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8th Ranked Indiana Women’s Basketball Hosts Wright State
8th ranked Indiana Women’s Basketball will host Wright State at 7pm this evening inside Simon Sjkodt Assembly Hall. IU moved up two spots in the Associated Press top 25, week 7 poll on Monday, coming in at No. 8. It has spent all seven weeks of the season ranked in the top 10 and 44 consecutive weeks in the media poll. The Hoosiers (9-2, 2-0) beat Western Michigan 67-57 Sunday afternoon and are hoping for a much better effort than they had Sunday. The Hoosiers could not pull away from the Broncos who were without their leading scorer Lauren Ross.
Mackenzie Holmes made the Big Ten Player of the Week Honor Roll for her 17-point, 19-rebound performance Sunday. The 19 Rebounds was a career high for the Gorham Maine native who added 4 blocks on 7-12 shooting. Holmes is averaging a team high 18.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game along with a team leading 24 blocks on the season.
Grace Berger is averaging 14.5 per game and is the team leader in assists with 50. Ali Patberg is averaging 12.2 points. Nicole Cardano-Hillary is averaging 10.8 points and has a team leading 20 steals on the season. Aleksa Gulbe rounds out the starting five at 10.3 points per game. Indiana got a huge lift off the bench from Kiandra Browne with 9 points and 10 rebounds Sunday. The Hoosiers average 73 points per game and give up 58 points on defense.
Wright State 1-7 is coming off a COVID pause as it played its first game in three weeks on Wednesday in a 91-60 win over Lake Erie. They are led by redshirt Sophomore Guard Destyne Jackson’s 14.0 ppg. and Junior Guard Jada Roberson who adds 11.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. The Raiders are averaging 62.2 points per game and shooting 37.6 percent from the floor. Kari Hoffman is in her first years as Wright State Head Coach and 107-43 in the 7th season as Head Coach. Hoffman coached her alma mater Cedarville University in Ohio for the last 6 seasons. Wright State competes in the Horizon League and is located in Dayton, Ohio.
This will be the sixth all time meeting between the two programs. Indiana has won all five meetings with the last one coming November 24, 2006, in Miami, Florida where the Hoosiers beat the Raiders 73-52.
Indiana Women’s Basketball Adds Yarden Garzon For 2022 Class
Indiana Women’s Basketball Head Coach Teri Moren has announced the addition of Yarden Garzon to this year’s signing class. Garzon joins Lilly Meister, Lexus Bargesser, and Henna Sandvick in the class of 2026.
Garzon, a Ra’anana, Israel native, is rated as a 4-star recruit by Premier Basketball Report who averaged 14.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game for Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan. She’s shooting 45.1 percent from the field, 43.8 percent from 3-point, and 94.1 percent at the free throw line. She also has extensive experience with the Israel National Team. At the 2021 U20 European Challengers, she averaged 19.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.8 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game. Most recently, she joined the Israel Senior National Team at the EuroBasket 2023 qualifiers in November 2021 where she was in the starting lineup against Latvia and scored 16 points and 4rebounds.
Indiana Football Adds 2 More to 2022 Recruiting Class
Indiana head football coach Tom Allen announced on Friday the signing of Wide Receivers Omar Cooper Jr. and Kamryn Perry to National Letters of Intent. IU welcomed 27 student-athletes in the early signing period. Twenty of the 27 signed NLIs, while seven transfers will head to Bloomington. The seven include Defensive Lineman LeDarruis Cox (Ole Miss), Running Back Josh Henderson (University of North Carolina), Linebacker Bradley Jennings Jr. (University of Miami), Defensive Lineman Patrick Lucas Jr. (Ole Miss), Running Back Shaun Shivers (Auburn University), Wide Receiver Emery Simmons (University of North Carolina), and Defensive Lineman JH Tevis (University of California).
Eight of the signees are four-star prospects, including Cooper Jr. (Rivals), Defensive Lineman Nick James (Rivals, ESPN), Linebacker Dasan McCullogh (Rivals, ESPN, 24/7 Sports), Offensive Lineman DJ Moore (Rivals, ESPN), Defensive Back Trevell Mullen (Rivals, ESPN), Running Back Gi’Bran Payne (Rivals, ESPN, 24/7 Sports), Defensive Lineman Venson Sneed (Rivals), and Defensive Lineman Richard Thomas Jr. (ESPN).
IU signed 14 defensive players and 13 offensive players. Indiana added six defensive linemen, four linebackers, and four defensive linemen on defense, and four running backs and four wide receivers, three offensive linemen and two tight ends, and one on offense. Players signed from 11 different states, including nine from Florida, five from Ohio, three from Indiana, two each from Alabama and Texas, and one each from Arkansas, California, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey, and North Carolina.
Omar Cooper Jr. WR • 6-1 • 185 Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North announced Wednesday he would wait until February to sign due to the coaches changes in the offseason but decided two days later that he would sign with the Hoosiers. Cooper Jr was a Wide Receiver for Head Coach Patrick Mallory at Lawrence North High School … Rivals four-star prospect … rated as the No. 155 prospect nationally, the No. 22 Wide Receiver nationally, and the No. 6 prospect in Indiana by Rivals … two-time Indiana Football Coaches Association (IFCA) Top 50 all-state selection … named the IFCA position award winner (Wide Receiver) his senior year … finished his career with 132 receptions for 2,856 yards, and 22 touchdowns … all-conference standout led Lawrence North to its first sectional championship since 1990 as a senior … teammate of IU quarterback Donaven McCulley .
Kamryn Perry WR • 5-9 • 170 Marietta, Ga./Mariettawas a Wide Receiver for Head Coach Richard Morgan at Marietta High School … first-team all-region selection as a senior … caught 63 passes for 1,116 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Gibson Southern Quarterback Brady Allen Named 2021 Indiana Mr. Football
Gibson Southern High School Quarterback Brady Allen has been named 2021 Indiana Mr. Football. Allen is the first Purdue recruit to win Mr. Football, which dates to 1992, since Markell Jones of Columbus East in 2014 and Gibson Southern’s first Mr. Football in the program’s history. Allen was named on 51% of the ballots returned from the Indiana Football Coaches Association to outdistance finalists Caden Curry of Center Grove (25%) and Westfield’s Micah Hauser (12%).
It might not have happened for Allen, despite his otherworldly statistics, if not for Gibson Southern’s Class 3A state championship run. The previous three seasons, the Titans ran into a brick wall in the sectional with losses to Evansville Memorial (2018), Heritage Hills (2019) and Southridge (2020). Nothing could derail Gibson Southern in Allen’s senior season, though there was a close call in the regional, a 31-29 win over Lawrenceburg. Allen, who finished as the state’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns with 149 for his four-year career, closed out his high school career on the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium with 398 passing yards and five touchdowns in a 45-35 win over Brebeuf Jesuit in the 3A state finals.
Allen completed 68.7% of his passes as a senior for 4,253 yards (third in state history for a single season) and 58 touchdowns with six interceptions. An amazing stat: in six tournament games this season, Allen threw for 1,942 yards and 23 touchdowns. For his career, Allen finished with 11,918 passing yards (second in state history behind Evansville Mater Dei’s Jake Schiff 20 years ago) and rushed for 300 yards and 17 TDs. But for all the impressive numbers — and they are impressive — Allen’s impact at Gibson Southern goes far beyond the statistics; Coach Nick Hart’s 3-year-old son shares the same first name as the 2021 Mr. Football.
Gibson Southern is located just North of Evansville off US. 41 and the only other Mr. Football from the Evansville area was Evansville Reitz quarterback Paul McIntosh, the 2007 winner. Allen will enroll at Purdue for the spring semester which starts January 10th, where he will participate in spring practice.
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