IUMBB incoming Freshman CJ Gunn named Indiana All-Star
Indiana signee CJ Gunn was named to the 2022 Indiana All-Stars team on Monday morning. Gunn joins the likes of Purdue commit Braden Smith, North Carolina signee Jalen Washington, Wisconsin signee Connor Essegian, and others on the talented 14-player roster. Gunn and the Indiana All-Stars are set to play the Junior All-Stars on June 8 at a location still to be determined. Then on June 10, the team will head to Owensboro, Ky., where they’ll take on the Kentucky All-Stars, followed by a rematch the next day at Southport Fieldhouse.
In addition to the Indiana All-Stars selection, Gunn was also a finalist for Indiana Mr. Basketball before Westfield’s Braden Smith won the state’s highest honor. Gunn’s selection comes after a terrific senior season at Lawrence North (Indianapolis) High School, where he led the Wildcats to a 17-7 overall record and a trip to the sectional final before falling to eventual-Class 4A state champions Cathedral. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard averaged 23.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 46.8% from the field and 37.4% three-point range. One Gunn’s best games this past season came in his return from a foot injury on Dec. 28, 2021, when he scored a then-career high 34 points and shot 6-of-11 from beyond the arc. Two months later, Gunn topped that scoring mark when he finished with 38 points in a sectional semifinals victory over Warren Central.
Gunn was the first 2022 recruit to commit to the Hoosiers, doing so over a year ago on Feb. 7, 2021, under previous head coach Archie Miller. Despite Miller’s firing just over a month later, Gunn maintained his Indiana commitment under first-year head coach Mike Woodson and later signed with the Hoosiers on Nov. 10. Gunn joins a three-player incoming freshman class which includes five-star point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino and four-star forward Kaleb Banks. The three-star Gunn is ranked as the No. 129 recruit and No. 17 shooting guard in the nation, according to the 247Sports rankings. He previously held offers from Cincinnati, Kansas State, Missouri, Xavier, and others before signing with Indiana.
Bloomington native Beth (Morgan) Cunningham named Women’s Basketball Coach at Missouri State
Bloomington South Graduate Beth (Morgan) Cunningham has been named the Head Coach of the Missouri State Women’s Basketball Program. Cunningham scored 1,645 points at Bloomington South and was named a 1993 Indiana All Star. Cunningham was standout Tennis player and earned All-State honors in both. She is a 2011 Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame Inductee. During her playing days at Notre Dame (1993-97), Beth (Morgan) Cunningham was a trailblazer, leading the program to its first NCAA Women’s Final Four appearance and a 31-7 campaign her senior season. She was a two-time Associated Press and WBCA honorable mention All-America choice, four-time first-team all-conference selection and two-year team captain. The Irish were 97-32 in her four seasons, including a pair of conference titles and three NCAA appearances. She departed as the all-time leading scorer in Fighting Irish women’s basketball history with 2,322 points (which now ranks third), having set or tied 28 school records during her career.
Cunningham, who owns an impressive 20-year collegiate coaching resume, arrives in Springfield Missouri from Duke University, where she has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach on coach Kara Lawson’s staff. Prior to her stint at Duke, she spent eight seasons (2012-20) as an associate head coach at Notre Dame for Hall of Fame coach Muffet McGraw. She was part of one of the best stretches in NCAA women’s history as Notre Dame compiled a 244-19 record in that span with seven straight 30-win seasons, six conference titles, five NCAA Final Four appearances and the 2018 National Championship. The Irish followed that up with a runner-up finish in the 2019 NCAA Championship, finishing the year with the No. 1 scoring offense in the country (88.6 points per game). Before returning to her alma mater in the summer of 2012, Cunningham spent 11 years on the coaching staff at VCU, including one year as an assistant coach (2001-02), one as associate head coach (2002-03) and nine seasons as head coach starting in 2003-04. She is the Rams’ all-time leader in women’s basketball coaching wins with a 167-115 (.592) record and postseason appearances in each of her final five seasons. From 2008-12, VCU averaged better than 22 wins per season, including back-to-back 26-win seasons in 2008 and 2009, and the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth in 2009.
She was also a fixture in USA Basketball circles as both a player and coach, first suiting up for Team USA four times from 1996-99 (winning three medals including a gold at the 1997 USA World University Games) and later serving as the athlete representative on the USA Basketball Women’s Junior National Team Committee and the USA Basketball Women’s Collegiate Committee.
Following her amateur career, Cunningham spent three seasons playing professional basketball, including two years with the Richmond/Philadelphia Rage of the American Basketball League (ABL) and one year with the WNBA’s Washington Mystics in 2000 before embarking on her coaching career.
Indiana Baseball travels to Evansville
A quick trip down I-69 for the Indiana baseball program will present the fourth meeting of the season with Evansville, as the two programs will throw the first pitch tonight at 7 p.m. ET at German American Bank Stadium. Earlier this season, Indiana (11-15) won two of three games in a weekend set in Bloomington. Evansville (13-14) won the opener, before the Hoosiers swept a Sunday doubleheader to earn the series win. Both teams played Big Ten opponents last weekend, as IU opened conference play against Northwestern, while Evansville swept three games from Michigan State at home.
Tonight’s midweek contest will mark the 54th meeting all time between Indiana and Evansville, with IU holding a 33-19 edge on the ledger. The midweek contest will be the fourth meeting between the two teams in 2022, as IU won two of three games in a series at the end of March. From March 25-27, Evansville won a slugfest in the series opener, 17-14, before IU won both ends of a doubleheader by identical scores of 6-5 on Sunday. In Evansville, Indiana is 12-11 since its first visit in 1968. The Hoosiers won the first four games in the River City and are 5-2 in the last seven trips. The two teams have met one time on a neutral site, with IU winning, 15-10, on March 23, 1992. Indiana won 16 of the first 19 meetings in the series, before Evansville 11 of the next 15 contests. IU has claimed 13 of the last 17 contests. Over the last 25 meetings, 13 of those have been decided by two-or-fewer runs.
Evansville is 13-14 overall coming off of a series sweep over Michigan State at home. The Purple Aces have won four straight games entering the week. In 2022, UE is 3-3 in midweek contests, but have won its last three midweek tilts. Mark Shallenberger leads the team or is tied for the team lead in batting average (.392), on-base percentage (.496), hits (40), runs scored (22) and doubles (10). Tanner Craig owns 19 extra base hits – including a team-best nine home runs – and leads the team with 27 RBIs. Defensively, the Purple Aces rank No. 20 nationally with 24 double plays.
Indianapolis Indians Open 2022 Season at home against Omaha
The Indianapolis Indians opens the 2022 Season with the Omaha Storm Chasers visiting Victory Field tonight at 7:05 pm with the game televised on WNDY-23 in Indianapolis. The Indians and Storm Chasers will play through Sunday. The Wednesday and Sunday Games will start at 1:35 PM the Thursday and Friday Games start at 7:05pm and Saturday’s game is at 6:35pm. The Indians are the Triple A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates and will being its 120th season of baseball. Victory Field has been home of Indians since the first game July 11, 1996.
The Indians have won 7 Triple AAA Championships in 1917, 1928, 1949, 1956,1988, 1989, and 2000. 2 International League Titles in 1963 and 2000 and were runners up in 2005 and 2015. 12 American Association Titles in 1902, 1908, 1917,1928, 1949, 1956, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1994, and 1998. The Indians were runner ups in 1936, 1939, 1943, 1946, 1950, 1954, 1971, 1974, 1978, and 1996. The International League is divided into three divisions: the 7-team Midwest, the 6-team Northeast, and the 7-team Southeast and all teams play a 150-game schedule that concludes in late September. The Indians are Midwest Division includes the Columbus Clippers, Iowa Cubs, Louisville Bats, Omaha Storm Chasers, Saint Paul Saints, and Toledo Mud Hens. The Indians will play the Charlotte Knights Gwinnett Stripers, Memphis Redbirds, Nashville Sounds in the Southeast Division. The Indians will face the Rochester Red Wings in the Northeast Division this season
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