Indiana just did something bold, and it really erased the divide between college and pro basketball. The decision to hire Ryan Carr, who has strong ties to both the Pacers and Indiana University, drew significant interest.

Carr was a manager for Bob Knight and worked for the NBA in Indianapolis for 23 seasons. Now he’s back in Indiana as the Executive Director of Basketball, which is basically the same as a general manager. This shows that college basketball is serious about running like a business, especially since NIL deals and money are changing the game.

Joe Tipton confirmed Carr’s hiring on X and gave important information about the job. “Indiana is hiring Ryan Carr as its Executive Director of Basketball, source confirmed to @On3,” Tipton reported. “Carr, a former IU manager under Bob Knight, will have a General Manager-type role for the Hoosiers. Carr has long served as the Indiana Pacers’ Senior Vice President of Player Personnel.”

Carr brings a resume built for this exact moment in college basketball, honed over 23 years of climbing the ladder in the Indiana Pacers’ front office. Starting as a video intern, he worked his way up to Senior Vice President of Player Personnel, a job he has held since November 2024. While he was with the Pacers, they made the playoffs 14 times, won three Central Division titles, and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2025.

Carr was directly involved in putting together teams with All-Stars like Danny Granger, Paul George, and Myles Turner through the draft and free agency. He recently signed Eastern Conference Finals MVP Pascal Siakam and 2024 Olympic gold medalist Tyrese Haliburton, which shows that he knows how to evaluate talent and build a good roster.

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Carr graduated from Indiana in 1996 and was an assistant coach under Bob Knight when the Hoosiers made it to the Elite Eight and Sweet 16. He knows the best of both worlds after spending 23 years assembling teams in the NBA. DeVries wanted someone with that exact profile

Carr will now be in charge of building the roster and working directly with the coach to handle NIL money and recruit players.

How Ryan Carr becomes Indiana’s secret weapon in the portal era

Carr’s hire is already making waves in college basketball as he is someone who knows how to win at the highest level. This isn’t the same as hiring another assistant coach. It’s bringing the kind of thinking that goes on in NBA front offices to a college program.

Jonathan Givony, an NBA Draft expert, saw the importance of it right away. “Ryan Carr is a longtime, highly respected NBA executive,” Givony said on social media, “he ran the Pacers’ pre-draft process for years and has been a constant presence on the scouting circuit.” Givony called it a “major hire” because Carr’s skills in evaluating drafts and scouting are things that Indiana has never really had before.

Six players on Indiana’s scholarship team are about to graduate. Along with forwards Reed Bailey, Sam Alexis, and Tucker DeVries, guards Lamar Wilkerson, Conor Enright, and Tayton Conerway are leaving. The transfer portal might make things worse.

Carr is now in charge of putting together the whole roster during what is probably the most important offseason in Indiana basketball history. The next era will be shaped by his choices about who stays and who goes.