Indiana University Women’s Basketball commit Jules LaMendola named 2023 Miss Texas Basketball
Indiana University Women’s Basketball commit Jules LaMendola has been named 2023 Miss Texas Basketball. She Joins incoming freshman Lenee Beaumont from Benet Academy in Lisle Illinois as Miss Basketball Winners. LaMendola is a 6-1 guard from Coppell Texas and Coppell HS. LaMendola and Beaumont are expected to be on campus in June and both signed a National Letter of Intent during the November 2022 signing period.
LaMendola is rated the fourth-best player in Texas and the 52nd-best player in the nation in the Class of 2023 by ESPN’s HoopGurlz. The 6-1 senior guard averaged 17.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals for a 38-4 Coppell team that lost to eventual state champion San Antonio Clark in the Class 6A state semifinals. Coppell was on the verge of beating Clark, only for Natalie Huff to hit a miraculous 3-pointer with one second left to give Clark a 49-48 win at the Alamodome in San Antonio. LaMendola had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists in her final high school game.
LaMendola doesn’t just excel on the court. She has a 3.85 grade-point average and has volunteered locally on behalf of Unified and Special Olympics basketball, offering instruction to young girls in the community. She also has donated her time providing meals for the homeless and delivering gifts to children in need.
Indiana University Football gets first commitment for the class of 2024
Michigan based tight end Brody Kosin is Indiana’s first commit in the class of 2024. The Clarkston, Mich. (Clarkston H.S.) product announced his decision on his Twitter page on Saturday afternoon. Kosin took an official visit to IU back in December, and then came back for Spring Football Saturday two weeks ago.
The 6-foot-6- and 225-pound Kosin caught 17 passes for 250 yards and five touchdowns as a junior in 2022. He also plays on the Clarkston basketball team. Kosin is a 3-star recruit, the No. 953 player overall in the 2024 class, and the No. 44 tight end. Kosin chose IU over Kentucky, Duke, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Kansas, Miami (OH), West Virginia, and Tulsa.
Indiana University Softball players Cora Bassett and Taryn Kern earn weekly Big Ten Honors
Indiana freshman Taryn Kern earned her fifth Big Ten honor after she was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week, while teammate and redshirt-junior Cora Bassett earned Big Ten Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday. The Hoosiers welcome Michigan State to Andy Mohr Field Friday through Sunday for senior weekend.
Kern hit .455 on the weekend in the series sweep over Michigan, with a 1.091 slugging percentage and a 1.629 OPS. On the weekend, she totaled five hits, one double, two home runs and five RBI with five runs scored. In game two of the series, Kern hit a couple of two-run homers recording four RBI for the Hoosiers. She has totaled 21 long balls on the season and is tied with Louisville’s Taylor Roby to lead the NCAA. She also got it done in the field this weekend coming up with some big defensive plays for the Hoosiers, totaling 12 assists with a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
The San Jose, Calif., native leads the Big Ten in seven categories: slugging percentage (.992), OBS (.595), OPS (1.587), RBI (62), home runs (21), walks (39), and hit by pitch (19). The Indiana freshman is second in runs scored (59) and third in conference in batting average (.423). Kern has reached base in 44 consecutive games and has 10 multi-RBI games on the season as the leader of Indiana’s offense.
Bassett held a .500 batting average in the series sweep over Michigan. She recorded six hits including one triple and one home run for two RBI, highlighted by her third leadoff homer of the season in the series finale. The Newburgh, Ind., native held a .917 slugging percentage with a .538 on-base percentage for a 1.455 OPS. She scored five runs in the series for a season total of 62. Bassett currently leads the Big Ten ahead of Kern in addition to breaking the record for most runs in a single season that she set in 2022.
Chloe Spreen commits to the University of Alabama Women’s Basketball team for 2024 Bedford North Lawrence Girls Basketball Junior Chloe Spreen announced that she has committed to the University of Alabama for 2024. The 5-foot-9 junior guard led the Stars to a 27-3 record and the Class 4A state championship. For the season, Spreen averaged 19.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. She shined in the postseason, scoring 123 points over seven games including 20 in the title game. Spreen received her first scholarship offer as an eighth grader from Indiana. Florida, Florida State, North Carolina, Ohio State, and Vanderbilt but in the end, it was Alabama that lands her.
She is one of the leading candidates for Indiana Miss Basketball in 2024. She has been named to the 2023 Indiana Junior All Star Team and named the state player of the year by Max Preps. Spreen was named to the Indiana Basketball Coaches Assocation Supreme All 15 Team along with an All-State Selection. Spreen has scored 1, 358 points which is fifth on the All-Time Scoring list at Bedford North Lawrence HS.
Alabama is coached by Kristy Curry who coached at Purdue from 1999-2006. The Crimson Tide finished 20-11 and 9-7 in the SEC and lost to Baylor in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Assistant Coach Janese (Banks) Constantine is an Indianapolis native who played at Ben Davis HS and was a 2004 Indiana All Star. She went on the University of Wisconsin from 2005-08 and was an assistant coach at Indiana University under Teri Moren from 2016-2020 and the Hoosiers won the 2018 WNIT Championship.
Southern Indiana Bobcats fall in preseason game to Indy Bison Blue
The Southern Indiana Bobcats Semi Pro Football team lost 31-0 to Indy Bison Blue squad Saturday night at Mount Vernon High School in Fortville Indiana. Although the Bobcats did not score, they showed that they could hang with one of the best teams in the Midwest. On the first series Bison Quarterback Tanner Day was picked off by Blair Boruff. The Bobcats struggled on offense with the Bison blitzing on every play and loading the box with seven on defense. The Bobcats defense forced the Bison to punt twice. Rodney Morris Jr recovered two fumbles and got a stop on fourth down that gave the ball back to the Bobcats. There was no score at the end of the first quarter.
The Bison scored with 2:37 left in the second quarter on an eight-yard touchdown pass but the extra point was no good to make it 6-0. With Bobcats punter Ryan Langan backed up in his own end zone the Bison were able to block the Punt and get a safety with 1:53 left to make it 8-0 going into the locker room. Neither team had more than six plays in a series and Bison had 86 of 132 yards of offense on the last two series of the first half.
In the Second Half on the second play from scrimmage after a 5-yard Bobcats penalty Taravas Rochell fumbled the ball at the 19 yard line and Bison picked it up and ran it in for a touchdown making it 14-0 16 seconds into the third quarter. The Bobcats had their best drive of the night going 12 plays and 41 yards with 37 of those coming from Punter Ryan Langan who took off on a 4th and 20 from the Bison 40-yard line and got down all the way to the 17-yard line. Andre Atkins missed a field goal that gave the Bobcats their best scoring chance of the night.
The Bison scored two more touchdowns and added a field goal. The Bison had 277 yards of offense and their defense had 7 sacks along with 4 fumble recoveries and interception. The Bison had 11 penalties for 95 yards. The Bobcats had 11 penalties for 65 yards and just 26 yards of total offense. Several Bobcats went down due to injury throughout the game but the team playing its very first game as an organization showed that they were not going down without a fight and played to the very end. The Bobcats open the regular season Saturday May 20th at Edgewood HS against the Indiana Tornados.
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