Kurtis Rourke and C.J. West Receive NFL Draft Combine Invitations Two former IU football players will be representing the program at the 2025 NFL Draft Combine. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke and interior defensive lineman C.J. West both received invitations according to the official announcement from the league Last Week. Rourke was one of just 15 quarterbacks invited to the annual event. On his way to leading IU to an 11-2 season, Rourke set the Indiana single-season record for passing touchdowns (29) and produced just the fifth 3,000-yard passing season in program history with 3,042 yards. He finished among the top-10 in single-season total offense (3,007) and is just the seventh IU player to reach 3,000 yard of total offense in a single season. Rourke dealt with a knee injury and also broke his throwing hand thumb during the season and played through both. It is unclear how extensively Rourke will participate in the Combine after having postseason knee surgery. He is expected to be chosen in the 2025 NFL Draft.
West was honorable mention All-Big Ten following the 2024 season. He was ranked as the No. 6 run defender (81.9) and No. 10 overall defender (76.9) among defensive interiors in the Big Ten per Pro Football Focus during the regular season. West has enhanced his NFL outlook considerably in recent weeks with an impressive showing at the Shrine Bowl. A total of 329 prospects have been invited to attend this year’s Combine, which will take place in Indianapolis from February 24 through March 3.
The Combine will be located at Lucas Oil Stadium. Live coverage will be available on the NFL Network and NFL+. Here is the schedule for the event by position: Thursday, February 27: Defensive line and linebacker drills — 3 p.m. ET Friday, February 28: Defensive back and tight end drills — 3 p.m. ET Saturday, March 1: Quarterback, running back and wide receiver drills — 1 p.m. ET Sunday, March 2-3: Offensive line drills – 1 p.m. ET The 2025 NFL Draft runs from April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisc.
Former Indiana University Men’s Soccer Player Jansen Miller Signs First Team Deal with Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City announced today that the club has signed 23-year-old defender Jansen Miller, who in December was selected in the first round of MLS SuperDraft 2025. Miller has signed an MLS contract for the 2025 season with club option years in 2026, 2027 and 2028. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Miller was taken eighth overall in the SuperDraft on Dec. 20, 2024, becoming Kansas City’s highest draft pick for a defender since longtime captain and U.S. international Matt Besler was also taken eighth overall in the 2009 draft, which was held in the city of St. Louis.
Miller, a 6-foot-2 center back, earned three starts while appearing in all six of Sporting’s matches during the 2025 Preseason presented by Kansas City. He logged 275 total minutes of preseason action in Florida and California, second most among Sporting defenders. Miller played 77 total matches in four college seasons, logging 27 appearances (26 starts) at Xavier University in 2021 before transferring to Indiana University and featuring in 50 games (40 starts) for the Hoosiers from 2022-2024. He was a Second-Team All-Big Ten selection last fall, concluding his collegiate career with a third straight NCAA tournament berth and scoring a golden goal against Akron in the second round of the postseason. During his time at Indiana, the Hoosiers were College Cup finalists in 2022, Big Ten tournament champions in 2023 and finished atop the conference regular season standings in each of the past two years. In addition to his time on campus, Miller also played for the Long Island Rough Riders (USL League Two) in 2023 and Ocean City Nor’easters (USL League Two) in 2024.
Miller attended Parkway West High School in Ballwin, Missouri, and played for Saint Louis FC in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, where he was named to the United Soccer Coaches Youth Boys All-Central Region Team in 2019. He signed amateur academy contracts with Saint Louis FC in 2019 and 2020, training regularly at the USL Championship level. Entering college, he was ranked No. 38 in the TopDrawerSoccer national recruiting rankings. In 2021, Miller competed for St. Louis Scott Gallagher in USL League Two. Sporting’s active roster now stands at 25 players ahead of the 2025 season, which kicks off Tuesday at 7 p.m. CT with a monumental showdown against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF in Round One of the Concacaf Champions Cup at Children’s Mercy Park.
Indiana University’s Drew Buhr Named one of the Top Relivers in College Baseball Veteran right-handed pitcher Drew Buhr earned a spot among the top 76 relievers in college baseball, as part of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) “Stopper of the Year” Preseason Watch List. The organization announced the initial list Last Week. The sixth-year senior was a revelation out of the Hoosiers’ bullpen in 2024, pitching to a 3.31 earned run average over 21 appearances. He threw 49 innings on the season and recorded 48 strikeouts to just 17 walks. Buhr was awarded a medical redshirt for time missed during his stint at Bellarmine. He returned to Bloomington for the 2025 season and will play his final year of college baseball.
Buhr made his mark during a brilliant relief effort in a comeback win over Penn State in April. He used that performance as a catalyst to a fantastic Big Ten season. He pitched in all eight-conference series’ and maintained a 2.08 earned run average. He was equally as good in the Big Ten tournament with a 3.12 earned run average across a team high 8.2 innings of work. The Austin, Indiana native is one of a handful of steady long-relief pieces that return to IU’s bullpen in 2025. Senior left-hander Ryan Kraft and junior right-handed pitcher Aydan Decker-Petty each showed flashes of success over the last two seasons. D1 Baseball listed Buhr as the No. 68 relief pitcher in the nation entering this season. The NCBWA will release a midseason watch list for the Stopper of the Year award, handed out annually to the top relief pitcher in college baseball. At the end of the season, the organization will name 10 finalists before revealing the winner. Texas A&M reliever Evan Aschenbeck won the award in 2024.
Indiana Fever Sign Veteran Forward Brianna Turner to add to its Frontcourt Depth The Indiana Fever are getting some depth in the frontcourt. The Fever have signed forward Brianna Turner, according to the WNBA transactions page. Terms of the deal, including whether it is unprotected or protected money, is not yet reported. It is not listed as a training camp contract, meaning Turner signed with Indiana for more than the veteran minimum. On the Fever, Turner will reunite with her former Phoenix teammates in Sophie Cunningham and DeWanna Bonner. She will also provide some much-needed depth in Indiana’s frontcourt, playing behind likely starters Aliyah Boston and Natasha Howard.
Turner, No. 11 pick in the 2019 WNBA draft out of Notre Dame, is a six-year league veteran. She played five years with the Phoenix Mercury, mostly in a starting role, and her most productive season came in 2021 − starting all 32 regular-season games, she averaged 7.8 points and 9.4 rebounds in the 2021 season. Turner continued to be a full-time starter for Phoenix in 2022 and ’23, but her scoring and rebounding numbers dropped slightly. While Turner does not have any championships, she has ample playoff experience. The Mercury qualified for the playoffs in four of her five seasons, including a finals trip in ’21, where they lost to the Sky. She was traded to the Chicago Sky ahead of the 2024 season, and her role decreased significantly with rookies Kamilla Cardoso and Angel Reese taking most of the minutes in the frontcourt. She only started two games, which came because of injuries to Cardoso and Reese, and appeared in 27, averaging 1.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. Turner’s career averages over 186 games are 4.6 points and 6.3 rebounds.
Indy Fuel Shutout the Cincinnati Cyclones on the Road Sunday Afternoon The Indy Fuel traveled to Cincinnati for their fourth game in five days. Ryan Kenny would get his first start in a Fuel uniform and make it count with a crucial 2-0 divisional shutout. In the First Period It didn’t take long before Nathan Burke broke the silence. At 1:15, the first shot of the game and the first goal were recorded. That would be Burke’s 12th goal of the season. There were three total power plays in the period, two for Cincinnati and one for Indy, but no goals would come. The Cyclones would end the period outshooting the Fuel eight to seven. The lone action seen in the second frame was a power play for the Fuel just two minutes into the period. The Fuel outshot the Cyclones six to five in the period, and after 40 minutes, the shooting evened out at 13 shots per team. The quiet of the second period did not carry over to the third for very long. Colin Bilek found the back of the net at 3:01 to extend the Fuel lead to two. The goal would give Bilek his 14th of the season. That goal would prove the nail in the coffin as Cincinnati would be unable to convert on any of their 21 shots. The Fuel would win 2-0 and, in the same afternoon, Ryan Kenny would record his first ECHL win and shutout.
Balanced Attack Fuels Dominant Second-Half Surge for Taylor University Men’s Basketball in Big Win Over Goshen After heading into the break deadlocked at 27, Taylor’s offense came alive and torched the Maple Leafs for a commanding 80-55 victory on Saturday afternoon, in which six Trojans scored between eight and 13 points. An individual 7-0 run by Nate Paarlberg, who scored nine in the game, precluded a 10-0 run to put TU in complete control with a 46-32 lead and just over 13 minutes remaining in the contest. Taylor completely dominated from there, stretching the lead to as big as 27 as the team shot over 58 percent from the field and over 57 percent from beyond the arc in the second stanza. The Trojans splashed home eight threes and went 11-15 from the charity stripe in the half to score 53 points. The first half saw TU grab an early lead until the offense dried up and Goshen scored six straight points to take a 15-10 lead, which they held until the final minute of the opening half.
Pete Combs led the squad with 13 points and nine rebounds, in 17 minutes of action off the bench for the sophomore big man. Combs added a pair of blocks and an assist in a terrific display down low. Anton Webb, Kaden Fuhrmann, and Jackson Ullom joined Combs in double digits with 12, 12, and 10. Webb stuffed the stat sheet with six rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and two steals while Fuhrmann added six boards and three assists. The Trojans crashed the glass and outrebounded Goshen (5-21, 0-16 CL) 43-21 while shooting 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point land as the offense found its groove and exploded in the second half. The victory clinched a berth to the CL Tournament for the Trojans, who currently sit in sixth, one game behind fifth and two ahead of a pair of squads tied for seventh. Taylor (14-12, 7-9 CL) begins the final week of the regular season with its final home game on Wednesday against No. 14 Huntington (20-6, 10-6 CL), with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 pm.