In Indiana, it’s more than just basketball.  

Indiana is a program built on its rich basketball success and traditions. The Hoosiers have five national championships, eight Final Fours and 42 NCAA Tournament appearances — which is sixth-most all time.  

Despite the historical success, Indiana has had struggles recently, missing seven of the last nine NCAA Tournaments, including in 2024 and 2025.  

Indiana unraveled early last season, with an unsuccessful trip to the Bahamas for the Battle for the Atlantis Tournament. There, then-No. 14 Indiana fell to the University of Louisville 89-61 and Gonzaga University 89-73 in back-to-back days.  

This was a moment that set the tone for the rest of the season — a season that ended in an unranked Hoosiers team and the departure of head coach Mike Woodson. 

Now, the Hoosiers have a whole new roster. New coach. New mindset. New goals. 

With the 2025-26 men’s basketball season set to begin in under a week, expectations are unclear for the new team under first-year head coach Darian DeVries, whose squad is made up of 13 new scholarship players. The Hoosiers enter the season unranked and received just one vote in the Associated Press’ Preseason Top 25 poll released Monday.   

Fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson expressed his expectations for the team during Big Ten Media Day on Oct. 9 ahead of their exhibition game with Marian University on Friday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.  

“We just want us to go out there, and you know, play the way that we’ve been practicing — play the way that Indiana basketball is meant to be played,” Wilkerson said. “Share the ball, play hard, play with intensity, play with a lot of physicality.” 

Wilkerson’s energy is a key part of that identity to his teammate senior forward Tucker DeVries. 

“Lamar plays with extreme confidence and enthusiasm, which is great for our team,” Tucker DeVries said. “It’s part of our identity to be enthusiastic about wanting to be there every day.” 

A group of guys who pride themselves on energy, passion and a desire to play “Indiana basketball” could be what the Hoosiers need to get back to the success the program longs to have.  

With the Hoosiers playing their games inside a historic Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, fan engagement and support could set the tone for the season. Last season, boos and chants of “Fire Woodson” filled the building, creating a toxic environment that hopefully will not recreate itself this season.  

Fan support has been high so far, with many showing out to Indiana’s first-ever Hoosier Hoops on Kirkwood — a interactive fan event held Oct. 2 on Kirkwood Avenue that can create excitement and hype around the men’s and women’s basketball programs.  

Darian DeVries has shown he values a positive relationship with the fan base and began to make those connections during that event by directly interacting with the fans and even buying patrons of nearby Upstairs Pub a round of drinks. At the Hoosiers’ intrasquad scrimmage Oct. 3, Darian DeVries and other players engaged with fans. 

“Students impact so much of what our home court advantage is going to be,” Darian DeVries said. “And I think Assembly Hall is one of those places just by the structure and how it’s built, has a place to be one of the toughest places in the country, if not the best, every single year. And our students are going to be what kind of sets that tone for us.” 

While the team is composed of all new players from schools all over the country, there is one thing they already have in common — a goal to live up to the Cream and Crimson’s reputation.  

“But with this team, you can certainly tell everybody’s driven to one goal, and that’s to win, and to make the Indiana fan base proud,” Tucker DeVries said. “And I think that’s going to be really special this year and help us with the success.”