Indiana University Men’s Basketball announces 2024 Non-Conference Schedule
Indiana Men’s Basketball will host an eight-game non-conference home slate, highlighted by a matchup with South Carolina. “My staff and I put together a non-conference schedule that will lead to long-term success this season,” said head coach Mike Woodson. “We have a new team this year that we are excited to showcase in front of the sold-out crowds in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. “We will be tested by some veteran, well-coached ball clubs early in the season that will prepare us for a 20-game conference schedule. We are looking forward to playing in one of the best in-season tournaments in our game in the Battle 4 Atlantis. The matchups, no matter how they fall, will create a great test for our team.”
The Hoosiers will open the season against SIU-Edwardsville (Nov. 6), Eastern Illinois (Nov. 10), and South Carolina (Nov. 16) at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. For the first time in program history, Indiana will compete in the Battle 4 Atlantis. Indiana will be joined by Arizona, Davidson, Gonzaga, Louisville, Oklahoma, Providence, and West Virginia in the three-day event played at the Imperial Arena, a grand ballroom transformed into a truly unique basketball venue. Games are televised on ESPN networks throughout the tournament. All games will be played between Nov. 27-29. The Hoosiers will return to Bloomington for games against Sam Houston State (Dec. 3), Miami (Ohio) (Dec. 6), UT-Chattanooga (Dec. 21), and Winthrop (Dec. 28) to close non-conference play. The Big Ten schedule, tip times, and television designations will be announced at a later date.
Indiana University Field Hockey’s Theresa Ricci to Compete in the Nexus Championships
Indiana Field Hockey sophomore Theresa Ricci was selected to participate in the 2024 Nexus Championships (NXC). The complete list of participants was announced by USA Field Hockey last week. The event will take place from July 14-16 at the Virginia Beach Regional Training Center in Virginia Beach, Va. The Senior NXC features elite collegiate and post-collegiate athletes who during the spring and early summer trialed and trained at one of the seven USA Field Hockey High Performance Centers. A step along the Olympic Development Pathway program, the senior NXC serves as a selection opportunity for the 2024-25 U.S. U-21 Women’s National Team Selection Camps, Junior USWNT Selection Camps, U.S. Women’s National Development Squad and U.S. Women’s National Team. The Senior NXC features 144 elite high school, collegiate and post-collegiate athletes. For the championships, Ricci will play on the Lake Placid team coached by Michael Warari.
Indiana University Women’s Golf Hires Ivy Shepherd as Assistant Coach Indiana Women’s Golf Head Coach Brian May completed his coaching staff with the addition of assistant coach Ivy Shepherd, the program announced on Tuesday. “I am so excited that Ivy has decided to join the Hoosier family,” May said. “She brings a wealth of golf knowledge and competitiveness to our program. Her desire to equip and empower others will be a great asset to our team. I cannot wait to get her started in Bloomington.”
After a highly successful five-year collegiate playing career, Shepherd joined the coaching ranks as an assistant coach at James Madison. The Dukes finished top-3 in five total tournament in her debut coaching season, including an outright team title at the River Landing Classic. She helped lead Kendall Turner to a t-24th finish as an individual at the NCAA Bermuda Run Regional. “I could not be more excited to take my next steps at Indiana,” Shepherd said. “The culture that Brian is creating in Bloomington is contagious and something I cannot wait to be a part of and aid in. I am ready to get going with this team and see what we can accomplish!”
She spent her final season of eligibility at Kentucky and helped guide the Wildcats to the NCAA Pullman Regional. UK broke four school records during her fifth season. Shepherd concluded the season with a 73.85 scoring average across 33 rounds. Prior to joining her lone season in Lexington, Shepherd played four seasons at Clemson and was twice selected to the All-ACC First Team. She was a mainstay in the Tiger lineup in all 27 tournaments of her career and finished with 79 rounds played. Her four-year run at Clemson ended with a stroke average of 72.77 before sitting out her spring season while preparing to transfer to Kentucky.
She played her way inside the top 40 of the Women’s World Amateur Rankings, earning an invite to the prestigious 2022 Augusta National Women’s Amateur prior to her graduate season. The Peachtree City, Ga., native was the top-ranked women’s golfer according to Junior Golf Scoreboard and the AJGA Rolex rankings coming out of high school in the state of Georgia. She was also a consensus top-15 recruit nationally. She earned medalist honors in the Georgia Junior Girls championship in 2017 and finished third in 2018. As a junior, Shepherd won the GSGA Girls Championship by six shots and was a member of the winning Georgia team in the Georgia-South Carolina Girls Team Match Play. She also won the Lady’s club championship at Braelin Golf club at age 12.
Zach Edey posts Double Double in NBA Summer League Debut
Zach Edey made his NBA Summer League debut with the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night, with plenty of fanfare. Folks who had reservations about his ability to be an impactful player at the next level – due to his limited mobility and lack of outside shooting – were watching to see how his game would translate, while fans of the two-time college basketball National Player of the Year from Purdue were hoping to see him continue to do what he does best. The end result was a highly impactful performance from the No. 9 overall pick, who finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds, four blocked shots, and a tip-in at the buzzer to send the game into overtime eventually won by the Utah Jazz.
Locked On Grizzlies host DaMichael Cole thinks Edey proved he’s more than capable of fitting in at the NBA level, noting his competition level on Monday was better than you typically see in Summer League. “Zach Edey had something to prove,” Cole said. “Across from him was Walker Kessler, starting center [for the] Utah Jazz. He’s entering his third NBA season, 2.4 blocks per game over the last two seasons, second in the league. Edey had more points than him, more rebounds than him…we saw everything we needed to see.”
Edey showed he can be impactful on both ends of the floor, and contrary to popular belief he doesn’t need a ton of touches on the block to be effective. The 7’4 big man set screens, distributed the ball well, crashed the offensive glass, and generally looked like an NBA ready big – without constantly posting up and clogging up the paint. Defensively Edey played drop coverage and had moments of dominance, blocking and altering shots at a high level. He’s still likely going to struggle against certain matchups in pick and roll defense, but Memphis can rotate him, Jaren Jackson Jr, and Brandon Clarke effectively in the frontcourt to limit the damage. In a draft class considered weak, Edey stood out as a top ten pick. But the early returns – and they are still very early – are promising for the Purdue star in Memphis.
Paul Skenes Selected to the Major League Baseball All Star-Game after starting the Season with the Indianapolis Indians
Paul Skenes’ first All-Star selection was as speedy as his fastball. Just eight weeks after his major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 22-year-old right-hander was selected Sunday by Major League Baseball for the National League roster in the July 16 game at Arlington, Texas. “It’s happened quick,” Skenes said. “Hopefully, I’ll have some time when I get out there to take it all in and be able to experience it all. It’s just a really cool opportunity all around.”
Skenes’ final outing before the All-Star break is likely to be midweek, so he could be a possibility to start for the NL. “That’d be cool. No expectations,” he said. “I don’t know who gets to decide that kind of thing, but that’d definitely be cool.” He made his first big league start on May 11 and is 5-0 with a 2.12 ERA in 10 starts and 78 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings. He has thrown 74 pitches of 100 mph or more. “This is cool, and I’m just grateful for all you guys,” Skenes said to teammates in the clubhouse after being told by manager Derek Shelton. “Since the first day I’ve been here I’ve been part of the team. I couldn’t have done it without you guys.”
His 11 games would put him on track to have the fewest for player in an All-Star Game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Detroit’s Mark Fidrych in 1976, the Dodgers’ Hideo Nomo in 1995 and Florida’s Dontrelle Willis in 2003 each had 13. (While Boston’s Don Schwall had 11 at the time of the first All-Star Game in 1961, he did not appear, and he had 15 when he pitched three innings three weeks later in that year’s second All-Star Game.) Skenes looked forward to the possibility of facing the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. “I would imagine that it’s probably going to be a blur, a lot happening over a short span of time with the Home Run Derby and then the All-Star Game,” Skenes said. “Just try to meet as many people as possible and pick their brains, and because the concentration of talent and knowledge at the All-Star Game is unlike anything that I’m ever going to experience in my life, so I’m just going to want to experience that and learn as much as possible.”
After leading LSU to the 2023 College World Series title, Skenes was selected by the Pirates with the top pick in last year’s amateur draft, two days before the All-Star Game in Seattle. He signed for a $9.2 million bonus. He made five appearances at rookie league, Class A and Double-A, then had a 0.99 ERA in seven starts this season at Triple-A Indianapolis, striking out 45 in 27 1/3 innings. “Starting the year in Triple-A the odds of going to the major league All-Star Game are pretty slim,” Skenes said. “So that wasn’t one of my goals necessarily or expectations of the season, but just a huge honor that I’m able to do it, obviously, over a short period of span in the big leagues.” He has at least seven strikeouts in nine of 10 games, the first pitcher to accomplish the feat.
“It’s going to be fun to watch. I think we’re all going to enjoy it if he gets the opportunity to pitch,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “There’s no challenge that Paul’s ever stepped away from. I’m pretty sure he’ll enjoy it.” Outfielder Bryan Reynolds also was picked from the Pirates, his second All-Star selection. He is hitting .281 with 16 homers and 54 RBIs, raising his average from .233 through games of May 12. “It’s a little bit bittersweet because I think that we have three or four other guys that are deserving of going,” Skenes said. “It would be really cool to share it with more people than just Bryan and let everybody see how good of an organization and the talent that we have here is.” Skenes looks forward to achieving bigger goals, such as pitching in the postseason. “I still hope I do something cooler than making an All-Star Game,” Skenes said.
Taylor University Golf Programs collect Academic Honors
Five student-athletes from the Taylor Men’s and Women’s Golf were recognized recently for academic excellence, with Austin Davis, Adam Kasitz and Will Schuitema of the men’s team and Ellie Karst and Alyssa Schmidt of the women’s team named as CSC Academic All-District selections. Davis collected his first CSC Academic All-District nod with a 3.93 grade-point average in engineering. The senior played in all 29 rounds over 12 events for the Trojans, ranking second on the squad with a 74.7 scoring average and posting a team-leading 10 top-20 finishes. Kasitz also earned his first such award with a 3.61 GPA in finance. The senior did not miss a round for TU, recording the team’s top finish in four-of-12 events and posting a scoring average of 74.9 over 29 rounds. Schuitema made the CSC Academic All-District Team in his first year of eligibility with a 3.65 GPA in mathematics. The sophomore led the Trojans with a scoring average of 74.5 and an average finish of 15.1 while playing in each of TU’s 12 outings.
On the women’s side, Karst was named CSC Academic All-District for a second-straight season with a 3.95 GPA in environmental sciences. The junior played in nine of TU’s 12 tournaments and posted a scoring average of 80.7 with six top-20 finishes. Schmidt also picked up her second-straight CSC Academic All-District selection with a 3.95 grade-point average in biology. The junior was in TU’s lineup for all but one tournament during the 2023-2024 year, posting a scoring average of 82.7 and securing nine top-20 showings. Karst and Schmidt were also recognized as WGCA All-American Scholars for maintaining cumulative GPAs over 3.50 and playing in over half of the team’s competitions during the 2023-2024 year. The five CSC Academic All-District awards from TU golf up the number of honors earned by Taylor Athletics during the 2023-2024 year to 56.
The CSC Academic All-District distinction is designed to recognize student-athletes for outstanding achievements in academics and athletics. To receive the honor, an athlete must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50 or higher on a 4.0 scale, must have reached sophomore status academically, and must have met playing time criteria as a key contributor during the current season. Selected CSC Academic All-District recipients advance to the ballot for CSC Academic All-American honors, which will be voted on by members of the CSC before being announced on July 16 and 17.
For more local news . . . Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson