Indiana University Football gives Fans a Preview of the 2025 Hoosiers with the Spring Game Receiver Omar Cooper Jr. flashed his typical touchdown potential in a game that didn’t count, part of Thursday night’s Memorial Stadium spring scrimmage that didn’t matter, except it did, to coach Curt Cignetti, to the coaching staff, to the players, to every Hoosier who wants relentless improvement, who seeks to prove that last season’s 11-2 performance will be the norm and not an aberration. This not-for-TV event revealed little of next season’s offensive and defensive complexity, and a lot of the possibilities. “It was a good night,” Cignetti says. “Nobody got hurt. We had some good, some bad, some ugly. I thought the players competed well. “Like I told the players, when we come back in the fall, it’s on. It’s real. We need our good players to play well every day, every rep, every drill. We’ll get what we put in. We have a chance to be as good as we want to be. We need a great summer and fall camp. We have a long way to go.” Cooper will have a big role. So will new quarterback Fernando Mendoza, new running backs Roman Hemby and Lee Beebe Jr., new center Pat Coogan, and returning veteran standouts such as receiver Elijah Sarratt, linebacker Aiden Fisher, cornerback D’Angelo Ponds and defensive lineman Mikail Kamara.
Thursday night was the first public display of what Cignetti’s second Hoosier team could look like when the season opens Aug. 30 against Old Dominion. IU’s 30 football minutes came with modified rules — six points for a touchdown, three points for a field goal, one point for an extra point, four points for a turnover gained, three points for a defensive stop or forced punt, and two points for a safety — and some big priorities: avoid injury, play hard and focused, improve. Statistics weren’t kept, but the score was. The Red (offense) won 31-23. Cooper caught touchdown passes of 13 and 12 yards from Mendoza, plus had a 7-yard catch for a first down in which he showed some nifty moves. Hemby, a Maryland transfer, and fellow running back Kaelon Black displayed break-away speed. Linebacker Rolijah Hardy had a 43-yard pick-six off a deflected Mendoza pass. Kicker Nicolas Radicic had a 32-yard field goal. Defensive back Seaonta Stewart Jr. recovered a fumble. Beebe scored on a 5-yard touchdown run. Receiver Lebron Bond caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Alberto Mendoza, Fernando’s younger brother. Grant Wilson, an Old Dominion transfer, also played quarterback. “We have a lot of the pieces we need if those pieces play to their full potential day in, day out, play in, play out,” Cignetti says. “In the spring, you don’t tackle till this day. It was about managing guys making sure the key ones don’t get dinged up. In the fall, you have to cut them loose.
“There are some positions where we might look stronger right now. There’s not an area where we are deficient. “Coach Shanahan and Coach Cig have really good schemes,” Cooper says. “They watch a lot of film. They know what the defense will do against us. The plays we put together for a team are well designed for what defenses will try to do to us. That’s what makes our offense really explosive. Once we start building chemistry and knowing what each other likes, that will make it even better.” Leading the offensive way Thursday night was Cooper, a redshirt junior with 25 games and six starts as a Hoosier. Last season, he led the Big Ten in yards per catch at 21.2, two yards better than the next closest — Illinois’ Pat Bryant. He totaled 28 catches for 594 yards and seven touchdowns. Cignetti wants more, expects more from Cooper, and pushes to get it. “He has the ability to be an outstanding football player,” Cignetti says. “He has to do it day in, day out. He has to get rid of the inconsistency and set higher standards for himself. He has to have the discipline and the commitment to achieve his goals and become what he wants to be. “The talent is there. The flashes are there. We’ll see if he can play game in game out. I have very high expectations for him.”
Cignetti has coached for 44 seasons — including assistant jobs at Alabama, North Carolina State, Pitt, Temple, Rice and Davidson — and has “been around some really good receivers.” “Cooper can be one of those kinds of guys,” Cignetti says, “but you have to be able to count on guys, day in, day out, play in, play out. You can’t be up and down. You can’t be a guy who flashes on home games or the end of games. “Part of that is maturity and growing up. He’s not a young guy anymore. He can be as good as he wants to be, and 98 percent is between his ears.” Cooper says he has to improve on “everything.” “At the receiver position, there is so much you can learn. I’m focused on top of the routes and getting better getting out of the routes. Then, also, just learning the defensive schemes so when I am out there, I am not just loose in the mind. I’m trying to understand (what the defense is doing) and know what works best against that defense.” After 13 spring practices, Pond vouches for Cooper’s improvement. “The sky is the limit for him,” Pond says. “He’s come a long way from last year. He’ll have a big year.”
Cooper and senior Elijah Sarratt project as one of the Big Ten’s top receiving tandems. Sarratt finished sixth in the conference with 53 catches for 957 yards and eight touchdowns. Both are versatile enough to handle outside and inside roles. “It helps us learn more positions and be able to rotate,” Cooper says. “It also makes it so a defense can’t focus on one person. It comes down to us knowing the offense and being able to move around help us expand our (attack).” The key is building chemistry with Fernando Mendoza and the rest of the quarterbacks. “We’re continuously getting those reps and see how we like to run a certain route,” Cooper says. “We’ll ask him what he wants us to do in that route. Continue to get the repetitions in and make sure we don’t change it up.”
Receiver group chemistry is also important, and if it adds an element of humor thanks to veteran E.J. Williams Jr., all the better. “We’ve known each other for three years,” Cooper says. “We’ve grown each year. He’s the funniest guy in the room. With him, it’s always a laugh because he’s a clown.” Injuries and then a decision to transfer limited Williams to two catches for 49 yards last season. In three years and 33 games at Clemson, Williams totaled 40 catches for 442 yards. Appalachian State transfer Makai Jackson has experience and talent with seven 100-yard receiving games in 20 career starts and 37 games. “He’s doing well,” Cooper says, “but he’s still learning the offense.” Bond and Myles Kendrick are among a group of talented freshman receivers. “They add a lot,” Cooper says. “As a freshman, it’s different in college. They have some bumps and bruises, but they’ve been doing well. They’re looking good. They can help the team a lot. It will be interesting to seeing what they can do. I’m looking forward to it.”
Much was expected from Tyler Morris, a Michigan transfer who suffered a season-ending injury during spring practice. “It’s really tough,” Cooper says. “Tyler was a really good player, and he was going to do well in the slot position this year. It makes us have to work harder, take more reps and learn more about the offense to play inside and outside. It sucks for Tyler and the whole receiver group, but it helps us to learn the slot and outside and be able to rotate.” Cooper was a key player in last year’s dominating offense that led the Big Ten in scoring (41.3 points) and averaged 426.4 yards per game. He expects that offensive success to continue. “Coach Shanahan and Coach Cig have really good schemes,” Cooper says. “They watch a lot of film. They know what the defense will do against us. The plays we put together for a team are well designed for what defenses will try to do to us. That’s what makes our offense really explosive. Once we start building chemistry and knowing what each other likes, that will make it even better.”
Former Indiana University Football Coach Lee Corso will retire in August after one more appearance on ESPN’s College Gameday ESPN announced on Thursday legendary College GameDay personality Lee Corso will retire. The outlet says Corso will make his final headgear pick on College GameDay on Saturday, Aug. 30 – Week 1 of the 2025 college football season – at a destination to be announced later this spring. ESPN will also present special programming celebrating Corso in the days leading up to Aug. 30. “My family and I will be forever indebted for the opportunity to be part of ESPN and College GameDay for nearly 40 years,” said Corso in an ESPN press release. “I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement.” Corso was the head coach at Indiana for 10 seasons and led the Hoosiers to their first ever bowl win in 1979.
Last fall GameDay and Corso traveled to Bloomington when IU hosted Washington in late October. The Bloomington mayor proclaimed it “Coach Lee Corso Day” in his honor as friends, family members, former players and coaches returned to campus. “When GameDay went to Indiana last season, the love and emotion that poured out from his players was truly moving,” GameDay host Rece Davis said in the release. Indiana hosts Old Dominion in week one of the 2025 season, a game that would be unlikely to draw GameDay. The top games that week appear to be Texas at Ohio State, LSU at Clemson, and Alabama at Florida State. Corso’s alma mater is Florida State. He played football for the Seminoles from 1953-57. Corso joined ESPN in 1987, following a 28-year coaching career at the college and professional levels – including 17 seasons as a head coach at Louisville (1969-72), Indiana (1973-82), Northern Illinois (1984) and with the USFL’s Orlando Renegades (1985). Corso, who turns 90 in August, has been a part of ESPN’s pregame show since it debuted in 1987.
Former Indiana University Men’s Basketball Player Mackenzie Mgbako Headed to Texas A&M Mackenzie Mgbako is headed to the Lonestar State and the Southeastern Conference. After two years at Indiana, Mgbako will play for Texas A&M and their new head coach Bucky McMillan next season, he announced on Thursday. Mgbako is the fifth member of the 2024-25 IU team to find a new home, following Malik Reneau (Miami, Fla.), Myles Rice (Maryland), Jakai Newton (Georgia State), and Gabe Cupps (Ohio State). The 6-foot-9 forward from Gladstone, New Jersey originally committed to Duke before flipping to Indiana in 2023. He arrived in Bloomington as a McDonald’s All-American. Coincidentally, Mgbako was arrested at another fast-food chain — a Bloomington Taco Bell — ahead of his freshman season with the Hoosiers. While he struggled at times on the defensive end, Mgbako was productive on offense for IU. In 2024-25 Mgbako started 31-of-32 games played. He was one of four Hoosiers to play all 32 games. The New Jersey product averaged 12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game. Mgbako shot 43.7% (139-of-318) from the floor, 32.9% (47-of-143) from the 3-point line, and 81.0% (64-of-79) from the free throw line. Mgbako was the Big Ten’s Co-Freshman of the Year in 2024. He was one of two freshmen in the NCAA to score over 400 points, make at least 50 3-pointers, convert on 90-plus free throws, and grab at least 125 rebounds. As a freshman Mgbako was one of two Hoosiers to start all 33 games. He averaged 12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 27.1 minutes per game.
Bloomington South Graduate Connor Hickman Heads to the College of Charleston for his Final College Basketball Stop Bloomington South grad Connor Hickman announced on his X account that he has found a new place to play. The question now is if he’ll get the chance. Hickman, who started his college basketball career at Bradley, spending three years there, moved on to Cincinnati for his senior season, only to get hurt just 13 games into the season. It left him asking the NCAA for a hardship waiver and a medical redshirt, which has yet to be determined, to give him one last year of eligibility. In the meantime, he put his name in the portal and came out at the College of Charleston. The former Panther (and Bearcat) is now a Cougar. Hickman came to Cincinnati with a strong connection to assistant coach Drew Adams, a South grad who helped bring him to Peoria, Ill. Adams is now on staff at Indiana, but Hickman headed east to play for former Xavier and Louisville coach Chris Mack. Mack was at Xavier when former Panther Dee Davis had his successful run with the Musketeers. Charleston was 24-9 last year, its third straight 20-win season, in Mack’s second year in charge.
Hickman spent most of the Bearcats’ conference slate in a boot after injuring his foot. He had been starting when a teammate was out with a knee injury and averaged 4.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game. In three years at Bradley, he was named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Freshman team. As a sophomore, he started all 34 games, averaging 8.6 points and 2 assists. As a junior, he was named to the MVC’s Most Improved Team and averaged a team-best 14.5 ppg, 3.4 rebounds, and 3 assists. He shot 40.2% from the 3-point line. He then opted out and headed to Cincy. Hickman was a member of South’s 26-0 team in 2019-20 that was derailed by COVID and then missed his senior year with a shoulder injury. As a junior, he averaged 14.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 56 percent from the field and 50 percent on 3-pointers. Another former Bloomington standout, North’s JaQualon Roberts, announced he was entering the portal after two years and a coaching change at Vanderbilt, but has not made any announcements.
Multi-Year Deal Makes WTHR-TV in Indianapolis the Local Home of the Indiana Fever WTHR will be the Local TV Home of the Indiana Fever! The Indiana Fever and WTHR announced a multi-year distribution agreement that will deliver more exciting basketball action to central Indiana fans than ever before. The broadcast announcement means you will be able to watch a record number of games with Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard and the rest of the team on WTHR and its sister station, MeTV. The broadcast schedule will include 18 Fever games, giving fans across central Indiana unprecedented access to watch the Fever in action. Fourteen of the games will be shown for free over the air on WTHR, and four of the games will be on WALV, which carries MeTV programming and is on Channel 13.3 and 46.1.
Sept. 7 at Washington — 3 p.m. on WTHR
May 20 vs. Atlanta — 7 p.m. on MeTV
May 22 at Atlanta — 7:30 p.m. on WTHR
May 28 at Washington — 7:30 p.m. on WTHR
June 3 vs. Washington — 7 p.m. on MeTV
June 10 at Atlanta — 7:30 p.m. on MeTV
June 17 vs. Connecticut — 7 p.m. on MeTV
June 19 at Golden State — 10 p.m. on WTHR
June 24 at Seattle — 10 p.m. on WTHR
July 3 vs. Las Vegas — 7 p.m. on WTHR
July 5 vs. Los Angeles — 7 p.m. on WTHR
July 9 vs. Golden State — 12 p.m. on WTHR
July 16 at New York — 7:30 p.m. on WTHR
July 24 vs. Las Vegas — 7 p.m. on WTHR
Aug. 5 at Los Angeles — 10 p.m. on WTHR
Aug. 7 at Phoenix — 10 p.m. on WTHR
Aug. 24 at Minnesota — 7 p.m. on WTHR
Sept. 2 at Phoenix — 10 p.m. on WTHR
“As Indiana’s News Leader, WTHR is excited to work with the Indiana Fever to bring the hottest ticket in town to millions of fans across the region,” said Michael Brouder, president and general manager, WTHR. “We’re proud of our partnership, and the strength we have as a local broadcaster to amplify passion for our hometown team.” “With our team’s powerful roster of veteran talent and young stars, we’re positioned to have an unforgettable season, and we look forward to having more fans follow our journey,” said Pacers Sports & Entertainment CEO Mel Raines. “WTHR and TEGNA continue to be incredible partners, and together, we’re going to deliver more exciting, fast-paced Fever basketball to households in the Indianapolis region than ever before.” WTHR is excited to bring fans across central Indiana the opportunity to watch the team, and its young superstars compete to return to the WNBA playoffs. “We’re thrilled to continue growing our outstanding partnership with the Indiana Fever and the WNBA,” said Brad Ramsey, senior vice president media operations, TEGNA. “As we expand our partnerships across sports leagues to offer fans unparalleled access to their favorite teams, we’re excited to collaborate with Pacers Sports & Entertainment to boost enthusiasm and viewership for the Indiana Fever.” Single-game and group tickets for the 2025 Fever season are now available, with more information at FeverBasketball.com/Tickets.
The Indiana Mad Ants Rebrand as the Noblesville Boom The shot clock has expired on the Indiana Mad Ants, ushering in a new era for the Indiana Pacers’ G League affiliate with a new name and logo: the Noblesville Boom. The rebranded name is a tribute to legendary Pacers coach and commentator Bobby “Slick” Leonard’s iconic “Boom, Baby!” catchphrase. Noblesville Mayor Chris Jensen says the name “Boom” reflects the city’s historical beginnings and recent economic growth. “Noblesville is flourishing and booming in a lot of ways. It is fitting that the team’s name incorporates the past, which many know Noblesville was founded on an energy boom, present, and future of our city and our close partners, the Indiana Pacers. This is a significant milestone for our city and for basketball in Indiana — the basketball state,” Jensen said in a release. The Mad Ants, formerly in Fort Wayne, were named after “Mad” Anthony Wayne, the Revolutionary War general for whom the city is named.
The Boom’s new logo is a modern take on the familiar basketball that has defined the Pacers logo for decades. The logo includes the cyan color first introduced with the Pacers’ 2023-24 City Edition uniform, alongside the Pacers’ classic navy and gold color scheme. The club’s new court design, mascot, and uniforms will be unveiled in the coming months. In May 2023, Noblesville leaders announced a partnership with PS&E to bring the Mad Ants from Fort Wayne to Hamilton County. The team has played the last two seasons at Gainbridge Fieldhouse while construction was ongoing at their future home, The Arena at Innovation Mile. The new 3,400-seat, 123,000-square-foot arena is expected to be completed this summer. Fans can visit NoblesvilleBoom.com for more information, sign up for email updates, and place a ticket deposit for the 2025-26 season. The NBA G League is the world’s second-most prominent men’s basketball league, behind only the NBA. It’s often a launch pad for players, coaches, officials, and other staff to land a career at the next level. About 50% of NBA players have G League experience, including Pacers All-Star forward Pascal Siakam.