Former Purdue Men’s Basketball Coach Lee Rose passes away at age 85
Lee Rose, who led Purdue and Charlotte to the men’s Final Four, has died. He was 85. UNC Charlotte said Rose died Tuesday in Charlotte. The school did not provide a cause of death. Rose led the 49ers to the 1976 NIT championship game and to the school’s only Final Four in 1977. He went 72-18 in three years at Charlotte before taking over at Purdue. He spent just two seasons with the Boilermakers, going 50-18 and going to the Final Four in 1979. After that, he spent the next six years at South Florida amassing a 106-69 record, although the Bulls never made the NCAA Tournament.
Rose moved from a 27-year collegiate coaching into the NBA as an assistant coach with San Antonio, New Jersey, Milwaukee and the Charlotte Hornets and Bobcats. Through it all, Rose remained a fan of the Charlotte 49ers program, regularly attending home basketball games at Halton Arena after retiring. He was elected to the Charlotte 49ers Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of its inaugural class. He is survived by his wife, Eleanor, their sons Mike and Mark, and four grandchildren.
Indiana University Cross Country and Track Coach Ron Helmer to retire after 2022-23 season
Four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Ron Helmer announced that he will retire from his role as the Director of Indiana Men’s and Women’s Track &Field and Cross Country at the conclusion of his contract, which runs through the 2022-23 season. IU Athletics will soon begin formulating a succession plan to fill the position in advance of the 2023-24 season. Helmer’s retirement will bring an end to a coaching career that has spanned more than 50 years and is littered with National Champions, Olympic Gold Medalists, and enormous team accomplishments.
Helmer is in the middle of his 15th season at Indiana University, where he has added significantly to the successes that legendary predecessors such as E.C. ‘Billy’ Hayes and Sam Bell enjoyed before Helmer’s arrival. Since taking over the Indiana program in 2007, Helmer has mentored 52 individual Big Ten champions in cross country and track and field, his student-athletes have won six NCAA individual titles, and he’s had 10 Big Ten Athlete of the Year Honorees. He’s also coached five teams that captured Big Ten Championships and another 11 that finished second in the conference. Helmer has been recognized frequently by his peers for his coaching successes. In addition to his Big Ten Coach of the Year accolades, he’s a six-time USTFCCA Regional Coach of the Year.
Helmer’s Hoosier products have not only succeeded on the Big Ten level, but the NCAA and Olympic levels as well. Among his proteges is five-time NCAA High Jump champion Derek Drouin. In addition to his successes for IU, Drouin also competed in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics for Canada, earning gold in 2016 and a bronze in 2012. Other Hoosier track and field Olympians who were mentored by Helmer include Kelsie Ahbe (pole vault – 2012) and Olu Olamigoke (triple jump – 2012). Among Helmer’s other all-time greats is 2012 NCAA Outdoor 1,500-meter champion Andy Bayer, whose 10 All-America honors ranks second in IU Track and Field history to Jim Spivey’s 12. In all, Helmer’s Hoosier student-athletes placed in the top three in individual events at NCAA Championships 22 times, in the top five 40 times, and captured 221 All-America honors.
Before coming Indiana, Helmer served as the director and head coach of track and field and cross country at Georgetown University for eight years. Before being promoted to director in July 1999, Helmer served as associate head coach with the Hoyas for seven seasons and assistant coach the five years prior. During his time with the Hoyas, 120 of his student-athletes earned a total of 342 All-America recognitions and 219 student-athletes captured BIG EAST individual titles. At the NCAA Championships, he guided 27 athletes or relay teams to a top-three finish, highlighted by four national champions – Joline Staeheli (mile, 1996), Miesha Marzell (1500m, 1996) and two distance medley relay champions (1997, 1999).
He saw his Georgetown teams earn 22 top-10 finishes in NCAA Championship action, including a streak of 15 straight at the cross-country championships. Among the top-10 finishes were seven top-four trophy finishes, including a third at the 1998 NCAA Indoor Championships and a fourth-place finish at the 2002 NCAA Cross Country Championships. He was part of 37 BIG EAST Championship teams as well. Helmer was inducted into Georgetown’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.
A 1970 graduate of Southwestern College in Winfield, Kan., Helmer was a captain of his college track and field and cross-country teams six times and helped the team capture four conference championships. After graduation, Helmer immediately got involved in the coaching profession, starting at the prep level. From 1970-86 he coached high school teams in Wellington, Kan.; Arkansas City, Kan.; Bristol, Va.; and Woodbridge, Va. Those high school teams combined to win 10 state championships and earn seven state runner-up team finishes. That level of success caught Georgetown’s attention, and Helmer has spent the last 36 years coaching at the Division I level. Helmer plans to enjoy retirement with his wife, Becky and his family. Helmer’s family includes his children and grandchildren from his 38-year marriage to his late wife Mary as well as his three stepsons. They include daughter Tori Arther and her husband Jay (who works with the IU Track and Field program) and their children Rylee, Sydney and Brody; son Justin (Track and field and girl’s cross-country coach at Bloomington High School North), his wife Shannon and their daughter Hazel; and daughter Kari who is an IU graduate. His stepsons are Charlie Browning, married to Allie; and Bobby and Teddy Browning who ran for Helmer at Indiana
Indiana Baseball falls at Evansville
In a game that seemed to have every unique situation imaginable, the Indiana baseball program dropped an 8-4 decision to Evansville at German American Bank Field. The scoring got started in the second inning when Evansville (14-14) plated one run, before a 30-minute delay to fix the turf on the pitcher’s mound. The Purple Aces then added one more in the second, before Indiana (11-16) struck with one in the third. Evansville added two in the fifth, three in the sixth and one in the eighth, before IU clawed back with three in the ninth.
The Hoosiers out-hit the Purple Aces, 10-6, and the IU pitching staff struck out 14 batters, but two errors, nine walks, four hit batters and four wild pitches aided UE. Redshirt-sophomore Bobby Whalen hit his second home run of the season, while senior Phillip Glasser posted a pair of hits and drove in two RBIs. Redshirt-junior Matthew Ellis collected three hits on the night and drove in one run. For Evansville, Simon Scherry went 2-for-4 with one walk, two runs scored and three RBIs. Brent Widder added three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs in the game. Shane Harris (2-2) got the win with five innings of one-run work. He allowed five hits and struck out three batters.
Indiana will travel to Purdue for its second Big Ten weekend of the season. The series will begin on Friday at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Indiana Fever tickets for Gainbridge Fieldhouse on sale April 12th
Tickets for Indiana Fever home games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the 23rd season will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, April 12 beginning at 2 p.m. ET, more information can be found by viewing the Indiana Fever Ticket Central portal or by calling the Gainbridge Fieldhouse box office at (317) 917-2528.
The Fever will begin the home schedule with a preseason game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday, April 30th at 3pm against the defending WNBA champion Chicago Sky. Indiana will also play a preseason game on the road at the Dallas Wings on Tuesday, May 2nd at 2:pm
The full schedule of Fever regular season games played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse is below:
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME (ET) |
| Saturday, April 30 | Chicago Sky | 3 p.m. |
| Sunday, May 8 | Los Angeles Sparks | 3 p.m. |
| Tuesday, May 10 | Minnesota Lynx | 7 p.m. |
| Sunday, May 15 | Atlanta Dream | 3 p.m. |
| Tuesday, May 17 | Atlanta Dream | 7 p.m. |
| Sunday, May 22 | Connecticut Sun | 2 p.m. |
The next nine home games during the Fever regular season will be played at Indiana Farmers Coliseum, with the final four regular season home games played at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Tickets are expected to go on sale for games at Indiana Farmers Coliseum on Wednesday, May 18 and games at Hinkle Fieldhouse on sale beginning Thursday, July 14th. For the third consecutive season, the Fever will continue to livestream home games for fans statewide at FeverBasketball.com and on the Indiana Fever’s Facebook page. This year’s streaming services will continue to extend to fans in Ohio and Kentucky.
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