Momentum in college basketball is a fragile thing. It’s built on moments, on belief, on the feeling that something is starting rather than merely happening.
Indiana has that feeling right now.
A cold, electric night in Assembly Hall. Out-toughing Purdue. A building that rose and a team that answered. And now, on the heels of that win, a recruiting commitment that feels like more than just a name on a list.
Trevor Manhertz is headed to Bloomington.
He’s 6-8. He can really shoot it. He’s a modern wing with size and touch. And after a winding path through the recruiting calendar—2026, then 2027, now back to 2026—he’s chosen Indiana.
That matters.
It matters because IU is going to lose most of this current roster to graduation and eligibility. It matters because shooting, spacing, and interchangeable wings are not luxuries in modern college basketball—they’re foundations.
With Manhertz now in the fold, Indiana’s 2026 class includes three top-100-level talents:
- Prince-Alexander Moody
- Vaughn Karvala
- Trevor Manhertz
Three perimeter players. Three shooters. Three pieces that fit the way DeVries wants to play.
It has been a while since Indiana stacked high school recruiting wins like this in a single class. For a first-year staff still defining its identity, this is enormous. It tells you that Darian DeVries isn’t just coaching the present—he’s earning belief in the future.
Add a returner like Nick Dorn to that group, and you can already see the outline of the next team: a roster that can stretch the floor, share the ball, and keep the offensive identity intact from one season to the next. IU will still need to add size. They’ll need muscle. They’ll need interior answers. But they have time—and now they have a real base.
This is what program building looks like.
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