Today’s Local Sports Headlines are brought to us by . . .
Indiana Football Adds Transfers Jared Casey and Myles Jackson
Indiana Football Coach Tom Allen has added Kentucky transfer Jared Casey and UCLA transfer Myles Jackson to the 2022 Indiana Football incoming class. Indiana has landed 10 transfers this offseason. Casey will have 3 years and Jackson will have 4 years of eligibility remaining for the Hoosiers. The Hoosiers have landed transfers from Auburn, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Miami Florida, Missouri, California, Kentucky, and UCLA.
Casey played in 23 games at Kentucky and totaled 29 tackles with two for loss over the last two seasons. “We are looking forward to Jared joining us,” IU head coach Tom Allen Said in Press Release. “He brings athleticism and experience from the SEC and is a strong addition to our linebackers’ room.” The 6-3, 220-pounder posted 20 stops, two for loss, in 2020. Casey was named to the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll. He appeared in three games and redshirted in 2019. Casey was a member of the Football Writers Association of American Freshman All-American Team. A Louisville, Ky., native, Casey was a four-star prospect and ranked the Number 15 outside linebacker by Rivals out of Ballard High School.
Jackson, a 6-2, 250-pounder, played in seven games as a redshirt freshman in 2021 at UCLA. He totaled six tackles with one sack and one fumble recovery. “Myles is a big, physical athlete who improves our defense,” IU head football coach Tom Allen said in Press Release. “He can play multiple positions and we are excited for him to join us.” In 2020, Jackson suffered a season-ending knee injury in his collegiate debut and season opener at Colorado. He was named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in the spring of 2020. A native of Jonesboro, Ga., Jackson was rated the No. 21 weak-side defensive end coming out of Mill Creek High School.
Indiana Football loses Assistant Coaches Kevin Peoples and Charlton Warren, adds Chad Wilt
Indiana Football is going through a coaching carousel as Defensive Line Coach Kevin Peoples and Defensive Coordinator Charlton Warren are leaving for other schools. It did not take the Hoosiers long to find Warren’s replacement as Minnesota defensive line coach will be the Defensive Coordinator at IU.
Peoples is leaving after 2 years as the defensive line to take the same position at Missouri.A 28-year coaching veteran, Peoples spent time at Tulane, Arkansas and Arkansas State prior to coming to Indiana. Indiana led the Big Ten in sacks during Peoples’ first year in 2020, and his 28+ years of coaching experience will be tough to replace. Outside of Peoples being a solid technique coach, he was a master recruiter. Near the end of the most recent signing day cycle, he was able to land two transfer D-lineman from Ole Miss, as well as flip 4-star recruit Venson Sneed from Tennessee and get the commitment of 4-star DT Nick James out of IMG Academy.
Warren is leaving after one season at Indiana as defensive coordinator to go the University Of North Carolina to become the Co-Defensive Coordinator and Defensive Backs Coach. It will be a homecoming for Warren, who was on the Tar Heels’ staff in 2015 and 2016. After finishing fourth in the Big Ten in points allowed and fifth in total defense in the COVID-shortened, eight-game 2020 season, Indiana dropped to last in points allowed and 10th in total defense, and after finished second in the league in sacks and turnovers in 2020. The Hoosiers were last in the league in both categories this season.
Wilt who has been on the Minnesota staff the last two season is expected to take on a larger role in Indiana’s defense with a defensive coordinator tag. Minnesota’s defensive line helped improve the Gophers rush defense from 102 to ninth nationally from 2020 to 2021. Before Minnesota, Wilt spend one season at Cincinnati. In 2019, Wilt was part of a defensive staff which had Cincinnati atop the AAC in total defense. The Bearcats totaled 96 tackles for loss and 31 sacks that season. Wilt has been a defensive line coach at Army, Maryland, Ball State, Richmond, Virginia Liberty and Central Connecticut State. Wilt was Special Teams Coordinator at Liberty and Central Connecticut State in addition to his defensive line duties. Wilt was recruiting coordinator at Ball State in 2013.
Allen now has replaced both of its coordinators from a dismal 2021 season that began with the Hoosiers ranked No. 12 in the nation and ended with them going 2-10 overall and 0-9 in the Big Ten. Offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan was fired immediately after the season and former Massachusetts head coach Walt Bell was hired to run the offense.
Indiana Volleyball Assistant Coach Krista Vansant leaving for Illinois
Indiana Volleyball Assistant Coach Krista Vansant has been named the Assistant Volleyball coach at the University of Illinois. Vansant has spent the last 4 seasons at IU, she helped recruit the Hoosiers 2020 freshmen class, which ranked No. 15 in the country, the highest ranked class in program history. It included the second highest ranked individual recruit in program history in No. 32 Tommi Stockham and two Under Armour All-Americans. During the 2019 season Vansant mentored sophomore Breana Edwards, who led the team with 361 kills and set an IU program record for kills in a match with 39 in a five-setter against Maryland. Following the season, Edwards was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team and was also selected to the U.S. Collegiate National Team – Gold Roster.
Vansant was selected as an assistant coach with the USA Volleyball Collegiate National Team Japan Tour in the summer of 2019 and was also selected for the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team Coaching Staff for the summer of 2020. A 2014 graduate of the University of Washington, Vansant helped the U.S. win gold at the Pan American Games and she was named an alternate for the 2016 Rio Olympic Team. She played professionally from the fall of 2015 through spring of 2016 with Volero Zurich in Switzerland.
Prior to IU, Vansant served as a volleyball program assistant at Washington and oversaw recruiting for the program. She also coached the Seattle Juniors 16 Volleyball Club. As an outside hitter, Vansant left UW as the most decorated volleyball player ever to wear the purple and gold. In 2013, Vansant became the first Husky to claim the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Year award, while also earning ESPNW National Player of the Year recognition as a senior in 2014. In the 2013-14 season and 2014-15 season Vansant earned the Honda Sports Award, given to the best collegiate volleyball player. The Huskies retired her No. 16 jersey during the 2017 season. On the international stage, Vansant earned Most Valuable Player honors and best outside spiker at the 2015 Pan American Cup, her first international tournament. She led Team USA to gold at the 2015 Pan Am Cup with a tournament-leading 50.4 kill percentage to go with 81 total points.
Vansant, a native of Redlands, California graduated from Washington in 2015 with a Bachelors’ Degree in Sociology. She finished her playing career at UW with 1,893 career kills, which included 565 kills (4.67 kills per set) and a .320 hitting percentage in her senior year. At Illinois Vansant will serve as the program’s recruiting coordinator as well as training the six-rotation players and helping with offensive game planning.
Indiana Men’s Soccer Goalkeeper Roman Celentano signs Generation Adidas deal with MLS
Indiana men’s soccer junior goalkeeper Roman Celentano has signed a Generation adidas contract with Major League Soccer, forgoing his remaining eligibility with the Hoosiers. The league announced Celentano amongst its signings Last Thursday. Generation adidas is a joint program between MLS and adidas which sees a handful of top collegiate underclassmen and youth national team players signed by MLS and made available in the SuperDraft, with this year’s event scheduled for today at 3pm.
The Naperville, Illinois, native becomes the fourth Hoosier in five years to ink such a deal, following Jack Maher (2020), Griffin Dorsey (2019) and Mason Toye (2018), and the 12th all-time. Maher, Dorsey and Toye were all picked within the first seven selections of their respective classes. Indiana has seen 44 former student-athletes selected in the draft since its inaugural year in 1996. A two-time All-American, Celentano became the first-ever repeat Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year after earning the awards in back-to-back seasons, 2020-21 and 2021. He is also a two-time Top-Drawer Soccer Best XI first team and Big Ten All-Tournament team selection and earned the 2020 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Tournament honor.
Owning a career 37-10-5 record while allowing just 33 goals in 52 matches, Celentano finishes as the NCAA’s active career leader in goals against average (0.619). He also ranks No. 2 in save percentage (0.831) and No. 3 in solo shutouts (28). Celentano led IU to two Big Ten championship doubles during the 2019 and 2020-21 seasons and a runner-up finish in the 2020 College Cup.
For more local news . . .
Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson here