As Darian DeVries navigates a turbulent first season, Indiana basketball just made a major move, pulling a key executive directly from the NBA ranks to steady the ship.

Indiana basketball beat reporter Scott Agness confirmed via a post on X that Ryan Carr, senior vice president of player personnel at the Indiana Pacers and a key executive of the team’s front office, is moving back to his alma mater, Indiana University as Executive Director of Basketball. Notably, IU was the seat where Carr’s basketball front-office career began, when he served as an undergraduate manager from 1992 to 1996.

“After more than two decades with the Pacers, Ryan Carr is headed to IU, his alma mater, to help first-year head coach Darian DeVries in roster construction & more,” Agness’ X post wrote.

During his association with the Pacers, Ryan Carr was pivotal in overseeing pre-draft work before execution. According to reports, Carr has a strong network of contacts in the basketball community that helps him identify raw talent who can contribute to the team or the program. With Carr, the Pacers enjoyed a fruitful stint, including 14 playoff appearances and a 2025 Eastern Conference finals title.

Additionally, he played a crucial role in building the Pacers roster that reached the 2024-25 NBA Finals, featuring the likes of Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. As per his recent statement, Carr wants to bring this same experience and skill set to the Indiana Hoosiers.

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“No. 1 of course is roster building, I won’t have a bigger job than helping build the roster, Carr said. “That’s A No. 1 important. And the thing I’m most experienced in, and if you would say I have a sure skill in this, it has to be that. That’s what I’ve been doing for all these years with the Pacers in different capacities and for the past several years in a leadership role.”

Ryan Carr will serve his final day at the Pacers office on Friday before heading to Darian DeVries’ program. DeVries’ team is currently in a state of bother in the Big 10 conference. From an overall perspective, too, the five-time National Champions have faced immense difficulties in the last few years, with just two March Madness appearances in the last nine seasons.

This situation is deemed to change in the coming seasons, with Carr taking charge of the IU front office.

Darian DeVries Leads Hoosiers’ Rebuild Era

Darian DeVries has done quite well for a first-year coach at Indiana University. Under him, the Hoosiers have shown patches of an impressive team and have clinched wins over ranked teams like Purdue, even though their 17-11 and 8-9 records show otherwise. Indeed, they have struggled in the Big 10 conference, but that’s just the surface of their upcoming challenges.

Amid the little success the Indiana Hoosiers have earned this season, the credit goes mainly to their senior core, including players like Lamar Wilkerson, Tucker DeVries, Conor Enright, and Tayton Conerway. All these players currently lead the team in various key metrics, clearly indicating the impact they have collectively had on the program.

Come next season, the Hoosiers won’t enjoy the comfort of this formidable senior core, and the program, along with DeVries and the IU Front Office, will have to get back to the drawing board for a heck of a rebuilding job. And this is where Carr comes in for the program. With his immense skill set in roster rebuilding and player acquisition, Carr can help his alma mater get through this tough stretch.

Carr shared a brief on how he wants to approach the transfer portal and recruiting classes in the coming seasons for the program. “We need to get to the point where the roster is more balanced. The last two years, this program has had to rely way too much on the portal,” Carr said. “We can’t speed up recruiting classes, so this is probably going to take a couple years to get where we really want it, but then I think we’ll see the fruits of all that.”

For the Indiana Hoosiers, exciting times lie ahead of them, especially with a top professional like Ryan Carr at the helm of their rebuilding, the fans won’t be surprised if he helps Darian DeVries land some top recruits, besides the transfer portal players. What are your thoughts on Carr’s move to Indiana University? Do let us know in the comments.