The Darian DeVries era of IU basketball begins tonight in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers host Alabama A&M at 8:00 PM ET on BTN.
It will be the first-ever meeting between the Hoosiers and Alabama A&M, located in Huntsville.
The wait for the return of IU basketball is over. After five exhibition games, the Hoosiers will debut tonight in Bloomington with their new head coach and a brand new roster.
Indiana went 3-0 in its three exhibition games in August in San Juan, Puerto Rico, then defeated Marian and Baylor in a pair of exhibition games last month. The Hoosiers are led by a six-man senior class that includes Tucker DeVries, Tayton Conerway, Lamar Wilkerson, Reed Bailey, Sam Alexis and Conor Enright.
First up for IU is Alabama A&M, picked to finish sixth in the 12-team Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs scheduled three major road opponents: Indiana, Clemson (Nov. 28) and Ole Miss (Dec. 17).
Alabama A&M defeated Samford 74-73 in an exhibition in Birmingham on October 13 and the University of Alabama at Huntsville (Division II) 75-68 in its second exhibition in Huntsville on October 27.
In the regular season opener on Monday night, Alabama A&M easily defeated NAIA opponent Blue Mountain Christian University 80-60.
MEET THE BULLDOGS
Alabama A&M is led by first-year coach Donte Jackson, no stranger to the SWAC. Jackson spent the past eight seasons at Grambling State – also a member of the SWAC – and won 20 games twice, reaching the NCAA Tournament in 2024.
Jackson brought his entire coaching staff from Grambling State to Alabama A&M and seven players from last season’s roster, including leading scorer Kintavious Dozier, a senior.
Dozier, a 6-foot-4 guard from Lanett, Alabama, was a first-team All-SWAC selection in the 2023-24 season at Grambling State and was a member of the league’s All-tournament team the past two seasons.
The left-hander has played in 69 Division I games and averaged 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.1 steals in 27.9 minutes per game. He is a career shooter: 44.4 percent from the field, 32.9 percent on 3s and 78 percent from the line. Last season at Grambling State, he shot 37.8 percent on 3s in SWAC games. He will have the ball in his hands a lot and will likely sign Conerway as his defender.
Sami Pissis, a native of Paris, France, joins Dozier in the Bulldogs’ starting backcourt. Pissis, a third-team All-America East honoree last season at New Hampshire, averaged 15.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 28 minutes per game last season. A skilled ball handler and distributor, the senior can also knock down the three-pointer, albeit with low efficiency. Pissis went 68-for-231 on 3s last season in New Hampshire.
Redshirt juniors Koron Davis and James Graham start on the wing. Both have size and some athleticism.
Davis, a 6-foot-2 native of Gary, Indiana, played just seven games at Louisiana last season due to an injury after being decommitted from Louisville during the 2023-24 season. Davis had 24 points in the exhibition win against the University of Alabama in Huntsville on October 27.
Graham, a four-star recruit in the 2020 class who signed with Maryland, had stops at Missouri State and Buffalo before redshirting at Grambling State last season. The 6-foot-4 forward had 18 points in Monday’s opener against Blue Mountain Christian University.
Like most low-major opponents, Alabama A&M is undersized in the post and 6-foot-1 senior PJ Eason will start at the five. Eason blocked 48 shots last season at Grambling State and had the third-highest block percentage in the SWAC. He was also the sixth-best offensive rebounder in the SWAC.
Need-to-know lows for Alabama A&M include junior guard Peyton Daniels, sophomore guard Bilal Abdur-Rahman, junior wing Gabe Kincy and senior big man James Flippin.
Daniels started his career at Vanderbilt before transferring to Jacksonville State. The 6-foot-1 guard, a three-star recruit out of high school, made six 3-pointers off the bench in the season opener and tied for the team lead with 18 points.
Abdur-Rahman, a 6-foot-1 freshman, is a holdover from last season at Alabama A&M and will provide point guard depth.
Kincy, a 6-foot-2 junior, followed Jackson from Grambling State and averaged 10 points in the exhibition games before scoring seven points in the season opener.
And Flippin is a 6-foot-4, 255-pound junior big man who was Grambling State’s fifth-leading scorer last season. Last season he averaged almost 15 points over the last seven games.
KEYS FOR INDIANA
• Get off to a strong start: The Hoosiers turned an early deficit into a habit in the two exhibition games against Mega Superbet in Puerto Rico and then trailed Baylor by 13 points in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. So far, Indiana has been able to dig itself out of every hole, but the Hoosiers must be ready to play and leave no doubt against an overmatched opponent.
• Defense starts at the point of attack: It’s no secret that IU is undersized in the post and lacks rim protection. The Hoosiers need to make the Bulldogs uncomfortable at the rim with ball pressure and energy from the opening tip. Conerway and Enright can both set the tone defensively.
• Work the ball for great looks: Indiana is unselfish and moves the ball as well as any Hoosier team since the Tom Crean era. This roster is full of players who are willing to pass up a good opportunity for a great one. When the ball is in motion, guarding IU isn’t easy. It’s unlikely DeVries will have the entire playbook open on Wednesday, but sharp ball movement and hard cuts should allow IU to establish flow offensively.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Alabama A&M is one of three KenPom opponents under 300 on the IU schedule entering the season.
The KenPom projection has Indiana winning by 24 points with a 99 percent chance of a Hoosier win. Bart Torvik gives IU a 97 percent chance of winning and predicts the Hoosiers will prevail by 27 points.
With limited depth and a game against Marquette looming in Chicago on Sunday, the opportunity to rest multiple starters in the second half would be a solid way to close out the season opener.
(Photo credit: Alabama A&M Athletics)
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