otherwise I’d love to see essentially an even split

[Hoosierfanyuh]

Yall have barely seen yigi play with iu. I’d say better opinions can be formed after the exhibitions. 

[Kentuckysucks]

 

 

[HoosierHoopster]

34 minutes ago, Kentuckysucks said:

 

 

it wouldn't pull up for me without loading youtube, in case this works directly:

 

[Home Jersey]

Goodman said the expectation should be for the team to be between 10-20 nationally all year. Top 3rd of the B10. Rob said he sees no reason IU can't finish as high as 4th in the B10 and said the roster could be capable to make a deep run, even to the F4. They agree it's a disaster if the team isn't nationally relevant in February. 

[ebridges24]

20 hours ago, HoosierHoopster said:

^^ 

Burton, Lindsay, Mustaf, Sherrell, Sam to start - hopefully, though regardless think this lineup gets the most run. Do think Lindsay starts.

Yigi may start but his play over the summer didn't earn a starting spot

Lindsay / Harris could go back and forth, starting, from bench, depending on practice play and whether staff wants Lindsay handling bulk of off-bench point guard play.

Moody likely getting pretty decent minutes, he's continued to look like he's beyond a typical frosh and is ready to go

Sisley likely gets good minutes and tend to think Karvala will get some run

what play did Yigi get other than the exhibition?

[Kentuckysucks]

1 hour ago, Home Jersey said:

Goodman said the expectation should be for the team to be between 10-20 nationally all year. Top 3rd of the B10. Rob said he sees no reason IU can't finish as high as 4th in the B10 and said the roster could be capable to make a deep run, even to the F4. They agree it's a disaster if the team isn't nationally relevant in February. 

With how favorable our B1G schedule is I'll actually be pretty disappointed if we don't finish top 3-4.

[Home Jersey]

6 minutes ago, Kentuckysucks said:

With how favorable our B1G schedule is I'll actually be pretty disappointed if we don't finish top 3-4.

Top 3-4 would be great IMO. I'm not familiar enough with the other rosters and schedules yet to have an expectation.

https://www.insidethehall.com/2026/08/04/an-early-august-look-at-big-ten-basketball-rosters-for-the-2026-27-season/

After a quick glance at this helpful ITH breakdown, Illinois and Michigan are pretty stacked. UCLA and USC look good on paper IMO. MSU and Purdue look pretty good, not necessarily great, but doubt they'll be bad IMO. Maryland, Iowa, Minnesota could all be better than expected IMO. If Tavion Banks gets a 5th year I think Iowa will surprise a lot of people again this year. Wisconsin, Oregon and OSU flipped their rosters quite a bit... it's going to be tough but doable. Looking forward to the exhibitions against D1 competition.

Lot of talent and good coaching in the Big Ten these days.

[ronzo4IU]

Whomever wins the Big this year will be one big nasty team..

[Kentuckysucks]

10 minutes ago, ronzo4IU said:

Whomever wins the Big this year will be one big nasty team..

I asked Gemini to project how each team will finish based on each respective schedule.

The Big Ten's 18-team, 20-game conference format creates significant schedule disparities across the league for the 2026–27 season. Because teams play only three opponents twice and face the remaining 14 teams once (seven home, seven away), home/away draws heavily dictate final standings.

Below is a breakdown of how the Big Ten men's basketball standings are projected to finish based on schedule difficulty and roster outlooks.

Conference Standings Projection

| Projected Finish | Team | Key Schedule Advantage / Drawback |

|---|---|---|

| 1. Indiana | Top Contender | Easiest Draw: Hosts Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, UCLA, and USC all at home; avoids road trips to every premier contender. |

| 2. Purdue | Top Contender | Balanced: Home/away repeat series with Illinois, Indiana, and Rutgers. Tougher road slate but maintains a high home-court baseline. |

| 3. Illinois | Upper Tier | Favorable Home Games: Avoids visiting UCLA/USC; hosts Michigan State and Ohio State. Double-plays Purdue, Wisconsin, Northwestern. |

| 4. Michigan State | Upper Tier | Home-Heavy Top Matchups: Hosts Purdue, Wisconsin, and Rutgers; repeat series against Michigan, Maryland, and Nebraska. |

| 5. Michigan | Tournament Lock | Rivalry Double-Play: Home/away with Ohio State, Michigan State, and Minnesota. Hosts Purdue and Illinois. |

| 6. Ohio State | Tournament Lock | Manageable Road Slate: Double-plays Iowa, Michigan, Penn State. Single-play road games include Illinois, Indiana, Purdue. |

| 7. UCLA | Tournament / Bubble | Travel Burden: West Coast travel plus single road trips to Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, and Maryland. Double-plays USC, Oregon, Washington. |

| 8. Maryland | Tournament / Bubble | Solid Home Slate: Hosts Illinois, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin. Double-plays Indiana, Michigan State, Rutgers. |

| 9. Rutgers | Middle Pack | Slightly Favorable: Hosts Illinois, Michigan, UCLA, USC. Double-plays Maryland, Penn State, Purdue. |

| 10. USC | Middle Pack | Travel Heavy: Double-plays Oregon, UCLA, Washington. Single road games at Indiana, Illinois, Purdue. |

| 11. Wisconsin | Middle Pack | Tough Double-Plays: Must play Iowa, Nebraska, and Ohio State twice. Hosts Michigan and Michigan State. |

| 12. Oregon | Lower-Middle | Challenging Road Slate: Plays Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin on the road. |

| 13. Iowa | Lower-Middle | Brutal Road Draw: Single-play road games at Illinois, Michigan, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC. Double-plays Nebraska, Ohio State, Wisconsin. |

| 14. Northwestern | Lower Tier | Difficult Double-Plays: Repeat games against Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota. Road-only games at Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue. |

| 15. Nebraska | Lower Tier | Balanced but Uphill: Double-plays Iowa, Michigan State, Penn State. Road trips to Illinois, Oregon, Purdue. |

| 16. Penn State | Lower Tier | Tough Single-Plays: Hosts Indiana, Michigan, Purdue; road games at Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, UCLA. |

| 17. Washington | Bottom Tier | Long Travel & Road Tests: Single road trips to Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue. |

| 18. Minnesota | Bottom Tier | Demanding Slate: Double-plays Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin. Hosts Illinois and Indiana; travels to Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State. |

Schedule Impact Highlights

 * Indiana's Massive Advantage: The Hoosiers hit the structural jackpot. By hosting nearly every potential top-finish opponent (Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, UCLA, USC) at Assembly Hall and only visiting middle-to-lower tier teams in single-play road games (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, Washington, Wisconsin), Indiana gets a multi-game cushion in the win column.

 * Travel Disadvantages for West Coast Schools: UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington face multiple 2,000+ mile road trips across time zones, which historically penalizes mid-week road games.

 * The Single-Play Home Premium: Teams like Illinois and Michigan State capitalize on hosting premier opponents without returning the trip, keeping them near the top of the standings.

 

[ronzo4IU]

1 minute ago, Kentuckysucks said:

I asked Gemini to project how each team will finish based on each respective schedule.

The Big Ten's 18-team, 20-game conference format creates significant schedule disparities across the league for the 2026–27 season. Because teams play only three opponents twice and face the remaining 14 teams once (seven home, seven away), home/away draws heavily dictate final standings.

Below is a breakdown of how the Big Ten men's basketball standings are projected to finish based on schedule difficulty and roster outlooks.

Conference Standings Projection

| Projected Finish | Team | Key Schedule Advantage / Drawback |

|---|---|---|

| 1. Indiana | Top Contender | Easiest Draw: Hosts Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, UCLA, and USC all at home; avoids road trips to every premier contender. |

| 2. Purdue | Top Contender | Balanced: Home/away repeat series with Illinois, Indiana, and Rutgers. Tougher road slate but maintains a high home-court baseline. |

| 3. Illinois | Upper Tier | Favorable Home Games: Avoids visiting UCLA/USC; hosts Michigan State and Ohio State. Double-plays Purdue, Wisconsin, Northwestern. |

| 4. Michigan State | Upper Tier | Home-Heavy Top Matchups: Hosts Purdue, Wisconsin, and Rutgers; repeat series against Michigan, Maryland, and Nebraska. |

| 5. Michigan | Tournament Lock | Rivalry Double-Play: Home/away with Ohio State, Michigan State, and Minnesota. Hosts Purdue and Illinois. |

| 6. Ohio State | Tournament Lock | Manageable Road Slate: Double-plays Iowa, Michigan, Penn State. Single-play road games include Illinois, Indiana, Purdue. |

| 7. UCLA | Tournament / Bubble | Travel Burden: West Coast travel plus single road trips to Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, and Maryland. Double-plays USC, Oregon, Washington. |

| 8. Maryland | Tournament / Bubble | Solid Home Slate: Hosts Illinois, UCLA, USC, Wisconsin. Double-plays Indiana, Michigan State, Rutgers. |

| 9. Rutgers | Middle Pack | Slightly Favorable: Hosts Illinois, Michigan, UCLA, USC. Double-plays Maryland, Penn State, Purdue. |

| 10. USC | Middle Pack | Travel Heavy: Double-plays Oregon, UCLA, Washington. Single road games at Indiana, Illinois, Purdue. |

| 11. Wisconsin | Middle Pack | Tough Double-Plays: Must play Iowa, Nebraska, and Ohio State twice. Hosts Michigan and Michigan State. |

| 12. Oregon | Lower-Middle | Challenging Road Slate: Plays Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin on the road. |

| 13. Iowa | Lower-Middle | Brutal Road Draw: Single-play road games at Illinois, Michigan, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC. Double-plays Nebraska, Ohio State, Wisconsin. |

| 14. Northwestern | Lower Tier | Difficult Double-Plays: Repeat games against Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota. Road-only games at Michigan, Ohio State, Purdue. |

| 15. Nebraska | Lower Tier | Balanced but Uphill: Double-plays Iowa, Michigan State, Penn State. Road trips to Illinois, Oregon, Purdue. |

| 16. Penn State | Lower Tier | Tough Single-Plays: Hosts Indiana, Michigan, Purdue; road games at Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, UCLA. |

| 17. Washington | Bottom Tier | Long Travel & Road Tests: Single road trips to Illinois, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue. |

| 18. Minnesota | Bottom Tier | Demanding Slate: Double-plays Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin. Hosts Illinois and Indiana; travels to Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State. |

Schedule Impact Highlights

 * Indiana's Massive Advantage: The Hoosiers hit the structural jackpot. By hosting nearly every potential top-finish opponent (Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, UCLA, USC) at Assembly Hall and only visiting middle-to-lower tier teams in single-play road games (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, Penn State, Washington, Wisconsin), Indiana gets a multi-game cushion in the win column.

 * Travel Disadvantages for West Coast Schools: UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington face multiple 2,000+ mile road trips across time zones, which historically penalizes mid-week road games.

 * The Single-Play Home Premium: Teams like Illinois and Michigan State capitalize on hosting premier opponents without returning the trip, keeping them near the top of the standings.

 

So you're telling us we have to win our home games? lol,,

Even with the luck of the draw and the BTT we better be bringing our A game.  Lots of good rosters so the top tier coaches will really shine this year imo.

[str8baller]

1 hour ago, Home Jersey said:

Top 3-4 would be great IMO. I'm not familiar enough with the other rosters and schedules yet to have an expectation.

https://www.insidethehall.com/2026/08/04/an-early-august-look-at-big-ten-basketball-rosters-for-the-2026-27-season/

After a quick glance at this helpful ITH breakdown, Illinois and Michigan are pretty stacked. UCLA and USC look good on paper IMO. MSU and Purdue look pretty good, not necessarily great, but doubt they'll be bad IMO. Maryland, Iowa, Minnesota could all be better than expected IMO. If Tavion Banks gets a 5th year I think Iowa will surprise a lot of people again this year. Wisconsin, Oregon and OSU flipped their rosters quite a bit... it's going to be tough but doable. Looking forward to the exhibitions against D1 competition.

Lot of talent and good coaching in the Big Ten these days.

Illinois seems to be the clear favorite, although I wonder if the Wagler loss might hurt more than people think. 
 

Michigan has a lot of new players and loses Dusty May. I like them to regress quite a bit.  
 

UCLA/USC have to show me they can compete at the top of the B1G.  
 

Looking all that over, I’m not sure why we couldn’t compete for 4th place or better.   
 

One team that I wonder if they can keep their momentum going despite their losses is Nebraska. The only transfer I really recognize is Orme. They also return Sandfort. 

[Home Jersey]

16 minutes ago, str8baller said:

Illinois seems to be the clear favorite, although I wonder if the Wagler loss might hurt more than people think. 
 

Michigan has a lot of new players and loses Dusty May. I like them to regress quite a bit.  
 

UCLA/USC have to show me they can compete at the top of the B1G.  
 

Looking all that over, I’m not sure why we couldn’t compete for 4th place or better.   
 

One team that I wonder if they can keep their momentum going despite their losses is Nebraska. The only transfer I really recognize is Orme. They also return Sandfort. 

Yeah, especially with the conference schedule being favorable, I think top 4-5 is a fair expectation. We may actually get to bully teams like MSU and Purdue inside for a nice change of pace. 

Between the friendly schedule and $20M to totally revamp the roster again, there's not really any excuse to not deliver. Margins are thin and that's why coaches get paid big bucks. Hopefully DDV proves he is the man for the job. 

[bird4par]

18 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

Yeah, especially with the conference schedule being favorable, I think top 4-5 is a fair expectation. We may actually get to bully teams like MSU and Purdue inside for a nice change of pace. 

Between the friendly schedule and $20M to totally revamp the roster again, there's not really any excuse to not deliver. Margins are thin and that's why coaches get paid big bucks. Hopefully DDV proves he is the man for the job. 

20M for this roster?  Is this real?