Former Indiana University Men’s Basketball Player Juwan Morgan traded to Indiana Pacers
Former Indiana University forward Juwan Morgan was traded from the Boston Celtics to the Indiana Pacers. Morgan, along with Daniel Theis, Aaron Nesmith, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts, and a first-round pick were sent to Indiana in exchange for Malcolm Brodgon, who now joins Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum on the Celtics. Previously, Morgan signed a two-year, $1,834,863 deal with the Boston Celtics on April 9th to fill an open roster spot before the NBA playoffs. Morgan joined the Celtics during their run to the NBA Finals, which ultimately fell short in a game six loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Morgan appeared in 10 total games during his time with the Celtics, but never played more than five minutes in any game. He’ll now join a Pacers team that is in rebuilding mode. Indiana drafted Arizona’s Bennedict Mathurin with the sixth-overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The Pacers are hoping to build around a core of Mathurin, Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and Chris Duarte. Morgan will likely compete with Oshae Brissett, Isaiah Jackson, and Jalen Smith for playing time at forward.
Joining the Pacers will serve as a homecoming of sorts for Morgan, who was a two-time All-Big Ten selection at Indiana University. The Waynesville, Mo. native averaged 16.5 points and 7.4 rebounds as a junior and 15.5 points and 8.2 rebounds as a senior for the Hoosiers. He started 85 of 128 games and was part of Indiana’s 2016 Big Ten regular season championship team as a freshman. Morgan joined Steve Downing as the second Indiana basketball player to ever record a triple-double when he scored 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists on Dec. 22, 2018, in Indiana’s 94-64 win over Jacksonville. He scored a career-high 35 points in Indiana’s win over Butler in the 2018 Crossroads Classic, which also broke his own record of 34 points in the Crossroads Classic set the previous season.
The 6-foot-7 Morgan started his professional career as an undrafted free agent with the Utah Jazz. Morgan played for Utah in the 2019 Summer League and signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Jazz in August of 2019. He spent the following two seasons playing for the Jazz and their G-League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars. Morgan notably started his first NBA game for Utah in Game 1 of the 2020 Western Conference first-round matchup against the Denver Nuggets. Utah lost the game 135-125, but Morgan finished with a team-high plus-17 plus/minus rating, contributing three points, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Following two seasons with the Jazz and Stars, Morgan signed with the Celtics in September of 2021. He was waived a few weeks later but was quickly resigned by Boston’s G-League affiliate, the Maine Celtics. Playing 13 games, Morgan averaged 12.3 points on 53.1% shooting, 6.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.0 steals in 28.2 minutes per game. Morgan signed a 10-day contract with the Toronto Raptors in December of 2021 but was reacquired by the Maine Celtics on Jan. 1, 2022, after his 10-day contract expired.
Former Indiana University Men’s Basketball star Victor Oladipo resigns from Miami Heat
Former Indiana University Men’s Basketball Star Victor Oladipo has agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Miami Heat. Oladipo, 30, finally made his way back to the floor on March 7th after dealing with a long recovery process from a quadriceps tendon injury that he originally suffered in January 2019. After breaking out with the Indiana Pacers and making the All-Star team in 2018 and ’19, Oladipo has played just 60 regular-season games since that initial injury and struggled at times in stints with Indiana, Houston, and Miami. He was the second overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft of the Orlando Magic and played there until 2016 when he went to the Oklahoma City Thunder until 2017 when he was traded to the Indiana Pacers.
Oladipo returned to play in eight regular-season games for Miami this past season before quickly becoming a vital part of the Heat’s playoff rotation. Coach Erik Spoelstra sang Oladipo’s praises at various points throughout the team’s long postseason run, complimenting him for his two-way play and ability to inject energy into the team. Perhaps his best moment came during an otherwise lifeless performance for Miami in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, in which Oladipo provided a strong boost with 23 points, six assists, and four rebounds in 30 minutes.
Ball State Men’s Basketball to spend Thanksgiving in the Bahamas
Ball State Men’s Basketball will be spending this Thanksgiving in the Bahamas. In only its second year, Baha Mar Hoops will play host to the largest event in the sport of college basketball when 20 men’s and women’s teams play this Thanksgiving at Baha Mar, the leading resort destination in The Bahamas. The 10-day slate of games includes Oklahoma State, DePaul, Central Florida, and Santa Clara playing in the men’s Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship and five NCAA Tournament women’s teams participating in the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship. In total, 24 games will be played across three events November 18th-27th at the Baha Mar Convention, Arts & Entertainment Center.
The Cardinals will be making their first trip to The Bahamas. Ball State will be joined by Long Beach State, Missouri State, North Texas, Oakland, San Jose State, UNCW, and Vermont. Ball State opens the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship in the tournament’s first game against Vermont on Friday, November 25th.
The action concludes on Thanksgiving weekend with the eight-team Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship. The men’s tournament, which is designed strictly for mid-major NCAA Division I programs is in its fifth iteration after launching in 2017. The field is headlined by 2021 Big West regular-season champion Long Beach State and a Vermont program which is looking for a second championship in the Bahamas after taking home this tournament’s inaugural title in 2017 (then known as The Islands of the Bahamas Showcase). The Catamounts were 28-6 last year winning a conference title (regular-season or tournament crown) for the fifth-straight season before earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The first-round pairings for the Nassau Championship are as follows: Vermont vs. Ball State – 12 p.m., Missouri State vs. UNCW – 2:30pm, North Texas vs. San Jose State – 5:30pm, Oakland vs. Long Beach State – 8pm.
First-round games will be played on Friday, November 25th with four games each day on November 25th-27th. All 12 games of the Nassau Championship will be broadcast on FloHoops. The collection of teams hail from 16 states throughout the U.S., from Vermont to California. And for tourism, several teams hail from key markets such as Chicago, Dallas, and Orlando.
A mere 55-minute flight from Florida, Baha Mar opened in 2017 and is home to three iconic brands: Grand Hyatt, SLS and Rosewood. Situated on 1,000 acres overlooking Nassau’s famous turquoise ocean waters, the resort destination features more than 2,300 rooms and an abundance of dynamic programming, activities, and amenities including the largest casino in the Caribbean, a state-of-the-art convention center, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, the Caribbean’s first and only flagship ESPA spa, a collection of more than 45 restaurants and lounges, and more. The $200 million luxury water park, Baha Bay, debuted in July 2021 as the latest addition to Baha Mar’s portfolio of spectacular guest offerings. Set on 15 beachfront acres, Baha Bay has introduced an exciting array of aquatic activities and experiences, alfresco dining, a gaming pavilion, beach club, and more.
Indiana University Men’s Tennis promotes Mike Murray to Assoicate Head Coach
Indiana University men’s tennis head coach Jeremy Wurtzman has announced the promotion of Mike Murray to Associate Head Coach. Murray was previously an assistant coach with the program. Murray is entering his seventh year with the Indiana men’s tennis program. In that time the Hoosiers have had six All-Big Ten honorees. The Hoosiers have signed multiple five-star recruits and their 2022 class is receiving votes among the best classes in the nation.
Murray graduated from Wake Forest in 2003. At the time he ranked 3rd in all time wins and helped the program to a then high #16 team national ranking. He led the team in wins as a freshman and finished his career with 28 wins as a senior and reached a career high single ranking of #60.
Indianapolis Indians Coverage
Indians Get Walk Off Win Over Iowa
With the Indianapolis Indians down by one run in the bottom of the 10th and the sellout crowd of 13,911 behind him, Kevin Newman smacked a two-run, seeing-eye single into center field to give the Indianapolis Indians a walk-off victory over the Iowa Cubs on the Fourth of July 5-4. After Iowa (34-44) took its first lead of the game without recording a hit in the top of the 10th against John O’Reilly (W, 3-2), the Indians were forced into a comeback scenario in the bottom half. With Mason Martin on second base as the automatic runner and Carter Bins on first following a hit-by-pitch, chaos insued to place the game-winning runs in scoring position. Jared Oliva missed a bunt attempt and Martin, caught in-between second and third on a subsequent throw to second base, raced to third and slid in safely around the tag.
Kevin Newman then worked a two-strike count against Aneuris Rosario (L, 3-3) and, on the fourth pitch of his at-bat, singled home Martin and Bins to kick off the fireworks show in style. Center fielder Greg Deichmann came up throwing, but the laser into home went wide and allowed Bins to slide in safely. Indianapolis (38-39) took the lead early, outscoring Iowa 3-1 in the first inning. The first four batters of the game reached base safely with a one-out, two-RBI single by Cal Mitchell and subsequent throwing error putting the Indians on top. A one-out, two-run homer off the bat of Narciso Crook then levelled the game at 3-3 in the top of the fifth inning. The tie held until the fifth inning, with the Indians stranding 13 total batters in the contest.
The walk-off victory was the Indians’ first on the Fourth of July since Yurendell DeCaster launched a walk-off, two-run homer on the holiday in 2006 and their fourth in Victory Field history. It was also Indy’s first come-from-behind walk-off win this season, with the previous four walk-offs breaking tie games. Newman led the Indians with the third consecutive three-hit game of his rehab assignment. Ji-Hwan Bae, Jake Marisnick, Mitchell, and Martin followed with two hits apiece. The Teams play the second game of the six-game series tonight at 7:05pm.
For more local news . . .
Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson here