Former Ball State Football Coach Stan Parrish passes away at Age 75
Stan Parrish, former head football coach at Ball State University, passed away Sunday night. He was 75. Parrish, who was an assistant football coach for the Cardinals from 2005-08, was named the school’s 15th Head Coach December 18, 2008. He became the first Ball State Assistant Coach to be promoted to Head Coach since Wave Myers prior to the 1968 season.
Parrish was Ball State’s Quarterbacks Coach in 2005 and was promoted to offensive coordinator and was promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2006. In 2008, he was one of five finalists for the Broyles Award, which goes to the top Assistant Coach in the nation. He was selected as the Cardinals head coach December 18th, and coached Ball State in the GMAC Bowl January 6, 2009. In 2008, Parrish engineered a Ball State offense which helped the Cardinals to a 12-2 overall record, an 8-0 Mid-American Conference mark, the MAC West Division Championship and the first back-to-back bowl games in school history. In addition, the Cardinals were nationally ranked for the first time in school history and spent nine weeks in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and the Associated Press Poll.
Prior to coming to Ball State, Parrish spent the 2002 and 2003 seasons as the quarterbacks coach of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In 2002, he tutored starting quarterback Brad Johnson, who led Tampa Bay to a 12-4 regular season record and the first Super Bowl Championship in franchise history. Parrish spent six years on the staff at the University of Michigan, where he worked with former Ball State head coach Brady Hoke. In addition, Parrish served as the head coach at Wabash College from 1978-82, at Marshall from 1984-85 and at Kansas State from 1986-88. Parrish is survived by his wife, the former Ruth Purdy, son Andrew and daughter Libby. Parrish is a 1964 graduate of Valley Forge High School in Parma Heights, Ohio. He earned his Bachelors’ Degree from Heidelberg in 1969, where he played defensive back from 1965-68.
Indiana Softball Ssar Brianna Copeland named Big Ten Freshman of the Week
For the third time this season and second straight week, pitcher/infielder Brianna Copeland has earned the Big Ten Freshman of the Week Award. Copeland, a native of Pelham, Ala., started the week making history in the Hoosiers 14-11 win over Kent State on March 30th. Copeland hit three home runs in the game, her third a three-run home run to walk it off for the victory.
Copeland became the first freshman in IU softball program history to hit three home runs in a game and just the third player in program history to ever accomplish the feat. In addition to her heroics at the plate, Copeland came in to pitch against Kent State and recorded the win in the circle. For the week Copeland hit .421 with eight hits, seven RBI, 21 total bases, and a 1.105 slugging percentage. Copeland and the Hoosiers return home to host Rutgers This Friday through Sunday at Andy Mohr Field.
Bloomington North Softball Coach Geoff Aiken wins 100th game
Bloomington North Softball beat Eastern Greene 14-4 in 5 innings and give coach Geoff Aiken is 100th career win. Natalie Burns hit an inside the park home run in the bottom of the first inning. Burns ended the game with a solo home run to left center field to give the cougars the 10-run lead to end the game in 5 innings due to the mercy rule. The Cougars were leading 12-4 going in the bottom of the fifth. Molly Klein hit the second inside the park home run for the Cougars in the bottom of the second inning giving the Cougars the 6-0 lead after 2 innings. The Thunderbirds scored three in the top of the third but Bloomington North responded with four runs in the bottom of third to make it 10-3. Eastern Greene scored one more run in the top of the fourth. Bloomington North added two more in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bloomington North is looking for its first sectional title since 2016. The Cougars have won six sectional titles in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 2006, and 2016.
Muncie Central Boys Basketball Head Coach Chandler Thompson Steps Down
Muncie Central Boys’ Basketball Head Coach Chandler Thompson has submitted his resignation from the program. Thompson, who as a player helped lead the Bearcats to a state championship in 1987-88, went 35-81 in six years at the helm after replacing current Athletic Director Jeff Holloway in 2017. Central’s best record under Thompson was 13-11 in 2018-19, and its deepest postseason run was a sectional championship appearance in 2020. The Bearcats also endured an 0-21 season in 2020-21.
Thompson scored 21 points in the 1988 State championship game as Muncie Central beat Concord 76-63. Thompson went on to Ball State and was member of the 1990 Sweet 16 team that upset Oregon State and Louisville before falling in a close game with eventual national champion UNLV. Thompson is a member of the Ball State Athletics Hall of Fame — spent 13 years playing professionally overseas in Spain, Russia and Italy. Before he returned to Central, he spent 11 seasons helping coach at Lawrence North.
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