Indiana University Athletics
Sunday, October 25
Evansville, Ind.
4:00 PM
Indiana University
vs
Western Kentucky (Exhibition)
10/25/2026 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Trevor Manhertz is the early basketball anomaly for these Indiana Hoosiers, a 6-foot-9, 185-pound freshman forward getting significant playing time in a rotation dominated by veteran transfers.
IU's 2-0 exhibition start offers proof.
Against Butler, Manhertz had seven points and eight rebounds in 20 off-the-bench minutes. He was 2-for-6 from the field, including 2-for-5 on 3-pointers.
Against North Carolina, he had three assists and three rebounds in 15 minutes, again off the bench.
No other IU freshman approaches those minutes. Manhertz, once a four-star high school prospect out of North Carolina with an elite offensive game, has earned it, coach Darian DeVries says.
"For a freshman, we have a lot of trust that he's earned throughout the summer and fall of just being able to play multiple positions and understanding what he has to do.
"I love his length. It gives us versatility defensively on the glass. For a guy his size, he plays more physical than you'd expect.
"I think he's got tremendous upside. I love the aggression he plays with. I keep going back to just an incredible feel for the game at both ends of the floor. He understands what the gameplan is, what the spacing is, and he's still a freshman. He's growing every day. I like what he he's done so far."
Manhertz will likely get a chance to display more for DeVries to like during Sunday's final exhibition, when IU plays Western Kentucky at Evansville's Ford Center. The Hilltoppers beat Bowling Green 65-62 in their first exhibition behind guard Teagan Moore's 22 points.
It's the last public opportunity for the Hoosiers to hone their game before the regular season begins Nov. 2 against Eastern Illinois at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
"It's just another opportunity, a neutral site game," DeVries says. "We get to be in state in Evansville, so I think that's great to get more fans from that area be able to come watch us play.
"I love that the NCAA granted us a third exhibition game. We get multiple opportunities to see our team before the regular season."
With standout transfers such as guards Markus Burton, Darren Harris, Jaeden Mustaf, and Bryce Lindsay, and frontcourt players Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu, DeVries and his staff have built a roster that seems capable of making a Big Ten championship run.
The national polls don't reflect that. While the Hoosiers aren't ranked, Illinois and Michigan State are top 10 teams, with defending national champion Michigan, USC, and Purdue in the top 25.
DeVries pays no attention.
"Not right now. What are they going off of? So many teams have new rosters. It's just a guessing game, so there's really no point in giving it any kind of credibility right now.
"For us, it's about us. We've got an (exhibition) in front of us, then we got a practice week to see what we did well, see some things that we're not doing well. That's our main focus."
Some of those things include turnovers (IU committed a total of 27 against 29 assists in the two exhibitions), rebounding, and transition offense.
"We're turning the ball over too much," DeVries says. "That's something we have to get cleaned up for us to be better offensively. If we don't turn it over, at least we got to get the shot up at the goal. That's something our guys are understanding. We've got to do a better job of taking care of it."
As far as the transition offense, DeVries adds, "That's one of the areas that I don't think we've been as good as I think we can be. We've rebounded at a high rate, but I don't know that we put enough pressure on defenses yet in transition. That's certainly something we've continued to stress, getting kick aheads and be able to put guys on their heels to drive the rim a little more, get some paint touches out of transition, which can lead to more of those kickout threes once we get the defense collapsed.
"We need to continue to get better at that. It should be a strength of ours as the season goes along."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Trevor Manhertz is the early basketball anomaly for these Indiana Hoosiers, a 6-foot-9, 185-pound freshman forward getting significant playing time in a rotation dominated by veteran transfers.
IU's 2-0 exhibition start offers proof.
Against Butler, Manhertz had seven points and eight rebounds in 20 off-the-bench minutes. He was 2-for-6 from the field, including 2-for-5 on 3-pointers.
Against North Carolina, he had three assists and three rebounds in 15 minutes, again off the bench.
No other IU freshman approaches those minutes. Manhertz, once a four-star high school prospect out of North Carolina with an elite offensive game, has earned it, coach Darian DeVries says.
"For a freshman, we have a lot of trust that he's earned throughout the summer and fall of just being able to play multiple positions and understanding what he has to do.
"I love his length. It gives us versatility defensively on the glass. For a guy his size, he plays more physical than you'd expect.
"I think he's got tremendous upside. I love the aggression he plays with. I keep going back to just an incredible feel for the game at both ends of the floor. He understands what the gameplan is, what the spacing is, and he's still a freshman. He's growing every day. I like what he he's done so far."
Manhertz will likely get a chance to display more for DeVries to like during Sunday's final exhibition, when IU plays Western Kentucky at Evansville's Ford Center. The Hilltoppers beat Bowling Green 65-62 in their first exhibition behind guard Teagan Moore's 22 points.
It's the last public opportunity for the Hoosiers to hone their game before the regular season begins Nov. 2 against Eastern Illinois at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
"It's just another opportunity, a neutral site game," DeVries says. "We get to be in state in Evansville, so I think that's great to get more fans from that area be able to come watch us play.
"I love that the NCAA granted us a third exhibition game. We get multiple opportunities to see our team before the regular season."
With standout transfers such as guards Markus Burton, Darren Harris, Jaeden Mustaf, and Bryce Lindsay, and frontcourt players Aiden Sherrell and Samet Yigitoglu, DeVries and his staff have built a roster that seems capable of making a Big Ten championship run.
The national polls don't reflect that. While the Hoosiers aren't ranked, Illinois and Michigan State are top 10 teams, with defending national champion Michigan, USC, and Purdue in the top 25.
DeVries pays no attention.
"Not right now. What are they going off of? So many teams have new rosters. It's just a guessing game, so there's really no point in giving it any kind of credibility right now.
"For us, it's about us. We've got an (exhibition) in front of us, then we got a practice week to see what we did well, see some things that we're not doing well. That's our main focus."
Some of those things include turnovers (IU committed a total of 27 against 29 assists in the two exhibitions), rebounding, and transition offense.
"We're turning the ball over too much," DeVries says. "That's something we have to get cleaned up for us to be better offensively. If we don't turn it over, at least we got to get the shot up at the goal. That's something our guys are understanding. We've got to do a better job of taking care of it."
As far as the transition offense, DeVries adds, "That's one of the areas that I don't think we've been as good as I think we can be. We've rebounded at a high rate, but I don't know that we put enough pressure on defenses yet in transition. That's certainly something we've continued to stress, getting kick aheads and be able to put guys on their heels to drive the rim a little more, get some paint touches out of transition, which can lead to more of those kickout threes once we get the defense collapsed.
"We need to continue to get better at that. It should be a strength of ours as the season goes along."
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Center
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