Sam Alexis brings a winning edge to Indiana basketball

Before Sam Alexis ever slipped on the cream and crimson, before he took his first step onto the redone floor of Assembly Hall, he brought with him something far rarer than size, skill or athleticism. He brought the weight of winning — the kind that transforms programs, reshapes expectations and breathes belief back into old buildings.

Alexis has known nothing but success for nearly half a decade. Dating back to his senior season at Apopka High School in Florida and extending through his three years of college basketball, Alexis has gone 94-42 (.691).

Over just the past two seasons — his sophomore year at Chattanooga in 2023-24 and last season’s championship run at Florida — he’s 57-16 (.781). The Gators’ 36-4 march to the national title was the culmination of what has become a defining pattern in Alexis’ career: wherever he goes, winning follows.

Now, that pedigree — that unmistakable gravity of a champion — has made its way north to Bloomington.

“Showing us how a championship team practices every day as far as intensity,” guard Lamar Wilkerson said last week at Big Ten basketball media days. “He comes in with the same energy every day, you know what you’re going to get out of Sam.”

Big Ten Basketball Media Days Q&A: Darian DeVries

There’s a certain kind of energy that travels with champions. It doesn’t shout, it doesn’t showboat — it simply demands. Alexis’ presence in Indiana’s practice gym has become its own quiet standard. Every drill feels heavier, every rep sharper, because someone who has already climbed the mountain is in the room, watching, expecting others to match his pace.

Indiana has long been a program chasing echoes. Its past is filled with banners and glory, but the modern era has been less kind — flashes of promise dimming into seasons of frustration. New head coach Darian DeVries knows this well. He also knows that sometimes, it only takes one player to tilt the axis back toward belief.

During the team’s summer trip to Puerto Rico, foul trouble among the guards forced DeVries to lean on a lineup that fans in Bloomington have learned to distrust: two big men on the floor together. In this case, Alexis shared the frontcourt with fellow big man Reed Bailey. What might have been a temporary patch became an early revelation.

“We used it a lot in Puerto Rico and it was pretty successful for us,” DeVries said. “It’s something we’ve worked on a lot more this fall. They both complement each other in different ways.”

That success was surprising, especially given how little time the two had spent playing side by side in practice. With roster limitations, Indiana hadn’t been able to experiment with a true double-big look over the summer. When they finally did, it worked. Alexis brings a physicality that grounds the lineup, while Bailey’s movement and guard-like attributes can stretch defenses thin.

DeVries describes Alexis as more of a back-to-the-basket player, while Bailey operates with more fluidity in space. Yet both share a key trait: an unselfishness that makes them dangerous together.

Wilkerson has seen it firsthand.

“Sam Alexis is a big energy guy,” he said. “He gets us going sometimes. Offensive rebounding, blocking shots, just having a presence on the inside … Sam’s been great as far as bringing that SEC physicality.”

That physicality is more than muscle. It’s a mindset, a brand of toughness forged through long winters in the Southeastern Conference, where nothing is given and everything must be earned. Alexis arrived at Indiana with that edge already sharpened, and it’s begun to cut through a roster learning how to win the right way.

Even so, Alexis is evolving. At Florida, he rarely strayed far from the paint — only 20 3-point attempts all season, just nine assists in 286 minutes. But in Bloomington, something new is emerging. He’s stepping beyond the arc, making plays off the ball, threading passes that weren’t in his game a year ago.

“I don’t think people understand [how] good Sam has got as far as stretching the floor and his playmaking and just playing off the ball,” Wilkerson said.

It’s the kind of growth that speaks not only to talent, but to hunger — the refusal to stay still, even after success.

DeVries, never one for exaggeration, admits Alexis has “got some girth to him,” but it’s the intangible weight that truly matters. His voice carries in the locker room, his effort carries in practice and his example carries through the rest of the team.

“Anytime you’re sharing the court with winners, it’s extremely important,” forward Tucker DeVries said.

Big Ten Basketball Media Days Q&A: Lamar Wilkerson, Tucker DeVries

In Alexis, Indiana doesn’t just have another transfer on a roster filled with newcomers; it has a tone-setter. A player who knows that winning isn’t a destination but a daily ritual — the kind built in the quiet hours of repetition and accountability.

There’s a rhythm to the way Alexis moves on the court now, a composure born from experience. When he seals a defender under the rim or rotates to block a shot, there’s a sense that he’s done this before — not just the play itself, but the moment that follows it, the surge of belief that can ignite a team.

And that’s what Indiana needs most. Not just points, not just rebounds — but belief.

Assembly Hall has seen legends before. It has heard the thunder of greatness and the silence of doubt. This fall, there’s a new pulse echoing through its walls with a completely new roster set to don the fabled candy stripes.

Alexis doesn’t promise magic. He promises work. He promises presence. And most of all, he promises what he’s always delivered: winning. Everywhere he’s gone, the record speaks for itself. And now, in Bloomington, there’s no reason to expect that story will read any differently.

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