Indiana University Track and Field wraps up the United States Olympic Trials with No Tickets Punch to Paris Nine current and former Indiana Track and Field athletes competed at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon for the last 10 days. Nine current and former student-athletes competed in seven events, and they leave Eugene without punching a ticket to Paris for the Summer Olympics. Three alumni opened things up on day one of Olympic trials. Daniel Michalski finished 20th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase while Scott Houston finished 25th in the pole vault. On the women’s side, Bailey Hertenstein, who recently ran at Colorado State as a graduate student, finished 13th in the 5,000-meter first round. On day two, recent graduate Antonio Laidler ran in the 100 meters. He wrapped up his last season with the Hoosiers a finishing 31st with a time of 10.36 in his first Olympic trials appearance.
After a break from competition, junior Camden Marshall advanced to the 800-meter semifinals after he came from behind in the last 200 meters. He ran the third fastest time overall of 1:46.33 and finished third in his heat to advance. Marshall finished 23rd overall in the 800m semifinals with a time of 1:48.95. Former Hoosier and Big Ten Champion Ben Veatch finished 21st overall and eighth in his heat in the first round of the 5,000 meters, running for Under Armour’s Dark Sky Distance professional running team. Jessica Mercier had her first shot at the U.S. Olympic trials in the pole vault on Saturday evening. She tied 19th overall after clearing a height of 4.20m/13-9.25 in the first round. Khayla Dawson and Monique Riddick closed out the weekend in the shot put. Dawson placed 22nd in the event with a throw of 16.86m/55-3.75 while Riddick finished 24th with a mark of 16.38m/53-9.
Indiana University Women’s Basketball expanding Reserve Seating for the 2024-25 Season In response to a significant increase in the demand for IU Women’s Basketball reserved season tickets for the 2024-25 season, IU Athletics is expanding the reserved seating section for the upcoming season. The new Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall seating configuration will feature the entire main level (both east and west sides) being utilized for reserved season ticket holders. Last year, Rows 1-31 of the main level were set aside for reserved season ticket holders. General admission seating, meanwhile, will consist of the court-level bleachers and the balcony. On gamedays, once the court-level GA section is full, GA ticket holders will be directed to the balcony. In consideration of this change, individuals who have already purchased General Admission season tickets have the option to call the IU Ticket Office (812-855-4006) and upgrade to reserved season tickets. Those requests were to be completed by June 30. Seat locations for reserved season ticket holders will be determined based on IU’s Priority Point system in July.
Both Reserved and GA season tickets for the 2024-25 IU Women’s Basketball season remain on sale. Reserved season tickets can be purchased until June 30, while GA season tickets will remain on sale until the start of the season. Adult reserved season tickets are $112, while reserved senior season tickets (65+) and youth season tickets (18-and-under) are $48. IU faculty and staff can purchase reserved season tickets for $80. Adult general admission season tickets are $96, while general admission youth and senior tickets are $48. IU Women’s Basketball is coming off a record-setting season for attendance in 2023-24. Coach Teri Moren’s team averaged 10,336 fans during its 17 home games, and in doing so became just the fifth Big Ten Women’s Basketball team to average 10,000-plus during a single season. IU went a perfect 17-0 at home last season while eclipsing the 20-win barrier for the ninth straight year and earning a trip to its third Sweet 16 in the last four years.
Indiana University Swimming and Diving announces the addition of Four Transfers Indiana head swimming coach Ray Looze officially announced Thursday the addition of four All-America student-athletes for the 2024-25 season. Champions of the Big Ten each of the last three seasons, the IU men will reload with three additions, including two Paris 2024 Olympians. Zalán Sárkány, an incoming junior from Hungary, comes to Bloomington as the reigning NCAA Champion in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Sárkány and Owen McDonald, another incoming junior, join IU after helping Arizona State win the program’s first NCAA Championship in 2024. McDonald posted top-six finishes in the 200 IM, 200-yard backstroke and 100-yard backstroke at the national meet.
Matt King becomes a Hoosier after two seasons removed from collegiate swimming – the most recent for an Olympic redshirt. King was the SEC 100-yard freestyle champion at Alabama in 2021 and then made the NCAA championship final as a Virginia Cavalier one year later. He also medaled at each of the last two World Aquatics Championships, most recently winning gold in in the 100-meter freestyle and bronze on two relays in Doha. Both King (USA) and Sárkány (Hungary) have qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On the women’s side, the Hoosiers will add Miranda Grana from Guadalajara, Mexico, who earned All-America finishes in the 200-yard backstroke (sixth, 1:51.96) and 100-yard backstroke (eighth, 51.65) as a freshman at Texas A&M last season. In the spring, Indiana announced the transfer addition of Towson’s Brian Benzing, who went on to earn All-America finishes in both breaststroke events at the NCAA Championships in March.
Trayce Jackson-Davis Named to the United States Men’s Basketball Select Team Former IU basketball consensus first-team All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis is one of fifteen athletes who have been named to the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s Select Team that will train with the USA Basketball Men’s National Team as they prepare for the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The USA Select Team features a roster of 12 current NBA or NBA G League players; two players with NBA, NBA G League, international and USA Basketball experience; and one incoming college freshman with USA Basketball experience. Members of the USA Men’s Select Team will train daily with the USA Men’s National Team from July 6-8 in Las Vegas.
Joining Jackson-Davis on the Select Team are Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons), Cooper Flagg (Duke University), Langston Galloway (Free Agent), Nigel Hayes-Davis (Fenerbahçe, Turkey), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (Miami Heat), Brandon Miller (Charlotte Hornets), Trey Murphy (New Orleans Pelicans), Keegan Murray (Sacramento Kings), Brandin Podziemski (Golden State Warriors), Micah Potter (Utah Jazz/Salt Lake City Stars), Payton Pritchard (Boston Celtics), Jabari Smith Jr. (Houston Rockets), Jalen Suggs (Orlando Magic) and Amen Thompson (Houston Rockets). “As a former member of the USA Select Team, I know how important and fun this opportunity is for each of these players,” said Grant Hill, USA Basketball Men’s National Team managing director said in a release. “There is a tremendous amount of talent on this Select squad with the significant job of helping the 2024 USA Men’s National Team as they begin their journey to the Olympics. Each of these athletes will play a role in our preparation as we also develop the national team pipeline for the future.” Six members of the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s National Team have been on past select teams.
Jackson-Davis has previous experience with USA Basketball. He won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2018 FIBA Americas Championships in Canada. The former IU star finished one vote shy of the NBA’s All-Rookie team this season with the Warriors. Jackson-Davis gave Golden State more athleticism and size underneath this season, firmly establishing himself as the team’s starting center by the campaign’s end. He finished his first NBA season averaging 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists across 68 games with the Warriors. He shot 70.2 percent from the field in his first campaign in the league. Known to IU fans as “TJD,” Jackson-Davis will live on in Indiana’s record book for a long time. He’s IU’s all-time leading shot-blocker (270) and rebounder (1,143). He finished third on the program’s all-time scoring list with 2,258 career points — and he’s just the sixth Hoosier to top 2,000.
Ball State Graduate and Terre Haute Native Apsara Sakbun to Represent Cambodia at Summer Olympics in Paris Ball State swimming alumna Apsara Sakbun was selected to represent Cambodia in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. A spring 2023 graduate of Ball State University with a degree in business analytics, Sakbun is set to compete in the women’s 50-meter freestyle scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 5, at Paris La Defense Arena. A native of Terre Haute, Indiana, Sakbun graduated from South Vigo High School in 2019 and was a member of the Terre Haute Torpedoes before swimming at Ball State. Her younger sister, Haley Sakbun, is entering her junior year for the Cardinals and is Cambodia’s national record holder in the 200m freestyle (2:12.85). Both sisters also swam legs for the record-setting 4x100m medley relay which clocked in at 4:30.72 at the 2023 Southeast Asian Games.
Sakbun finished her four-year swimming career with the Cardinals as a program record holder in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:31.38), 400y freestyle relay (3:21.74), and 200y medley relay (1:39.69). Individually, she owned the third-fastest individual time in program history in the 50y freestyle (22.77) and the sixth-fastest individual effort in the 100y freestyle (50.60). A three-time Academic All-MAC selection who graduated Cum Laude, Sakbun earned her place on Cambodia’s Olympic team after setting national records in the 50m freestyle (26.41), 100m freestyle (58.23), and 100m backstroke (1:07.44) at the 2023 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Indiana Fever drop Road Contest in Seattle The Indiana Fever (7-12) lost, 89-77, on Thursday night against the Seattle Storm. Five Fever players scored in double figures, led by guards Erica Wheeler and rookie Caitlin Clark both recording 15 points each. Off the bench, Wheeler scored 10 of her 15 points in the third quarter for her season-high, highlighted by shooting 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. In her 19th career game, Clark became the fastest player in WNBA history to record at least 300 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists. Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell added 14 points and three rebounds. Fever forward NaLyssa Smith tallied 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and one steal. Fever center Aliyah Boston recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and tied a career-high 14 rebounds, as well as two assists. Fever forward Temi Fagbenle returned to the floor Thursday after missing 10 games due to a left foot injury and finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two assists in more than 19 minutes. Former Indiana University Standout Grace Berger did not play. Indiana pulled down a season-high 44 rebounds and 14 offensive rebounds, while outrebounding Seattle, 44-27. Indiana outscored Seattle in paint points, 40-38, and bench points, 25-9.
Storm guard and Notre Dame Graduate Jewell Loyd led Seattle (11-6) in scoring with a season-high 34 points, five rebounds and two assists. She moved to14th on the WNBA All-Time 3-point field goals made list with 537, passing Renee Montgomery. Storm center Ezi Magbegor and Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike pitched in 18 and 15 points, respectively. Ogwumike recorded her fourth double-double of the season and pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds. Storm guard and South Bend Native Skylar Diggins-Smith went scoreless in the first half and finished with eight points and nine assists and moved to 16th on the WNBA All-Time assists list with 1,359.
Indiana Pacers Draft Three in the Second Round of the NBA Draft A sharpshooter who spent his time as a Jayhawk in college is headed to the Pacers, along with a National Champion and a forward from Akron! Indiana traded up one spot in Thursday’s second round of the NBA Draft to select Kansas forward Johnny Furphy with the 35th overall pick. The Pacers swapped their 36th overall pick, Juan Núñez, to the Spurs for the rights to Furphy.
The 6’8″, 189-pound Furphy averaged 9 points and nearly 5 rebounds per game in his 2023-24 season with Jayhawks. The 19-year-old is entering the NBA after just one year of college ball. Furphy was projected by many NBA draft analysts to be selected in the first round of the draft on Wednesday night but ended up falling to the top of the second round for Indiana to select him. ESPN Draft Expert Jonathan Givony describes Furphy as a “late-blooming” swingman whose size and shooting altered Kansas’ offense last season and propelled him to the NBA Draft earlier than originally expected. Givony writes that Furphy has a “willingness to play with intensity.” Furphy was taken with one of three second-round picks that Indiana held. The Pacers then selected two more players – a guard and a forward – with their next two picks.
With the 49th overall pick in the Draft, the Pacers selected UConn guard Tristen Newton. The 6’3″, 192-pound Newton won back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024 with the Huskies. In his two seasons with the Huskies, the 23-year-old Florida native averaged 12.6 points, 1 steal and 5.5 assists per game. With the next pick at 50th overall, the Pacers then selected Akron’s Enrique Freeman. The 6’7″, 212-pound forward was ranked 57th overall in the draft by ESPN. While it is unknown what roles Furphy, Newton and Freeman are expected to play in the Pacers organization, they will likely not see much playing time on a team full of young prospects and budding stars that went to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. With a starting lineup of Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner, the Pacers lost the ECF in 4 games to the eventual-champion Boston Celtics.