Indiana University Women’s Basketball Junior Yarden Garzon enters the Transfer Portal Indiana junior Yarden Garzon has entered the transfer portal, per a report on Monday morning. The Ra’anana, Israel native spent three years in Bloomington as a starter for Teri Moren. Garzon led the Hoosiers in scoring as a junior this season with 14.4 points per game. She was one of the nation’s most prolific 3-point shooters throughout her IU career, exceeding a 40 percent clip from beyond the arc in all three seasons. Her 45.8 3-point percentage as a freshman in 2022-23 was the best mark in the Big Ten. Garzon crossed the 1,000-point milestone this past season. She earned All-Big Ten second team recognition in her freshman and junior years. The forward will hit the portal with one year of eligibility remaining. Her absence completely changes the outlook for IU women’s basketball going into next season, creating a major hole at the 4 and leaving the team without its biggest scoring threat. The Hoosiers have now seen six players enter the transfer portal in the last week. Garzon is easily the most significant loss of that group, but she joins Jules LaMendola, Lexus Bargesser, Lilly Meister, Henna Sandvik, and Sharnecce Currie-Jelks in the portal.
Longtime Indiana University Men’s Basketball Trainer Tim Garl will not Return Next Season The complete overhaul underway in Bloomington includes Tim Garl, the athletic trainer for IU basketball for nearly a half century during the tenures of six head coaches. Garl’s run as the athletic trainer for the IU men’s basketball program has come to an end, an IU spokesperson confirmed to TDH on Monday morning. The South-Central Indiana News Network also obtained the following statement regarding Garl from his attorney:
“Long time Athletic Trainer for Men’s Basketball at Indiana University, Tim Garl, was informed by Athletic Director Scott Dolson, that his contract will not be renewed for his 45th basketball season. Dolson informed Garl that he would like a “fresh start” for the IU Basketball Sports Medicine staff. His last day is Monday. “Garl feels grateful for the incredible opportunities he has had during his career having served every head coach starting with Bob Knight. He finds it a blessing that a kid from Elkhart, IN could be fortunate enough to participate in both collegiate and international competitions. Tim’s enduring legacy includes being at every IU basketball game for 44 seasons.
“He would like to especially thank Bob Knight and Ralph Floyd for giving him the opportunity to join the Indiana Family. Also greatly appreciated are all of the head coaches who continued to include him on their staffs through the years. Additionally, Tim would like to thank the players, assistant Coaches, Sports Medicine staff, Doctors, student managers and trainers, support staff and Hoosier Nation for their 4+ decades of support.” Garl was hired by Indiana as he Head Men’s Basketball Trainer in 1981 and has continuously served in that position while also wearing many administrative hats during his career.
The Elkhart Indiana native started in sports medicine as a student athletic trainer (1975-1978) for the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant at the University of Alabama and was part of two SEC Football Championships. He completed a degree in education while in Tuscaloosa. In 1978 he was hired by the University of Mississippi as the assistant athletic trainer and served all Rebel men’s sports. He was part of the 1980 SEC Men’s Basketball Championship team. He completed a master’s degree in administration at Ole Miss. In 1979, prior to coming to Indiana he started working with the US Olympic Committee’s Sports Medicine program. Once employed at Indiana he continued to serve the USOC as a sport’s medicine provider and became a quality-of- care advisor until 2012. In 1987 he was named to the USOC Sports Medicine Committee and served 25 years, the longest serving member in the history of the program, where he was the Vice Chair and also Chairman of the USOC Sports Medicine Society.
While serving on the USOC Sports Medicine Committee the HIV/AIDS epidemic exploded worldwide. Garl was tasked with developing a document that addressed this threat to competitive sport. Enlisting the help of Bloomington Physicians Larry Rink, MD and Tom Hrisomalos, MD they authored the first policy statement on the subject. This was then presented at the Olympic Congress and was recognized internationally and adopted by numerous sporting bodies as a policy. It also found its way into the legislation of several States regarding sports participation. The US Army also adopted the guidelines and soon sent Garl to military bases around the world to educate recreation officers about the recommendations. His summertime service to the USOC involved accompanying US National Teams around the world to various competitions. In 1982 he was with the US as they competed in the FIBA World Championships where an American team led by Doc Rivers earned a silver medal in Cali Columbia. 1983 found him traveling with Olympic hopefuls through Asia with a team led by future Olympian and NBA players Vern Fleming and AC Green. In 1984 he was on the staff for the Bob Knight coached, Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing led Olympic Gold Medal team in Los Angeles, the last amateur team to win Olympic Gold. He spent 1985 traveling with the Hoosiers on the legendary Around the World Tour, a 20 game, month long plus, journey that circumvented the globe. 1986 found Garl back at the FIBA World Championships where a Lute Olsen coached team led by David Robinson won the Gold in Madrid. That was the last amateur team to win a Gold Medal. After the Indiana NCAA Championship in 1987, he toured with a US Select team through the Soviet Union. Finishing up the decade of international team travel Garl served as the Chef de Mission and athletic trainer for the 1990 U19 Tournament of the America’s where Calbert Chaney and Grant Hill led the team to a Gold Medal in Uruguay.
He continued his administrative work and served in several of the USOC Sports Festivals around the US. Garl also continued traveling for the USOC as a quality-of-care evaluator traveling to World University Games in Palma de Mallorca, Spain (1999), Beijing China (2001), Izmir Turkey (2005) and Bangkok Thailand (2007). He also served in the same capacity for the Pan American Games in Winnipeg Canada (2001) Santo Domingo Dominican Republic (2003) and Rio de Janeiro Brazil in (2007). In 1994 Garl appeared in the movie Blue Chips. He played himself as a member of the Indiana team and served as an Athletic Trainer behind the scenes for the athletes participating in the production. Garl has been a frequent speaker at both national and international Basketball and Sports Medicine clinics. He has authored numerous articles both in the US and Europe, and he published a book on Strength and Conditioning for basketball players.
He serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the College Athletic Trainers Society and is on the NCAA Task Force on Sleep and Athlete Wellness. Garl also helped initiate the Hoosier Hills Food Bank food drive in conjunction with the annual Hoosier Hysteria practice. This even has collected over 200,000 pounds of food over the past 25 plus years. Tim and his wife Jennifer (Denny) have three daughters – Emily (Jonathan), Meg (Nick), and Haley (Wyatt) and granddaughter Charlotte June and grandsons Roman and Fletcher.
Indiana University’s Jake Hanley Named Big Ten Freshman Baseball Player of the Week The timing was right for freshman first baseman Jake Hanley as he picked up his first career Big Ten Freshman of the Week award on Monday (March 31) afternoon, as announced by the conference office. It is IU’s third award of the kind in the past four weeks. Hanley went on an absolute tear in the middle of IU’s order last week. He went 8-for-17 (.471) with three home runs, eight RBIs, seven runs scored and two walks in four games for the Hoosiers. He had three-hit games in both sides of a Friday doubleheader against USC. He was robbed of a ninth hit of the week when his ninth-inning ground ball deflected off the pitcher into the track of the second baseman.
The Mason, Ohio native leads the Big Ten in hits (45) and is second among all freshman in the NCAA in base knocks. He’s one of three IU players (Dickerson, Taylor) with at least 40 hits this year. Based on his current pace, Hanley could be in line to break IU’s all-time single season freshman hits record (88). The first baseman is also the clubhouse leader at the halfway point for the league’s freshman of the year award. Along with teammates Cooper Malamazian and Hogan Denny, Hanley became the third IU player to win Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors this season. IU has combined to win three of the seven freshmen of the week honors so far this year. It is the fourth time in program history (2011, 2012, 2017, 2025) that IU has had at least three different players win the honor in the same season. Hanley is the 12th different IU player to win a Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor since head coach Jeff Mercer began his tenure in 2019. It’s the first time that three players have won it in the same year under his watch.
Fishers Freight wins their Inaugural Indoor Football League Game over the Northern Arizona Wranglers The Fishers Freight played their first game ever in Northern Arizona on Saturday night in Prescott Valley, Arizona. After falling behind in the first half, two pick sixes contributed to a second half comeback where The Freight secured the 41-29 victory. In the First Quarter Northern Arizona got the ball first and on their first drive of the game, CJ Fowler ran the ball into the end zone for the touchdown. Followed up with a good extra point, the Wranglers took the 7-0 lead just five minutes into the game. After a lengthy drive down the field by the Freight, the Fishers team turned the ball over in the red zone with their first ever possession. The Wranglers got the ball back, but their possession would last into the second quarter. With their next drive, Northern Arizona’s Marvin Kinsey Jr. lunged into the end zone for their second touchdown of the game about a minute and a half into the second quarter. With another good kick, the Wranglers took a 14-0 lead. About halfway through the second quarter, Freight quarterback Jiya Wright ran into the end zone to make history with the Freight’s first ever touchdown. This put Fishers on the board, making it 14-6 after a missed PAT. Just a few minutes later, the Freight’s Devin Hafford recovered the ball after a fumble on the kickoff by Northern Arizona, putting Fishers in a good position late in the first half. Jon Lewis scored the Freight’s second touchdown of the game, closing the score gap to 14-13 after a good extra point. With less than ten seconds to go in the half, however, the Wranglers extended their lead to 21-13 with a touchdown by Kobe Smith.
Early in the third quarter, Lewis scored his second touchdown of the game to make it a one-point game again. This made him the first Fishers Freight player in franchise history to score two touchdowns. Midway through the third quarter, defensive lineman Izaiah Reed intercepted the ball from Northern Arizona and ran it in for a touchdown, becoming the first player with a pick six but also giving the Freight their first lead of the game. After going up 26-21, the Freight extended their lead by one point after not allowing Northern Arizona to get out of the end zone during kickoff, earning the rouge point. Wright scored his second touchdown of the game after a fake hand off cleared a path to the end zone for him. This extended their lead to 33-21. Both teams found defensive success early in the fourth quarter as there was not another score until about six minutes remaining in the game when the Freight’s Devin Hafford claimed their second pick six of the game. After running the ball into the end zone from the 25-yard line, Hafford extended the Freight’s lead to 39-21. Northern Arizona’s Marvin Kinsey Jr. had his second touchdown of the night with about a minute and a half to play in the fourth quarter to make it 39-29 after a successful two-point conversion. The Freight tacked on two more points after a safety caused by the Wranglers losing control of the ball in the end zone after the snap. Time expired soon after and the Freight officially claimed their first victory in franchise history with a 41-29 come from behind win over the Northern Arizona Wranglers. The Fishers Freight will make their home debut on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Fishers Event Center.
Indy Ignite Volleyball win a five-set thriller in Orlando against the Valkyries The Indy Ignite continue to light it up with exciting – and winning – Pro Volleyball Federation play. Sunday, the Ignite mounted a sensational comeback to defeat Orlando in five sets, giving Indy a season-best four-match win streak. After going down two sets to one to the host Valkyries, the Ignite regrouped and recharged to capture the last two sets. The thrilling victory moved Indy into a third-place tie with Orlando in the PVF standings, both teams with identical 12-8 records. “I think it took everybody together to do this tonight,” Ignite head coach George Padjen said after his team won its second five-setter in 10 days. “Obviously, Orlando’s a really good team and we’re on the road, but I was really proud of how they came back there. “We’ve been working on it, the team’s coming around together, but it’s a process. A few months into this, I’m happy with our progress.”
After opening with a 25-21 triumph in the first set at Addition Financial Arena, the Ignite lost the next by 25-20 and 25-21 scores. The first two times that Indy and Orlando met earlier this season, the team that won the first set then dropped the next three. The Ignite were intent on ending that trend today. Trailing 10-9 in set four, the Ignite put together an 11-5 scoring burst to take command. The run was sparked by four kills from middle blocker Lydia Martyn and three by outside hitter Caitie Baird, playing in her first match since joining the Ignite this week. Back-to-back kills by outside hitter Carly Skjodt and opposite hitter Azhani Tealer sealed the 25-21 win to even the match at two sets each.
Baird was downright unstoppable in the fifth set, scoring eight of Indy’s points in the match decider. She nailed four kills in a 5-1 run that broke the Ignite away from a 4-4 deadlock and appropriately added kills for the final two points in the 15-11 win. A two-time All-American and 2019 NCAA champion at Stanford who most recently played professionally in Turkey, Baird led all Ignite scorers with 20 points on 17 kills, two blocks and a service ace, along with contributing nine digs. She played sparingly in the first two sets, notching all of her kills and blocks when she started the final three sets. She finished the match with a sizzling .423 kill percentage and .385 kill efficiency.
Call her coach impressed with the Indianapolis native’s first showing. “Incredible!” Padjen said. “Obviously, it’s a tough situation to come in anytime cold. She was talking about putting the ball away, but it’s her back row stuff, it’s the passing, it’s the defense, net defense, all of the above. When people watch, they’ll watch the hits and see the final point, but I’m watching the whole thing happen and it was impressive.” Baird received strong support from her teammates. Skjodt had 14 kills and two blocks; Tealer 14 kills and 11 digs; Martyn 12 kills and a block. Setter Sydney Hilley, the reigning PVF Player of the Week, put together her typical masterful match with 57 kills, 12 digs, three blocks and a kill. Libero Elena Scott recorded a season best with 25 digs, more than a few in sensational diving fashion to extend rallies. Today’s inspiring victory follows an impressive three-set win last week at league-leading Omaha that helps verify the Ignite as a true PVF postseason contender. Indy finishes a demanding stretch of seven road matches in a nine-match span with a visit to Columbus at 7 p.m. Saturday. The match streams live on the PVF YouTube Channel.
Houston Beats Tennessee in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Elite 8 at Lucas Oil Stadium Houston took down Tennessee at Lucas Oil Stadium, 69-50, to advance to the Final Four. The Cougars will make their first trip to the Final Four since 2021. It was a dominant performance by Houston, as it led wire-to-wire. Houston led by as many as many as 22 points. “We have a really good team,” Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson said. “I think being humble and staying hungry every day has really helped us. I’m more excited than I’m letting on right now. I’m really excited. I’m really happy for these kids. But it’s their moment, and I’m really happy for them. “I meant, it feels great,” Houston guard Terrance Arceneaux said. “It’s a dream come true. And the way we did it, and the way we did it for the older guys that last year, I mean, it’s a dream come true for sure.”
L.J. Cryer led Houston with 17 points. Chaz Lanier led Tennessee with 17 points. Houston led 34-15 at halftime. Tennessee shot just 21.4% from the field in the first half and was 1-15 from three-point range. Its 15 points in the first half was the lowest in a half by a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the history of the NCAA Tournament. “That’s what we do,” Emanuel Sharp said. “We’re a great defensive team and that’s how we like to set the tone of the game, on the defensive end. I think when we come out with the right intensity, we’re a hard team to beat and we did a great job of that today and it helped us as we carried it on for the rest of the game.”
Tennessee was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament in the Elite 8 for the second straight year. The program has still yet to make it to the Final Four. Despite the loss, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes was proud of his team and everything they accomplished this season. “We have a slogan at Tennessee, ‘Give your all for Tennessee,’” Barnes said. “They did that. In more ways than you can imagine. Regardless of whether we were down 20 or 25, they would continue to give their all for the University of Tennessee because they’re such a huge part of where this program is right now.”
This marked the end of a four-year career for Zakai Zeigler and Jahmai Mashack at Tennessee. They spoke about the bond that this team had and how thankful they are for their time in Knoxville. “These are people I’m going to talk to for the rest of my life, people that I love,” Zeigler said. “These are my brothers, and today we didn’t get the outcome that we wanted and, you know, it was all part of God’s plan. We’re thankful for the opportunity and all the blessings that we went through this whole season.” “These guys are my brothers for life. It feels weird not being able to play with Zakai anymore,” Mashack said. “Been doing that for four years. That’s been my guy for four years. I’m never going to play with nobody like him, man. That’s my brother.” The attendance for the game at Lucas Oil Stadium was 18,567.