BLOOMINGTON — Darian DeVries’ Indiana basketball team is south of the Equator, competing as Team USA in the FISU America Games. The Hoosiers are scheduled to play at least three games, a rapid-fire test of their progress across this crucial summer.
DeVries will see June and July as important to formulating his plans for September and October, these valuable weeks of practice laying the groundwork for what he and his staff hope to develop within this team before the start of the coming season.
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With those practices under their belt, and Wednesday’s exhibition against College Jean-de-Brebeuf concluded, let’s take a look player by player at IU’s scholarship roster so far, as the summer approaches an end.
Players listed numerically
0 Trevor Manhertz
Easily one of the highest-ceiling players on the roster. Drew praise from DeVries after the Brebeuf win for his toughness and “incredible feel for the game.”
Clearly needs to add size and strength to manage the college game, after reclassifying up a year. But DeVries’ own praise for Manhertz’s grasp of concepts and ideas suggests his basketball IQ can flatten some of that learning curve. And it’s hard to find players with Manhertz’s size and length that can shoot so well.
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Tough to pin his role this year, but whether he’s a consistent rotation player this winter or not, the upside is obvious.
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1 Darren Harris
Telling that he got a start in the Brebeuf game. Not hard to see where his reputation as a shooter came from, thanks to his quick, high release and good form.
Because of that high release point, it will be important for teammates to feed him the ball accurately. When it hits his hands in his preferred shooting pocket, there’s almost no load to it, just a rapid up and out. The better he shoots the ball, the more he changes this team’s fortunes. Will be an X-factor on that alone.
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2 Bryce Lindsay
This team’s second-most important ball handler behind Markus Burton. Indiana will need him to shoot 3s effectively, but his ability to break defenders down off the dribble will probably be more important.
Lindsay’s feel for the game matches his experience level. When he gets those defenders on the back foot or in the air, he has wonderful pace and patience driving the ball. He feels soft spots in a defense, doesn’t rush and finishes well. Those are qualities IU didn’t have enough of a year ago.
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There’s more to breaking down a defense than shooting 3s. Lindsay possesses the tools for that job.
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5 Markus Burton
The straw — I am so sorry for this cliché — that will stir Indiana all season long.
It was in a way encouraging to see Burton finish with six assists and six field goal attempts against Brebeuf. His ability to impact games with his own offense is proven at this point. What Indiana needs is a point guard who can find the right balance between creating for himself and for others.
Burton showed the ability to do both at Notre Dame. Now, he’s running the show for a team with more options. He doesn’t need to score 20 a night to win. Sometimes, that will be his remit. Wednesday suggested he also has a good feel for when it isn’t.
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His six rebounds were likewise an encouraging number.
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8 Prince-Alexander Moody
Maybe the most college-ready of the three freshmen on campus right now. Moody’s timing and feel defensively are ahead of his years, his activity creates deflections and he turns defense seamlessly into offense.
There’s something about the competitive level of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference that just raises the floor for prep players. Moody is far from the complete article as a lead ball handler, but there should be a role for him this winter, provided he continues improving.
11 Trent Sisley
Quietly one of Indiana’s most important players. He will probably play off the bench most of the time, but he fills the gap left when one of the Hoosiers’ two bigs can’t be on the floor.
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He’s hardly a shrinking violet himself. Sisley looks leaner yet also stronger than he did as a freshman. His energy remains a plus, and Indiana will need his toughness on the glass. At 6 foot 8, 225 pounds, Sisley is far from undersized.
The better he shoots the ball, the more diverse IU becomes offensively. And the Santa Claus native isn’t afraid to speak up, on a team DeVries himself said needs to communicate better. Sisley might not start, but he can be crucial to this team’s success.
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12 Justin Monden
Got extended minutes near the end of Wednesday’s exhibition.
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Can provide veteran savvy and knowledge on a team that, while not young, per se, is certainly nowhere as individually experienced as its immediate predecessor.
21 Samet Yigitoglu
His impact will be defined by that of his frontcourt mate in many ways.
Yigitoglu is a true center, zeroed in on that position in a way few Hoosiers have been in recent memory. So much of his production should come eight feet and in. The more imposing his presence at the rim and on the glass — at both ends of the floor — the greater his impact.
He needs to be comfortable switching defensively, at least at the four and the five. But if Indiana gets the best out of his partner in the two-big tandem, Yigitoglu will deliver exactly what the Hoosiers need.
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Note: Yigitoglu won’t play during the Peru trip since he is from Turkey.
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22 Aiden Sherrell
Which brings us to that partner, the most important player on this roster.
Some of that is individual talent. DeVries himself said Sherrell, an Alabama transfer, can “be that dominant guy every night.” There’s no doubt every time he extends his offense to 24 feet, or switches onto guards without much effort, that Sherrell is the kind of versatile, dangerous player who can impact a game in all manner of ways.
That still only matters so much in a vacuum. Sherrell is the key to the whole thing working. If he can stretch from a natural five to a swing four, Yigitoglu fits perfectly in the middle. If Sherrell can work in tandem with the 7-2 center around the rim, IU’s rebounding and rim-protecting problems are solved. If he excels in the screen-and-roll game while hitting enough 3s to stretch defenses, Sherrell unlocks the best in his teammates in the backcourt.
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The Detroit native makes everything else work, in a way no other single player does. The fundamental idea of this roster is built around his success.
Indiana basketball forward Aiden Sherrell fights to get to the rim in an exhibition game against Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf at Assembly Hall on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
24 Vaughn Karvala
The third of IU’s three freshmen already on campus. His energy and athleticism are unquestionable. The more Indiana gets Karvala moving toward the basket, the more dangerous he comes, and his combination of explosiveness, quickness and reach make him a problem defensively in time.
His impact next expands with his shooting range. If he becomes a consistent 3-point shooter, and defenders have to begin respecting his shot fake, Karvala’s offense expands considerably, and quickly.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Get to know the Indiana basketball roster: X-factor, most important player, key freshmen
