Former Indiana University Track and Field Star, Olympian and IU Athletics Hall of Famer Greg Bell Passes Away at Age 94 The Indiana athletic department and the track and field community mourns the passing the Olympic gold medalist and IU Hall of Famer Greg Bell, who passed away at home on January 25, 2025, at Age 94. The world’s top long jumper in the 1950s, Bell highlighted an outstanding track and field career by winning the long jump gold medal at the 1956 Olympic Games, jumping 25′ 8 1/4″ while a sophomore at Indiana University. Bell earned his undergraduate degree from IU and spent the majority of his adult life in the dental profession in Logansport, Indiana, with 50 years as the director of dentistry at Logansport State Hospital before his retirement in 2020.
In 1957, Bell also won the NCAA long jump title with a 26-7 effort, a meet record that stood for seven years. That same year, he was voted the Most Outstanding Athlete at the Penn Relays for his victories in both the 100 yards and the long jump. His leap of 26-1 1/2 at the Penn Relays set a record that stood until 1981 when Carl Lewis topped his mark. Bell’s journey to IU and the Olympic Games was nothing short of incredible, as he graduated from Terre Haute’s Garfield High School and joined the workforce following that. He was then drafted into the Army and served, before starting college at IU at the age of 24.
Following his discharge in 1954, he enrolled at Indiana University and was undefeated in the long jump during his collegiate career, winning three NCAA championships. He won the first of three National AAU titles in 1955 and was rated the world’s best long jumper three times. During the 1957 collegiate season, Bell helped the Hoosiers win Big Ten team titles indoors and outdoors. At the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas, he set a collegiate record of 26-7 — just 1 ¼ inches from Jesse Owens’ world record — and had another jump of 26-5 in the series. His NCAA record stood for seven years.
In 1958, Bell won at the Penn Relays for a third successive year and claimed a third indoor/outdoor sweep in the event at the Big Ten Championships. Injury prevented him from going for a third NCAA title. Bell wound up with a total of 13 26-foot long jumps, the most by any long jumper in history up to that time. Bell was also second in the 1959 Pan American Games and competed in the USA-USSR dual meet that same year. He was awarded a Big Ten Medal of Honor in 1958, which goes to one male (and now one female) student per year for proficiency in academics and athletics at each Big Ten university.
Trayce Jackson-Davis and Zach Edey Named to the NBA Rising Stars Roster The NBA announced the rosters for the 2025 Castrol Rising Stars, and former Purdue star Zach Edey and IU star Trayce Jackson-Davis were both selected. Edey has started 26 of the Grizzlies 47 games this season. He is averaging 9.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game to go along with 1.2 blocks per game. He’s shooting 58% from the field and has made 14 three-pointers on 38.9% shooting beyond the arc, despite only making one three-pointer in his career at Purdue. Jackson-Davis has also been a consistent starter, starting in 36 of the Warriors 45 games. He’s averaging 8.2 points and 6.4 rebounds per game and has shot 57.1% from the field in his second season in the NBA.
The Rising Stars is a mini tournament with four teams, which will be drafted on Tuesday, February 4. There is a chance that Edey and Jackson-Davis would play on the same team in the tournament. Edey and Jackson-Davis were selected to the Rising Stars roster by the coaching staffs of each NBA team. The Rising Stars mini-tournament will take place on Friday, February 14. The winning team of the Rising Stars will earn a spot in the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, February 16. The NBA All-Star Game is a four-team tournament-style event this season, with three teams of eight players comprised of NBA All-Stars. The fourth team is the winner of the Rising Stars. San Francisco is hosting the 2025 NBA All-Star weekend.
Indiana High School Basketball Players Braylon Mullins and Jalen Haralson Named to the McDonalds All-American Team Greenfield-Central star Braylon Mullins is a McDonald’s All American. Mullins was named to the prestigious 24-player roster Monday. He will play on the East roster, along with former Fishers guard and La Lumiere standout Jalen Haralson, in the McDonald’s All-American Game on April 1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Mullins is one of three UConn commits named to the team, joining 7-foot center Eric Reibe of Bullis School (Md.) and 6-5 shooting guard Darius Adams of La Lumiere. Mullins is averaging 35.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.9 steals per game this season for Greenfield-Central, which is 13-2 and ranked No. 3 in the USA TODAY Network Indiana Class 4A poll. Haralson, a 6-7 guard and Notre Dame commit, is the only McDonald’s All American committed to an in-state school. UConn and Duke each have three players on the roster and Arkansas and Houston each have two. A.J. Dybantsa, the top-ranked player in the country and a BYU recruit, is on the West roster.
Taylor University Football’s Jameson Chesser named Academic All-American of Year, Reid Messer adds All-American Nod Taylor University’s Jameson Chesser and Reid Messer received high honors on Tuesday, being named as 2024-2025 College Sports Communicators (CSC) NAIA Football First-Team Academic All-Americans. Chesser added an even more prestigious honor, being selected as the CSC NAIA Football All-American of the Year. Chesser is the first Taylor student-athlete to be recognized as a CSC Academic All-American of the Year since Matt Hall did so in 2017 for men’s track and cross country. Chesser follows Hall, Josh DeGraff (baseball, 2015), Amanda Roden (women’s soccer, 2014) and Casey Coons (men’s basketball, 2012) as the fifth Trojan to receive the distinguished accolade, becoming the first to do so for the TU football program.
Chesser is joined by Travis Hunter of Colorado (NCAA DI), Brayden Long of Slipper Rock (NCAA D2) and Aaron Syverson of Saint John’s (NCAA D3) as the four recipients of the award, out of the over 90,000 collegiate football players from across the NCAA and NAIA during the 2024 season. The CSC NAIA Football All-American-of-the-Year and First-Team Academic All-American honors for Chesser are the latest in an impressive list of accomplishments for the senior running back, who was previously named as a Second-Team All-MSFA Mideast League performer and NAIA Scholar-Athlete.
Chesser ended his 2024 campaign ranked fifth in the NAIA and tops in the MSFA Mideast League with 1,174 rushing yards and 20 rushing scores. The Adrian, Michigan native fumbled just once in 191 carries, averaged 6.1 yards per touch and became the sixth player in Taylor history to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards in a single season. Along the way, Chesser set TU’s single-game and single-season rushing touchdown records. While piling up the stats on the field, Chesser boasted a cumulative 3.79 grade-point average in film and media production. “Jameson had a profound impact on our football program because of his commitment to excellence in all that he does,” stated TU head coach Aaron Mingo. “He is a true servant leader who elevates the interests of others above his own, so it is very special to see him be recognized with the pinnacle of distinctions for an NAIA football player. Jameson is stewarding the gifts he has been given with his best shot for the glory of God and the benefit of the kingdom.”
Joining Chesser as a First-Team Academic All-American was Messer, who owns a 3.91 cumulative GPA in accounting. The sophomore safety and Second-Team All-MSFA Mideast League standout helped anchor the improved Taylor secondary with 38 tackles, three hits for lost yardage, four interceptions and 10 pass breakups. “Reid’s commitment to being the best he can in the classroom and on the field is evident every day,” commented Mingo. “He is a player in our program that elevates the performance of those around him. Achieving this honor as a sophomore is an extremely rare feat and it signifies how exceptional he truly is.”
Chesser and Messer claimed two of the 27 available spots on the NAIA Academic All-America Team, becoming the first Taylor football student-athletes to earn the honor since Hutson Hohlbein and Brendan Lamb did so in 2022-2023. The Taylor football program now boasts 24 CSC Academic All-American honors in its history, with 22 of those being First-Team Academic All-American awards. With the awards from Chesser and Messer, Taylor student-athletes have now combined for an NAIA-leading 141 CSC Academic All-American awards, with 139 of those honors coming since 2010. Of those 141 awards, 66 were of the First-Team variety.
The CSC Academic All-American distinction is designed to recognize student-athletes for outstanding achievements in the classroom and on the field. 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 the playing time criteria of playing in 90-percent of the team’s games, or starting in 66-percent of the team’s games for the current season. Student-athletes are nominated for the award by their institution’s Sports Information Department and voted on by members of the CSC.
Former Indianapolis Colts Head Coach Chuck Pagano Hired by the Baltimore Ravens to work with their Secondary The Baltimore Ravens have hired former Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano to join their defensive staff. The team announced the move Tuesday night, saying Pagano would be a senior secondary coach. Pagano coached the Colts from 2012-17. He then spent a couple seasons with the Chicago Bears before retiring as their defensive coordinator after the 2020 season. Now he’s returning to the NFL. Pagano has some experience with the Ravens, having served as a secondary coach and defensive coordinator for Baltimore before becoming coach of the Colts. “It is exciting to add coach Chuck Pagano to our defensive staff and continue to develop and grow our young and talented secondary,” coach John Harbaugh said in a statement. “Chuck brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and coaching talent to our team. He has deep ties to the program and is excited to get to work.”
Indy Eleven to Host Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Third Round Match in Mid-April The 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup kicks off March 18-20 with a 32-game First Round array of exclusively amateur vs. pro matchups. U.S. Soccer has finalized the format for the 96-team tournament – the 110th edition of the historic national club championship that celebrates elite amateur and pro soccer in communities across the country – through to the showpiece Final on October 1. The Open Cup is the only competition in USA-based team sports where amateurs have the chance to play professionals in direct competition. “The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is a crucial connection point for all levels of soccer in the United States,” said U.S. Soccer CEO JT Batson ahead of the tournament, first contested in 1913. “U.S. Soccer exists in service to soccer and this historic tournament allows us to lift the people who are leading the charge to support soccer in their communities. We are pleased to continue working with and collaborating with all U.S. Soccer members to maximize the tournament’s impact on the sport of soccer at all levels in this country.”
The tournament will include the 24 teams of the USL Championship, including last year’s Open Cup Semi-finalists Indy Eleven, and 16 teams from Major League Soccer (MLS), including former Open Cup Champions Chicago Fire, D.C. United, FC Dallas, Houston Dynamo, New England Revolution and Orlando City. Coach Sean McAuley’s Boys in Blue advanced to the semi-finals of the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup with four victories, including a 2-1 win at MLS side Atlanta United. “Our team delivered an unprecedented run for the Club to the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Semi-Finals,” said Indy Eleven President & CEO Greg Stremlaw. “We showed that we can play with the best in the country.”
New for the 2025 edition of the Open Cup, there will be eight seeded USLC teams – four Eastern and four Western – predetermined to host from the teams entering in the Third Round and Round of 32. Indy Eleven is seeded based on its finish in the 2024 USLC Eastern Conference standings, so it will host a Third-Round game April 15 or 16 at Carroll Stadium. The eight lowest-seeded USLC teams enter the First Round. The 16 higher-seeded USLC clubs will enter the Third Round. The eight lowest-seeded teams entering in the Third Round and the Round of 32 are predetermined to be away. This change was made to add operational and financial certainty, while the opponents will still be determined by random draw. There will be 16 MLS teams competing in the 2025 Open Cup – up from eight in 2024 – and they will enter the competition in the Round of 32.
2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Schedule
- First Round–March 18-20
- Second Round–April 1-2
- Third Round–April 15-16
- Round of 32–May 6-7
- Round of 16–May 20-21
- Quarterfinals–July 8-9
- Semifinal–Sept. 16-17
- Final–Oct. 1
About the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is U.S. Soccer’s Club Championship. Now in its 110th edition, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup has crowned a champion since 1914 in every year except 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. The history-filled tournament is conducted on a single-game-knockout basis and open to all professional and amateur teams affiliated with U.S. Soccer. It is the world’s third-longest continuously run national cup tournament. In 1999, the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in the U.S. was renamed to honor American soccer pioneer Lamar Hunt. The 2025 U.S. Open Cup winner will earn $300,000 in prize money, a berth in the 2026 Concacaf Champions League and have its name engraved on the Dewar Challenge Trophy – one of the oldest nationally contested trophies in American team sports – now on permanent display at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas. The runner-up will earn $100,000, while the team that advances the furthest from each lower division will take home a $25,000 cash prize.
LAFC of MLS is defending Champion. The 109th edition of the tournament concluded on September 25, 2024, with LAFC beating four-time Champions Sporting Kansas City 3-1 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles to become Open Cup Champions for the first time. usopencup.com is the official website of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Fans can also follow the competition on X/Twitter and Instagram @OpenCup and Facebook @OfficialOpenCup.
Indy Eleven tickets for the 2025 season are on sale! Experience all the excitement and exclusive benefits with Season Tickets starting at only $12 per game or check out the new 8-Ticket Flex Mini-Plan – you can redeem tickets in any combination across all matches, plus receive complimentary tickets for Opening Night. For more information, click here, email tickets@indyeleven.com, or call (317) 685-1100 during regular business hours.