Indiana University Men’s Basketball Hiring Tennessee’s Rod Clark as Assistant Basketball Coach Darian DeVries is plucking an assistant coach from an SEC program. Tennessee’s Rod Clark will join the IU basketball staff as an assistant coach, Jon Rothstein is reporting. His agent confirmed the news with Knox News. Indiana has not confirmed the report. Clark, 32, was hired by Rick Barnes as an assistant coach for the Volunteers in April 2021. Tennessee went 109-36 (.751) during his four years in Knoxville. Clark has played a role in several prominent recruitments, including Dalton Knecht, who he served as the lead recruiter for and worked closely with throughout the 2023-24 season. Knecht won SEC Player of the Year, claimed the Julius Erving Award and was a consensus First Team All-American. He was then selected No. 17 in the NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He was also the primary recruiter on Chaz Lanier, Tobe Awaka, BJ Edwards, JP Estrella, Kennedy Chandler and Amari Evans and played a role in the development of Shaq Harrison, Tyrese Maxey and Drew Timme.
A native of Kansas City, Mo., Clark spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn. Clark’s first stop as a collegiate coach came in the Horizon League as an assistant coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2019-20. For a two-year span from 2017-19, Clark honed his skills in player development, video breakdown and scouting as the top assistant coach at Sunrise Christian Academy, a national prep basketball powerhouse in Bel Aire, Kan. Clark also spent time as a coach with the MoKan Elite program on the Nike EYBL circuit. He guided MoKan Elite to the Peach Jam championship in 2019. As a collegiate player, Clark spent his first two seasons at the junior college level, first at Neosho Community College in Chaunte, Kan., and then Redlands Community College in El Reno, Okla. He concluded his career at Lindsey Wilson College, an NAIA school in Columbia, Ky., from which he received a degree in communications in 2015. Clark joins an IU staff that includes Drew Adams, Kenny Johnson and Nick Norton as assistant coaches. All four came from other high major programs during the offseason. Former Bradley assistant Mike Bargen is expected to be DeVries’ lead assistant on the bench.
Taylor Minnick Named Top 25 Finalist for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Indiana senior Taylor Minnick was named a top 25 finalist for USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year award on Wednesday. The senior standout has had an outstanding 2025 campaign. Minnick is hitting .504 at the plate with 67 hits, 21 doubles, 15 home runs, 58 RBI and 30 walks. Her slugging percentage is at 1.030 and she has a .608 on-base percentage. This season, Minnick has become the program’s all-time leader in career RBI (191) and doubles (56). She broke the previous records of 153 and 54, respectively. USA Softball will further narrow the list of finalists down to the top 10 (May 14) and top 3 (May 19) before announcing the player of the year during a team reception the week of the Women’s College World Series (May 29-June 5 or 6).
Indiana University Men’s Golfer Clay Merchent Selected for the NCAA Regional in Urbana, Illinois Indiana redshirt junior Clay Merchent earned an individual bid to the 2025 NCAA Urbana Regional to be played at the Atkins Golf Club, the NCAA announced on Wednesday. Merchent is the first Hoosier since Drew Salyers (2023) to qualify for an individual spot in the NCAA Regionals. Including team events, the tournament will mark the third NCAA appearance for Merchent. He finished t-47th at the 2021 Tallahassee Regional after shooting a 221 (75-75-71; +5) and was lifted for an injury substitute after shooting a 74 (+2) in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional.
The Noblesville native was atop the IU lineup in all 10 events for head coach Mike Mayer. He posted a scoring average of 71.50 across 30 rounds. Merchent played a team-best 19 rounds at or under par this season, including five rounds in the 60s. His scoring average is on track to rank fourth on the all-time Indiana list and is the lowest recorded by a Hoosier since Jorge Campillo (70.69) in the 2008-09 season. Regional play will take place May 12-14 at six regional sites. Three regional sites will have 13 teams and 10 individuals and three will have 14 teams and five individuals. The top five teams (30 teams total) and the low individual not on an advancing team (six individuals total) from each regional site will advance to play in the championships at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. The championship rounds will be contested from May 23-28. 2025
NCAA Urbana Regional Teams 1. Oklahoma State 2. North Carolina 3. Illinois 4. Texas Tech 5. Long Beach State 6. UNLV 7. Houston 8. Marquette 9. Troy 10. Pacific 11. NC State 12. Illinois State 13. Wright State 2025 NCAA Urbana Regional Individuals Hunter Thomson, Michigan, Jack Schoenberger, Kentucky, Paul Beauvy, Iowa State, Patton Samuels, Austin Peay, Anthony Delisanti, Valparaiso, Clay Merchent, Indiana, Ryan Ford, Cincinnati, Ben Cors, Dayton, Titus Boswell, IU Indy and Trey Wall, Murray State.
Indiana University Baseball takes down Evansville on the Road Freshman first baseman Jake Hanley had a career day at the plate, providing an outstanding offensive performance to help the Indiana Baseball team (24-21, 12-12 B1G) get back into the win column on Wednesday evening at Charles H. Braun Stadium. Hanley recorded career highs in hits (4), RBIs (5) and total bases (12) to pair with his third multi-home run game of the season out of the cleanup spot. He finished a double short of the cycle but was instrumental in opening a late lead in IU’s 14-6 win over Evansville. His freshman counterpart, shortstop Cooper Malamazian, provided three hits and three RBIs in a lopsided victory over the Purple Aces. For eight innings, the lead never grew bigger than four runs. But IU exploded for eight runs in a marathon ninth inning. Malamazian’s bases-clearing triple helped put the game out of hand in IU’s final at-bat. Junior pitcher Aydan Decker-Petty (W, 1-1) provided four quality innings, throwing a season-high 57 pitches in relief of veteran opener Drew Buhr. Freshman southpaw Brayton Thomas tossed a career-best four strikeouts to keep the game in check before right-handed relievers Pete Haas and Jacob Vogel got the final six outs. IU’s much-needed victory closes out the month of April and sends the Hoosiers to Texas for a three-game set with Abilene Christian this weekend. Just three more series remain on IU’s schedule as it tries to build momentum before the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha at the end of May.
Tickets on Sale for LIV Golf Indianapolis 2025 Event in Westfield Tickets are on sale for the LIV Golf Indianapolis 2025 event from Aug. 15-17 at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield. Multiple tickets packages are available. Special ticket offers include complimentary youth tickets and discounts for college students, teachers, and first responders. On the ticket sales website, one-day tickets start at $305.28 for the Fanstand on Friday, and up to $50,706.52 for 40 tickets in the Suite on 17 on Sunday. Three-day tickets start at $136.49 for a grounds pass, up to $144,537.10 for 40 tickets in the Suite on 17. LIV Golf say it’s increased capacity for Premium Hospitality packages due to overwhelming demand, which initially sold out in three days during the early-bird reservation window. Golf course architect Pete Dye designed The Club at Chatham Hills. The event will feature 13 four-player teams, including major champions Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau, and Phil Mickelson. A Fan Village will provide a family-friendly experience with live music, interactive challenges, and kid-focused attractions, LIV Golf says in a news release issued Wednesday.
Final Round Surge Leads Taylor University Women’s Golf to the Crossroads League Championship The Taylor University women’s golf team erased an 11-shot deficit in Tuesday’s final round of the 2025 Crossroads League Championships to overtake No. 8 Marian and No. 13 Indiana Wesleyan for the team title. The Trojans started their rally during Monday’s second round after posting a 326 to finish in fourth place at the conclusion of the first 18 holes of competition. TU then shot the best team score of the day to move into third and to within 11 strokes of first-place IWU. TU continued its climb in earnest on Tuesday, carding its best team score of the spring season with a 305 to climb past Marian and IWU and clinch the team title by one stroke in compelling fashion. The Crossroads League Championship is Taylor’s fifth in the past eight years in women’s golf, and the program’s first since rattling off a four-peat from 2017 through 2021.
Shayne Lim and Ellie Beavins helped to ignite the third-round rally, with Lim shooting even-par and Beavins ending at plus-one in their first nine holes of the day. Margarita Garrido helped close out the title push, playing the back nine holes at one-under par and scoring birdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes. Lim finished as Taylor’s top competitor, taking runner-up honors on the individual leaderboard with a 54-hole total of 230 for the third top five performance in as many years for Lim at the CL Championships. Lim ended just one stroke off the championship pace with rounds of 78, 78 and 74. Eleanor Schuitema and Garrido finished in sixth and seventh, with Schuitema joining Lim on the Crossroads League Championships All-Tournament Team with a final score of 236 after shooting rounds of 80, 77 and 79. Garrido improved throughout the event with scores of 85, 78 and 74 to end at 237. Beavins used a final round score of 78 to climb into 11th on the leaderboard with a total of 242, while Hope Haarer finished 26th at 265. With the team championship, the Taylor women’s golf program joined TU’s baseball and women’s cross-country teams in securing a Crossroads League Championship during the 2024-2025 year. No. 20 Taylor will now turn its focus to the NAIA National Championships, which will be held at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti, Michigan from May 13 through 16.