Local Sports Headlines: March 28, 2023

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Local-Sports.png

Indiana University Diving Head Coach Drew Johansen named CSCAA Men’s Diving Coach of the Year
On its own, Indiana diving would have been the 12th-highest scoring team at the 2023 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Diving contributed 104 points to IU swimming and diving’s fourth-place finish at the national meet, scoring 42.5 more points than any other diving squad. For that dominance, Indiana diving head coach Drew Johansen has been named the CSCAA Division I Men’s Diving Coach of the Year, as announced by the coaches association on Monday. Johansen is now a three-time CSCAA coach of the year after winning the women’s coaching award last season and the men’s again in 2018. The ninth-year head coach has produced five diving national championships in the last five years, including two in 2023.

Three Indiana divers scored at least 30 points at the national meet, combining for five medals. Senior Andrew Capobianco led the group with 37, followed by sophomores Carson Tyler (35) and Quinn Henninger (32). IU had its best performance of the meet on day three in the 3-meter springboard final as the trio all finished within the top four. In his final performance as a collegiate diver, Capobianco captured his third-career 3-meter title with a program-record 522.60 score; his lowest dive earned 81 points, and he outscored the field by 74.3 points. Henninger earned his first-career national medal, taking bronze with 425.40 points while Tyler placed fourth with a 415.50.

The next day, Tyler earned the program’s first platform diving title, outdueling Tennessee’s Bryden Hattie 476.60-455.10. On his fifth dive, Tyler created space with a perfect score on his Back 3 ½ Somersault Tuck to earn a 99.00. He clinched the title with an 81-point dive in round six. Henninger took another bronze in the event with a 408.60. In the first day of diving, Capobianco earned silver on the 1-meter board with a scored of 439.45 that was just 4.50 short of the title. Among his accolades, Capobianco totaled three national titles, six NCAA medals and 12 All-America honors as a collegiate diver. Freshman Maxwell Weinrich was IU’s fourth qualifier for the NCAA championships and competed in all four events. IU men’s diving foreshadowed it NCAA success with a similarly dominant performance at the Big Ten Championships, helping the swim and dive program to its second straight conference title. For the second-straight year, Indiana swept the diving titles. Over the week, IU totaled seven medals and, on the final day, swept the platform diving medals with four Hoosiers on the podium. Capobianco and Tyler shared the Big Ten Co-Diver of the Championships award.

Indiana University Men’s Tennis sweeps archrival Purdue
Indiana Men’s Tennis left their mark in West Lafayette on Saturday as the Hoosiers defeated rival Purdue 7-0 at Schwartz Tennis Center. Indiana has now won five of its last six matches over the Boilermakers, dating back to the 2017-18 season. The match started out with fierce competition for the doubles point. Indiana and Purdue split No. 1 and No. 2 doubles before Ekansh Kumar and Luka Vukovic and fought their way to a 7-5 win at No. 3 doubles and earned Indiana a 1-0 lead.

From there, Indiana went on a tear in singles action. Patrick Fletchall, Luc Bouiler, Sam Landau and Jagger Saylor all won in straight sets to push the lead to 5-0 and clinch the win. Ilya Tiraspolksy and Luka Vukovic closed the door with wins at No. 4 and No. 2 singles, respectively to make it a 7-0 sweep. With the win, Indiana is now 1-0 in Big Ten play and 11-6 on the season overall. Indiana will be back in action next week Friday for a home match vs. Northwestern.

Indiana University Men’s Basketball committ Gabe Cupps to play in the Throne National Championship
Gabe Cupps has another chance to play with his Centerville High School teammates before joining coach Mike Woodson and the Indiana Hoosiers. Centerville lost 57-53 to Pickerington Central in the OHSAA state semifinals, but later accepted an invitation to play in The Throne National Championship at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. from tomorrow through Saturday.  OHSAA rules prohibit high school teams playing in this event, so six seniors and three underclassmen from Centerville will compete as a club team named “The ‘Ville” in order to not break any rules.  The ‘Ville received the No. 13 seed in this 16-team tournament and will play against No. 4 seed Beaumont Elite from Texas in the first round. The game will tip off tomorrow at 3pm and can be viewed on NBA TV. FOX Sports 1 and FOX will also broadcast games throughout the tournament. 

Cupps averaged 15.4 points, 6.2 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game with a 40.8 3-point shooting percentage this season. After being named 2022 Ohio Mr. Basketball, Cupps was the runner-up in 2023 to Devin Royal, an Ohio State commit from Pickerington Central. On Saturday, however, Cupps was named Division I Player of the Year by the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association.

The Throne was co-founded by Darren Duncan, a former professional basketball player, and Danny Green, a three-time NBA champion and an NCAA Tournament champion with the North Carolina Tar Heels. NBA players Dwight Howard, Harrison Barnes, Rudy Gay and Fred VanVleet are board members for The Throne. According to TheThroneHoops.com, Gold Level Sports & Entertainment and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) have teamed up to create, The Throne, a one-of-a-kind platform bringing a bracket-style basketball tournament to the high school ranks. As a four-day single-elimination basketball tournament, The Throne will bring together sixteen of the most prestigious boys basketball clubs to compete in a bracket-style format. By partnering with the NBPA and THINK450, the NBPA’s business development and innovation arm, The Throne will be curated with the support and expertise of current NBPA members, creating an event “for the players, by the players.”

Indiana Fever to host WNBA Draft Party April 10th at Gainbridge Fieldhouse
The Indiana Fever announced today the organization will host fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the Fever Draft Party, presented by Anthem, for the 2023 WNBA Draft on Monday, April 10, with doors opening to the public beginning at 6 p.m. ET. For the first time in franchise history, the Fever will be on the clock to select the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft. The draft will tip off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Fans can begin claiming their complimentary ticket here. Complimentary parking will also be available in the Virginia Avenue parking garage across the street from Gainbridge Fieldhouse. While watching the Fever make history, fans of all ages will be able to interact with the Family Fun Zone, presented by Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at Ascension St. Vincent, inside the Fieldhouse and play on the court in between picks. Food and beverage options will be available for fans throughout the night. Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell and forward Queen Egbo will be available for pictures and autographs during the draft as well.

Heading into draft night, the Indiana Fever own five of the 36 draft picks: 1st Round – 1st Overall, 1st Round – 7th Overall, 2nd Round – 13th Overall, 2nd Round – 17th Overall and 3rd Round – 25th Overall.

Indianapolis Colts re-sign Defensive End Khalid Kareem
The Indianapolis Colts on Monday re-signed defensive end Khalid Kareem. The 6-foot-4, 268 pound Kareem appeared in four games for the Colts in 2022 after the team signed him off the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad. Kareem recorded one tackle and three quarterback hits in 61 snaps on the Colts’ defense. Kareem appeared in 23 games (one start) for the Bengals from 2020-2021, recording one sack, 28 tackles, two tackles for a loss and four quarterback hits. The Bengals selected Kareem, who played his college ball at Notre Dame, in the fifth round (No. 147 overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Follow us on Facebook

Image result for Facebook button

For more local news . . .
Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson