Indiana head coach Darian DeVries took questions from the media after his squad’s 98-64 win over Team Canada in a FISU America Games exhibition. DeVries talked about his team’s performance, which freshmen stood out and the strategy of going on another preseason trip.
Impact of Aiden Sherrell Felt Early
Alabama transfer Aiden Sherrell was a major piece of the Indiana rebuild and his impact was immediately felt against the smaller Canadians. Sherrell had an early dunk and a couple blocked shots.
“Our thing with Aiden is we want him to be that guy that just does everything and getting him to be in that position where he’s got the ball a lot on the perimeter, he’s got the ball inside, he can take advantage of mismatches.” DeVries said. “I think you saw a little bit of it tonight. He had a little fader in the paint. He had a couple of 3s. He had a couple of blocks. So there’s really not a lot he can’t do.”
Freshman Prince-Alexander Moody Wins Fans
One of the bigger takeaways from Wednesday night was the performance of true freshman Prince-Alexander Moody, who won over the crowd with his effort and defense.
“Prince is what you saw tonight. Like, that’s what he is every day in practice. His motor, his talk, so to speak, is nonstop on and off the floor. So he’s fun. He loves the game. He loves competing.” DeVries said after the game.
Moody finished with 13 points, five steals, three assists and three rebounds. By the end of the evening, he was an early fan favorite.
“What I loved about him, he just plays hard. And that’s number one. And that’s what gets you production. That’s what gets you on the floor, and he certainly showed that tonight.” DeVries added.
True Freshmen Give Glimpse of Future
The Hoosiers have three true freshmen joining the squad for the 2026-27 season and their first game under the bright lights of Assembly Hall showed a quick glimpse to the future.
“I thought the second group, the young guys, I thought for their first time out on the floor tonight, I thought they did a great job. They just came in and gave incredible effort.” DeVries said. “I thought they played with pretty good composure, too, for their first time out. They were very confident in what they were doing. I was really happy with what that group brought.”
Moody, along with Trevor Manhertz and Vaugh Karvala, combined for 29 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Rebounding and Communication Needs to Improve
For the first few minutes of Wednesday’s exhibition game, Team USA looked like a group that had never played together. Communication on defense was lacking and led to some easy baskets.
It was good to play somebody else just to get a little bit better idea than when you’re going against one another sometimes. Communication and talking to each other has been an issue in practice leading up to the FISU America Games.
“I thought our number one thing right now that we’re not great at is just our talk in practice. We’ve just got to be more vocal. And some of that comes with just confidence and knowing what you’re supposed to be doing, where you’re supposed to be, all that stuff. That’s, from June until we get to November, that’s something that will get better and better as we go.” DeVries said.
Team USA struggled early to get rebounds, which is a bit concerning, seeing that Canada did not have a player over 6’7″ and the Americans started two 7-footers.
“I thought our rebounding wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be. We’ve talked to our team all summer long — we want to be an elite offensive rebounding team. I didn’t think we were quite there tonight.” DeVries stated.
“And then defensive rebounding as well. We’ve got to secure the defensive glass. And we have enough bodies and size and athleticism that we should be a great defensive and offensive rebounding team. We’re going to get it there.”
On Balancing Playing New Players Together and Winning The FISU America Games
DeVries has a choice to make in the FISU America Games. Does he want to win the whole thing or make sure that his team is developing the right way to get ready for a college basketball season where the pressure is building on him?
“I think we’ll get a little bit of a mix. Certainly, we won’t play the game like a regular-season game in terms of rotation. We’ll try to get a lot of guys in there, get them experience. Ultimately, that’s still what this is about, is us continuing to grow and get better and get guys some time on the floor. So we want to do that first and for most.” DeVries said.
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