‘I’m here to do what’s best for the team’: Joe Brunner adapting to right tackle for Indiana University Football Joe Brunner is not only adapting to a new program this season. He’s also adjusting to an unfamiliar position. Brunner transferred to Indiana football in January after playing left guard the last two years at Wisconsin. The Hoosiers had an opening at center after Pat Coogan’s departure, and they already had one of the Big Ten’s top left guards in Drew Evans. Evans shifted to center during spring ball, with IU down multiple starters due to injuries. But as fall camp arrived, Evans moved back to left guard and Bray Lynch — Indiana’s starting right guard last year — took over at center. And head coach Curt Cignetti and his offensive staff determined Adedamola Ajani, who saw tangible action in 2025 at left guard, right guard, and right tackle, was most comfortable and better suited to play inside than outside. That’s forced Brunner to slot in at right tackle, a position he has not yet played collegiately. He’s both moving from the left side of the offensive line to the right side, and from inside to outside. Brunner doesn’t see the left-to-right transition as anything difficult shift.
“I think going from left to right, especially interior, it’s not really challenging,” Brunner said Tuesday. “You kind of bounce around as a younger player, playing both sides, feeling out. So, I’m used to that.” But adjusting from guard to tackle is a bigger task. The positions have different responsibilities and requirements. Offensive line coach Bob Bostad, whom Brunner overlapped with at Wisconsin for one season in 2022, is helping get the 6-foot-7, 313-pound transfer acclimated to the new spot. And Brunner is attacking the challenge with a positive mindset. “Going out to tackle, it’s new. You’re facing a different type of player — speed, not as much strength, not as big,” Brunner said. “But it’s also fun. It’s part of the experience of learning a new position and just learning how good of a football player you are, yourself. I have the confidence in myself to play tackle, been learning from coach Bostad every day. … I’m here to do what’s best for the team.”
Brunner does have some experience to draw from, though. The Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin native played right tackle in high school — obviously a much lower level of competition, and now five years in the past. But that, along with Bostad’s coaching, is enough for Brunner to feel like he knows what he’s doing at right tackle. IU is relying on Brunner to make that transition successfully, with a lot of unknowns around offensive line depth if anything went wrong. But the Wisconsin transfer will have the backing of one of the best offensive lines in the country, with Evans and Carter Smith on the left side performing particularly well. And after experiencing the raucous atmosphere at Memorial Stadium last season as a visiting player with the Badgers, Brunner knows he’ll have home field advantage on his side this year. “It was super fun to come here and see the atmosphere and play in something like this. That’s what you want, growing up as a kid,” Brunner said. “And to be here now, with these guys, it’s sort of like a dream come true. But it was super fun last year, and it’s even more fun now.”
Inside Force — Samet Yigitoglu Brings Big Size, Big Smile and a Big Game to Indiana University Men’s Basketball Team Canada swarms. Samet Yigitoglu battles. They swarm again. Yigitoglu battles more. Indiana’s new 7-foot-2 center finally breaks free and does what you’d expect someone his size should do under the basket: He dunks. Then, as he runs down Branch McCracken Court at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, he does what you might not expect: He smiles. Frowns don’t suit Yigitoglu, who treats basketball as a game and not a chore, who views it as fun and not work, who smiles as often as most people breathe. “It comes from my teammates,” he says. “Everybody is happy. Everybody is cheering for each other. It’s picking me up.” Fun comes with seriousness. During one practice at Cook Hall, physicality leaves Yigitoglu with a bloody forehead. A few minutes with the trainer and he’s back as if nothing has happened.
How could this translate to the upcoming season? Consider mid-July’s 98-64 exhibition victory over Team Canada. Yigitoglu totaled six points, five rebounds, and a block in 22 minutes. The Turkey native didn’t play in the FISU American Games in Peru – the team went 4-0 and won a gold medal — because he was ineligible as a non-American-born player. He did travel with the team. Yigitoglu projects as the inside force the Hoosiers lacked last season. At SMU last season, he averaged 10.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 62.8% from the field. He had seven double-doubles and led the ACC with 3.6 offensive rebounds a game. “He’s a big guy who isn’t afraid of knowing that he’s big,” IU coach Darian DeVries says. “He’s a big guy who loves it. He loves bringing that physicality, loves being in the interior, rebounding, setting screens, all that stuff.”
Yigitoglu credits his SMU experience while looking forward to what’s next as a Hoosier. “SMU taught me a lot of things about college basketball. It was a good two years there, but I wanted something more. If you want to be good, if you want to get to another level, you have to change things up. Indiana was like that for me.” The Hoosiers spent June and July learning DeVries’s system — honed by the Peru opportunity – to prepare for the upcoming season.
“The coaches explained how they want to run their offense and defense, and I try to get used to it.” Yigitoglu says. That includes perimeter work. Although Yigitoglu has taken 3-point shots in practice, that hasn’t been a strength. He attempted six at SMU, making one. “Here, I get outside so I can pass it,” he says. He averaged 1.3 assists at SMU, an average that should rise as a Hoosier. “I feel comfortable out there. “I love shooting, but if someone is open, I don’t want to be just shooting. I want to give someone else a chance.”
Thanks to Yigitoglu, 6-foot-11 forward Aiden Sherrell, a heralded transfer from Alabama, won’t have the major center role he had as a Crimson Tide. The two are expected to be starting lineup fixtures. “Playing next to Samet is exciting,” Sherrell says. “He’s a great teammate, a great player. He helps out so much. Just playing with someone like him alongside me, it’s super fun to play that way.” Yigitoglu can’t wait for the fun to start. “Playing with him has been great. He’s so easy to play with. Teams are confused with him because he can roll or do the pop. He’s good at both. “In practices, coaches are always trying to put me with Aiden so we can play two bigs on the floor. He’s chilling it, shooting it. I’m just trying to play for others, get my own stuff in the paint.”
Yigitoglu and Sherrell will play major roles as DeVries seeks to showcase offensive rebounding dominance. “We’ve talked to our team all summer long that we want to be an elite offensive rebounding team, and then defensive rebounding, as well,” DeVries says. “We’ve got to secure the defensive glass. “I haven’t had a lot of teams where we prioritized offensive rebounding. That’s something that we’re putting a lot of time and effort into with this group, because I think they could be a really good offensive rebounding team. We have enough bodies, size, athleticism and length to do that. We’re going to get it there.”
DeVries says he saw it in the second half of the exhibition game. “They did a much better job. We were chasing balls down and that was good to see.
“With Aiden and Samet out there, there are different things we can try to focus on where maybe we didn’t have those types of rosters in previous years.”
Yigitoglu generated major recruiting interest upon entering the transfer portal last spring, getting so many phone calls that it became “annoying.”
What made IU stand out? “Indiana is a great program with a great history,” Yigitoglu says. “They have a winning culture. Everyone wants to win. They want to go far in March Madness. They want to win a Big Ten championship. They want big things. “They have a history of everyone wanting to go there. Everyone wants to play for them and play on a big stage. That made me come here and choose Indiana. That’s what separated them from the others.”
DeVries’s offensive and defensive approaches also were draws. “They were so patient in explaining things to me, what they want to do next year, how they want to develop me and get me better for the next level, which is the NBA,” Yigitoglu says.
Leaving Turkey for the United States wasn’t easy. “It was a whole new story,” Yigitoglu says. “You have to fly 12 hours to get here. I didn’t know what I would see. I came here by myself. It was difficult to adjust.” Yigitoglu says he’d spent his last two years in Istanbul. SMU, located in University Park, Texas, was nothing like that. “It was so different because Istanbul is so compact. When I landed, I saw the (oil well) drills. Like they say, everything is big in Texas. Everything was so big. I couldn’t get used to it for the first couple of months. Then it got easy.” Acclimation included a trip to Six Flags Over Texas, an amusement park that features plenty of roller coasters, none of which Yigitoglu rode. “I would never try that,” he says with a smile.
Indiana University Women’s Volleyball Beats Notre Dame in an Exhibition Match at Wilkinson Hall Following a summer away, fans returned to Wilkinson Hall on Friday evening for the beginning of the 2026 campaign. The Indiana volleyball team met Notre Dame for a designed four-set exhibition as both squads continue to work through fall camp. Behind 17 kills from second year outside hitter Jaidyn Jager, the Hoosiers grabbed a win (25-21, 25-20, 23-25, 15-11) in front of the home crowd. All available players got the chance to feature in Friday’s match as head coach Steve Aird and his staff continues to test different lineups. Second-year setter Teodora Krickovic started the first two games and dished out 19 assists with four digs and four blocks. On the night, IU hit .287 (53-18-122) with all three setters getting some run in the victory.
Jager and first-year outside hitter Sara Snowbarger played the entirety of the match on the left side. The two combined for 32 kills while each hitting above .255 on 70 total swings. Fifth-year middle blocker Kiki Granberry joined them in double figures with 10 kills on a .643 hitting percentage. Third-year middle blocker Ella Boersema added five kills, four blocks and four aces. IU will return to the court next Friday (Aug. 21) for the Cream and Crimson scrimmage. IU will split its squad into two sides to play three sets of volleyball to wrap up fall camp. The regular season gets underway with a top-10 test at No. 7 Louisville (Aug. 28). IU’s home opener comes against Cal Poly in the second week of September.
Eleven Indiana University Softball Hoosiers earn Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete Honors Eleven Indiana Softball Hoosiers were named to the 2025-26 Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes list. The following Indiana players earned the national distinction. Peyton Drummond, Alli Gavin, Ellie Goins, Hannah Haberstroh, Taylor Hess, Aubree Hooks, Brooke Mannon, Avery Parker, Madalyn Strader, Ella Troutt and Aly VanBrandt.
Indiana Fever beat the Atlanta Dream 95-91 in overtime to win fourth straight game The Indiana Fever rallied late and beat the Atlanta Dream on the road, 95-91 in overtime, to win their fourth straight game. The Fever trailed 72-63 entering the fourth quarter but held Atlanta to just nine points in the period to force overtime. In overtime, Indiana outscored the Dream 14-10 to seal the win. Indiana is now 23-12 on the season. Caitlin Clark led the Fever with 26 points and nine assists. Ninth-year guard Kelsey Mitchell added 20 points, her 19th straight game with at least 20. The performance extended her WNBA record for the longest 20-plus-point scoring streak in a single season. She is now just two games shy of tying A’ja Wilson (20) for the most overall in league history. Aliyah Boston finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds, five steals, and three blocks for her second straight double-double. The Fever also got a big lift from third-year forward Makalya Timpson, who posted a season-high 20 points and seven rebounds in 33 minutes. Indiana shot just 25 percent from three-point range but held Atlanta to 35 percent shooting overall and forced 14 turnovers. The win in Atlanta is the first of a four-game road trip. Next up, the Fever travel to face the Toronto Tempo this evening at 7 PM on ESPN.
Chicago Bears announce ‘sole focus’ to build ‘world-class stadium’ in Hammond Chicago Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren announced at a press conference Thursday that the Bears are focused on building a “world-class stadium and mixed-use development in Hammond, Indiana. The Bears current home is Soldier Field in downtown Chicago, where they have played since 1970. The Bears asked the Chicago city government to help fund a new stadium before exploring the possibility of leaving Chicago and Illinois and moving to Hammond. The Indiana legislature gave the necessary approvals for an NFL stadium to be built in Hammond in this year’s legislative session. Thursday was the first time the team declared an intention to move to the Hoosier state. “We want to make sure we get this right,” Warren said at Thursday’s press conference. “Even though we have had occasional meetings with the state of Illinois, our sole focus at this point in time is working a world-class stadium and mixed-use development in Hammond, Indiana.”
Warren said the team is exploring sites in Hammond for the new stadium and found the Lost Marsh site just east of the Indiana Illinois border to be a viable site, but further study showed another option. “We are working very hard to make sure that we build a holistic environment in Hammond so that when we looked at the Lost Marsh site, we were able to discover the opportunity at the Wolf Lake Terminal site, we thought if we could cohesively bring those together and just make sure the entire area comes together from a mixed-use standpoint, it would even be better,” Warren said. The team has had discussions with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Warren said, but the state has not given the team a written offer for a new stadium. He said Hammond having a viable site and possibly a second site that can merge with that one put the team’s focus on moving to Hammond.
Prof. Mark Rosentraub, director of the University of Michigan’s Center for Sports Venues and Real Estate Development, said it now looks increasingly likely the Chicago Bears will move to Hammond. He worked under former Indianapolis mayors Bill Hudnut and Stephen Goldsmith to renegotiate the Colts’ leases and helped lead the planning for what became Lucas Oil Stadium. Rosentraub said city leaders need to immediately address two major questions: the economic cost-benefit of the team coming, and how they plan to deal with game day traffic. He said the traffic issue could derail the whole deal if Hammond officials don’t have a game plan. “What was hypothetical is becoming possible, and now the question for Indiana to ask is, ‘Is that true?’ Are we about to enter the red zone?’” he said. “Somebody has to show the state of Indiana how are you going to get ten thousand cars in and out. It’s that simple.”
Rosentraub said those traffic management issues need to be addressed publicly. In addition, he said Hammond leaders need to provide a full economic cost-benefit analysis, including how they plan to fill a mixed-use development proposed for the Bears complex given the city’s demographic challenges. Census data shows Hammond’s population has fallen by nearly 3% since 2020, after falling by about 3.6% between 2010 and 2020. Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, whose district includes Hammond, told “News 8” based on his conversations with city leaders, those plans are in place. He said the planned extension of the South Shore Line could help as well. He said at this point, he puts the probability the Bears move to Hammond at roughly seven in ten, and that probability will get higher as the year drags on with no counteroffer from Illinois.
Gov. Mike Braun late Thursday afternoon said he also feels Hammond’s chances are good. “Since they now know that’s what their focus is on, they’re not up against the gun timewise,” he said. “They were getting a little panicked when the state of Illinois, five and a half years, wasn’t doing anything. It’s moving fairly quickly with us. It’s on schedule. To describe it using a football term, in the red zone.” Warren declined to provide a decisionmaking timeline and Rosentraub said it’s hard for him to guess how long a final decision might take. Randolph said he suspects the Bears will announce a final decision in October or November.
Hannah Kirby Resigns as Head Coach of Taylor University Competitive Cheer Taylor University’s Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, Kyle Gould, announced on Tuesday that Hannah Kirby had stepped down as TU’s head competitive cheer coach. “Hannah’s impact on Taylor Cheer extends beyond the success the program experienced on the mat,” said Gould. “She poured an incredible amount of time, energy and care into building this program from the ground up, establishing a foundation that will benefit Taylor Cheer for years to come. It was special to see that investment culminate this past year with a Crossroads League Championship and an opportunity to compete at NAIA Nationals. Hannah leaves the program in a strong place, and we are excited about the future of Taylor Cheer.” Kirby helped Taylor launch its competitive cheer program and guided the team for the past six years, taking the Trojans from their inaugural campaign in 2020-2021 through the 2025-2026 championship-winning season.
While the Trojans showed steady improvement with each season under Kirby’s watch, TU took its biggest step as a young program this past year. In addition to making history with its first-ever CL Championship and first-ever appearance at the NAIA National Championships, Taylor scored an 11th-place finish at nationals and posted the first, second, fourth, eighth and ninth-best team scores in program history. Kirby’s 2026 squad was honored with a program-record 11 All-Crossroads League awards and took home the CL’s Athlete and Newcomer-of-the-Year recognitions. The honors continued on the national stage, with TU securing its second NAIA All-American honor in program history and taking four CSC Academic All-District nods.
In Kirby’s six seasons at the helm of the TU Cheer program, she coached 29 All-CL performers, 17 CSC Academic All-District standouts and three CSC Academic All-Americans. The bulk of those honors came over the past two seasons, with Taylor piling up 22 All-CL nods, back-to-back CL Newcomer-of-the-Year awards and nine CSC Academic All-District sections. Taylor will begin a national search for its next head competitive cheer coach immediately.