Former Head Coach Bob Knight’s first Indiana University Men’s Basketball Recruiting Class hits Red Carpet for ‘First Five’ Documentary The late Bob Knight’s first-ever recruiting class as Indiana basketball’s head coach hit the red carpet for the ‘First Five’ World Premiere at the Heartland Film Festival. The documentary tells the story of five Midwestern young men from modest backgrounds who made up Coach Knight’s first IU team and laid the foundation for one of the most dominant dynasties in college basketball history. The 1971-1975 class of Steve Ahlfeld, Doug Allen, Steve Green, John Kamstra, and John Laskowski were at the Scottish Rite Cathedral on Wednesday for a first look at the documentary. “We were playing for Coach Knight, we were winning a lot of games, and we thought that was the end of the game,” Laskowski said. “Your last game’s over, you’re done playing ball, and you go on with life. 50 years go by, and people say, ‘wait a minute, we think there’s a story there; you’re one of the first five guys he brought to Indiana to start his great run and tell us more about the story’, and that’s exactly what we did. Not knowing it would be as popular as it was going to be. But we’re grateful that we had the chance to do it.”
Steve Ahlfeld, a member of three consecutive Big Ten Championship teams and the team’s orthopedic surgeon for nearly four decades, described what fans should expect from the documentary. “It’s a true, honest look at what it was like to be one of the first five recruits in Coach Knight’s first class,” Ahlfeld said. “We tell it realistically, and I think it’s going to be something that Indiana fans and people in general will really enjoy, and they’ll hear some things they’ve never heard before.” “Brings back great memories of Big Ten Championships, playing for national championships, number one rankings, and just great memories,” Ahlfeld added. “So much excitement for the great Indiana fans, it was such an enjoyable period of time and a lot of respect to be part of something bigger than yourself.”
Grant Gruffin, the ‘First Five’ director, added how proud he is to tell the story of Coach Knight’s first recruiting class. “These guys came to Indiana University not knowing who Bob Knight was or really what he was about,” Gruffin said. “For them, it was taking a leap of faith to come and to let him shape them into the young men that they became and to build the basketball program that he envisioned from the start. It’s an amazing story about how these guys really went through a lot. They grew, they came together and developed a brotherhood that stands 50 years later.” A streaming release date has not yet been announced.
Indiana Hoosiers Women’s Soccer Fall to UCLA to Start Road Slate Indiana women’s soccer fell to No. 10 UCLA 5-0 to open their first of two road matches out west. In what was a career night in goal, the Hoosiers were unable to find their offense, falling in their sixth-straight conference matchup. With the loss, the Hoosiers hold a 4-8-1 record overall and 1-6 in conference play. Goalkeeper Dani Jacobson opened the match with a strong start, making six saves in the first half. In the 32nd Minute UCLA found the back of the net with a goal from Asa Yimazaki. She was assisted by Grace Shank to take a 1-0 lead into halftime.
- The Bruins began their second half surge when Leena Powell scored a header from inside the 18, assisted by Samanth Sanchez in the 47th minute. 11 minutes later Jacobson improved her save total, setting a new career high of nine saves through the second half. In the 74th minute Kara Kroone scored her first of two goals in the match unassisted to grow the lead to three goals. Two Minutes later Kroone scored her second goal of the match shortly after to improve the lead to 4-0. She was assisted by Oruha Hayashi. In the 83rd minute Anna Wilson added the final goal with an assist by Yamazaki to finish the game with a 5-0 UCLA result. Jacobson’s nine saves is a new career high and the most saves by an IU goalie in a game since 2024 (Jamie Gertsenberg, 9 vs. Ohio State). Three Hoosiers recorded a shot attempt [Grace Hamm 2, Maggie Ledwith, Piper Coffield]. Indiana forced 15 UCLA fouls and three yellow cards.
- IUWS look to close their west coast trip on Sunday afternoon when they travel to USC on Sunday, October 11. The match is set for a 4 pm EST start.
Top Ranked Nebraska Sweeps Indiana University Volleyball at Wilkinson Hall A battle of top-15 teams went the way of top-ranked Nebraska on Thursday evening in front of a sold-out crowd at Wilkinson Hall. The Huskers (16-0, 5-0 B1G) worked a sweep (25-15, 25-19, 25-19) of the Indiana volleyball team in Bloomington. It was IU’s first home loss of the season. All of IU’s defeats this year have come to teams in the top 10 of this week’s AVCA poll. Even against the top-ranked defensive team, IU’s offense came out swinging. The Hoosiers hit .282 (34-10-85), the highest opposing percentage against the nation’s top team this year. In fact, it’s the highest any opponent has hit against the Huskers since October of 2024.
Third-year middle blocker Ella Boersema had nine blocks at a .438 hitting percentage. Second-year outside hitter Jaidyn Jager, who missed practice all week with illness, added nine kills of her own. Boersema has had eight-or-more kills in six-straight matches. Fifth-year opposite hitter Avry Tatum provided six kills on the right side. When at its best, slowing down Nebraska’s offense is a difficult task. The Huskers hit at an electric .379 clip with four of its five primary attackers producing at least eight kills. The Hoosiers slowed down opposite hitter Virginia Adriano, holding her to a .067 hitting efficiency. IU’s defense chipped in six total blocks with second-year setter Teodora Krickovic and fifth-year middle blocker Kiki Granberry having a hand in three of them each. IU will look to respond from tonight’s setback with a showdown against USC on Sunday (Oct. 11) afternoon. Big Ten Network will carry the fourth-straight match of IU’s this season when the Trojans come to town. First serve is set for 2 p.m. from Wilkinson Hall.
Even with some big blocks along the way, Nebraska’s offense was too much on the night. 11 kills from outside hitter Harper Murray and 17 combined kills out of the middle was enough to see the Huskers by in three sets. Nebraska hit .379 on the night even with six blocks from Indiana. IU settled in from the end line after a tough first set with seven errors. Still, 13 errors from the end line to three from Nebraska was a massive difference. IU’s offense hit .282 and found windows to try and close the gap. Third-year middle blocker Ella Boersema provided nine kills and hit over .430.
Third-year middle blocker Ella Boersema had nine kills and hit .438 in Thursday’s contest. Her effort continues a hot streak as of late as she moves back into her natural position in the middle. She’s had at least eight kills in six-straight matches while hitting above .300 in five of those six. Over 2,700 people packed into Wilkinson Hall to watch the top-15 showdown. It was the first all top-15 home match in program history and the fourth crowd of 2,700 or better in the gym’s brief history. Indiana Pacers star guard Tyrese Haliburton was even one of the people in attendance. The Hoosiers hit .282 against the top-ranked Huskers and matched a season low in attacking errors (10). It is the best hitting percentage from an opposing team against Nebraska since October of 2024. It’s also the most efficient offensively that IU has been against a top-10 program under head coach Steve Aird.
Indiana University Women’s Tennis Player Nicole Sifuentes Advances to the ITA Regional Main Draw Third year Nicole Sifuentes secured a win in the qualifying singles round, earning a spot in the main draw of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships. Sifuentes picked up her win against Tennessee State’s Julie Tungamirai, defeating her 6-1, 6-1. She competed against Savannah Webster (Belmont University) on Friday. Three other Hoosiers also competed in singles play as third year Gabby Gregg participated in qualifying round (6-0, 3-6, 5-7), first year Mansi Vadyala (4-6, 2-6) and third year Li Hsin Lin (2-6, 6-7) all dropped their matches on Thursday. Three others will begin their singles competition in the main draw with Sifuentes with second year Hi’ilani Williams, second year Ameia Sorey and fourth year Elisabeth Duanc. Competition continued throughout the weekend with doubles matches beginning yesterday.
Qualifying Round Results Zhanel Rustemova (Middle Tennessee State University) def. Li Hsin Lin, 6-2, 7-6 Deborah Dominguez Collado (Lipscomb University) def. Gabby Gregg , 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 Nicole Sifuentes def. Julie Tungamirai (Tennessee State University), 6-1, 6-1 Julia Millan (East Tennessee State University) def. Mansi Vadyala, 6-4, 6-2
Kelsey Mitchell, Caitlin Clark finish 3rd and 4th in MVP voting as Aja Wilson claims record 5th overall While the WNBA MVP voting was the A’ja Wilson show for the third straight year, two Indiana Fever stars landed in the top four of the voting. Kelsey Mitchell finished third in the voting, garnering two first-place votes, and Caitlin Clark placed fourth, picking up one first-place nod. Notre Dame alum Olivia Miles finished in second.
It’s the third straight MVP award for Wilson, who has led the Las Vegas Aces into the semifinals a year after they won the WNBA championship. The first player to three-peat, Wilson also won the award in 2020 and 2022. The 30-year-old once again led the league in scoring (26.2) while shooting nearly 53% from the field. She also averaged 9.4 rebounds, a career-best 3.2 assists and 1.9 blocks. Wilson received 65 first-place votes and nine second-place votes (total 713 points) from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Miles received six first-place votes and 40 second-place votes (442 points), while Mitchell and Clark followed with 287 and 212 points, respectively. No WNBA player besides Wilson has more than three MVPs, with Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson each having a trio of them. On the NBA side, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had six and Michael Jordan and Bill Russell each had five.
No. 12 Taylor University Women’s Volleyball Sweeps Goshen for Program’s 1,400th Victory No. 12 Taylor (20-5, 8-2 CL) continued its terrific season with a simple sweep of Goshen (3-20, 0-10 CL) on Wednesday night to begin the second half of Crossroads League play with a CL title still in sight. The victory gave TU its 1,400th win in program history, only the third program to reach that lofty status in the NAIA. Individually, Margo Hernandez claimed her 1,500th-career assist in the victory as the senior has taken the reigns of the offense in a 5-1 system. Hernandez carded 28 assists, eight digs and a pair of kills in the match. The sweep of the Maple Leafs is the fourth-straight for the Trojans and the fourteenth-consecutive set victory, both streaks the longest since six-straight sweeps and 18-consecutive sets in 2016.
Reagan Kleiman continued her career-best season with a team-high 10 kills on just 20 swings with a lone error for an impeccable .450 hitting percentage. The senior added a pair of blocks and digs in the win. Offensively, Ruth Anderson was right behind Kleiman with nine kills and on the other side of the net Daya Vestal led the way with six blocks. The Trojans began the match with a tough 25-20 set victory. After trading points to begin the set, TU grabbed a comfortable lead midway through thanks to a 4-0 run. A 20-13 lead quickly vanished as Goshen went on a 6-2 run to force a timeout which refocused the squad to finish off the set with three of the final four points capped by a Mackenzie Rogers kill.
Azure Flagle served up a trio of aces as TU started the second set, scoring the first five points and never looking back. Goshen got within three but were held to a -.111 hitting percentage while Taylor served up five aces. Flagle led the team with a career-high five aces in the match and also a team-leading ten digs. The squads traded blows early in the third set before the Trojans went on a match-ending 15-6 run to complete the sweep. The defense was spectacular, holding the Maple Leafs to -.065 hitting percentage in the final set of the night. No. 12 Taylor returns to Ole Arena for a Homecoming matchup against cross-county rival No. 16 Indiana Wesleyan (15-7, 8-2 CL) in a battle of second-place squads in the CL on Saturday, October 10th at 3:00 pm.
‘Strength In Every Story’: Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Pacers, Indiana Fever stars partner for mental health awareness There’s strength in every story. Kicking The Stigma, a mental health program created in 2020 by the Irsay family, announced a new athlete-led mental health awareness campaign on Wednesday. The campaign, “Strength In Every Story,” officially launches Today on World Mental Health Day. The campaign brings together several of Indianapolis’ most recognizable pro athletes, such as Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers, Kelsey Mitchell of the Indiana Fever, and Daniel Jones, Sauce Gardner, and Tanor Bortolini of the Indianapolis Colts. The campaign uses authentic storytelling to help normalize mental health conversations and encourage people to seek help when needed. “By sharing honest experiences and perspectives, Daniel, Sauce, Tanor, Tyrese and Kelsey are helping create a culture where mental health conversations are normalized, support is encouraged and no one feels alone in their journey,” Kalen Jackson, owner, chief brand officer, and president of the Indianapolis Colts Foundation said in a release. Each athlete participated in a sit-down interview centered on personal experiences, moments of challenge and growth, and their own definition of strength. The campaign features a collection of assets, including a launch video and athlete-specific stories. To view teaser videos of the new campaign, visit here.