Indiana University Football adds Arizona State Transfer Robby Harrison
Indiana added a young piece to its defensive line group during the spring transfer portal window. Robby Harrison, 6-foot-4, 325-pound defensive lineman from Arizona State, announced his commitment to join Indiana on Wednesday. Harrison played three games during his freshman season at Arizona State, but did not record any stats, according to the school website. He maintained redshirt status in 2022, allowing for four years of eligibility at Indiana. Defensive line has been a major area of focus for Allen and Randolph this offseason. In addition to Harrison, Indiana has landed defensive line transfers Andre Carter (Western Michigan), Lanell Carr (West Virginia), Philip Blidi (Texas Tech), Marcus Burris Jr. (Texas A&M) and Carl Biddings (Louisville). And Harrison, though just a redshirt freshman for the 2023 season, is already one of the biggest players on the team.
Out of Emerald High School in Greenwood, S.C., Harrison originally committed to Arizona State as a three-star recruit, ranked No. 1414 in the class of 2022. He held offers from Air Force, Army, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Georgia State, Howard, Indiana, Kansas State, Liberty, Michigan, Navy, Old Dominion, Toledo, Tulane, Washington State, Western Kentucky and Wofford, according to 247Sports. After entering the transfer portal on April 18, Harrison announced offers from West Virginia, Georgia State, Kansas, Louisiana, Marshall, Coastal Carolina, South Florida, Georgia Southern, SMU, Memphis, UConn and Cincinnati. He ultimately chose Indiana, where he’ll play for defensive line coach Paul Randolph.
Indiana University Men’s Soccer Alumni Team schedule set for The Soccer Tournament
Representing Indiana men’s soccer, the “Hoosier Army” team of IUMS alumni will face German Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund in the opening match of The Soccer Tournament (TST), a five-day seven-versus-seven competition featuring some of the top soccer brands in the world. TST announced its group assignments for each team on Wednesday including Hoosier Army’s first three matches at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. Hoosier Army and Dortmund will kick off the tournament on Thursday, June 1, at 9 a.m. ET. At 5:30 that evening, the IU alumni club will face Kingdom FC before taking on Newtown Pride FC in their final match of Group A. The top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout stages.
Hoosier Army is the first alumni team to enter the TST field. The player roster features alumni from the last 18 seasons of IU men’s soccer. Kevin Noschang represents the 2005-08 squads and will play alongside one of the recent additions to the roster, Ryan Wittenbrink, who collected 10 goals and nine assists to help lead Indiana to the program’s 22nd appearance in the NCAA College Cup last fall. Six of the alums played in the 2012 NCAA National Championship squad. The full Hoosier Army roster can be found here.
Hoosier Army’s first opponent represents one of the top clubs in the world. As a club, Borussia Dortmund are eight-time champions of the Bundesliga the topflight of German soccer – and two-time European champions. The announced roster includes former club goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller, who was part of back-to-back Bundesliga titles from 2011-12, as well as American media personality and former Division-I men’s soccer athlete Noah Beck. IU’s second opponent, Kingdom FC, also features ex-MLS pros and division-I players. The team was organized by brothers Cody and Paulie Calafiore, who played college soccer at Temple and Rutgers, respectively, before moving on to careers in media. Newtown Pride FC is an amateur club based in the Sandy Hook section of Newtown, Connecticut. The club won the 2019 National Amateur Cup and, with the win, became just the second National Amateur Champion to qualify for the U.S. Open Cup.
The TST field also includes teams representing clubs from the English soccer pyramid including West Ham United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Wrexham AFC. United States men’s national team legends Clint Dempsey and DaMarcus Beasley each have teams entered in the tournament, alongside a team made up of former U.S. women’s national team stars. The full list of teams competing can be found here. Tickets for The Soccer Tournament can be purchased on the competition’s website, thetournament.com.
Indiana University Softball host Michigan State in the final regular season series
Indiana Softball (37-15, 15-5 B1G) welcomes Michigan State (14-29, 4-16 B1G) to Andy Mohr field for a three-game series starting tonight at 6pm on BTN Plus. The two teams play Saturday at 2pm on BTN Plus and Sunday at Noon on the Big Ten Network. The Hoosiers are in second place in the Big Ten. Northwestern has clinched a share of the Big Ten Title and needs the Hoosiers to drop one game this weekend to get the title outright. Indiana is looking for a top four finish in the Big Ten so they can receive a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament next week in Champaign Illinois. Michigan State is in last place and needs to sweep this weekend to have a chance at getting into the 12-team conference tournament.
Indiana (37-15, 15-5) earned their fifth conference sweep against Michigan. Freshman Taryn Kern earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week after hitting .500 on the weekend with a 1.250 slugging percentage and a 1.583 OPS with two hits, five walks and three hit by pitch. Redshirt-Junior Cora Bassett hit .500, recording 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. She held a .917 slugging percentage with a .538 on-base percentage for a 1.455 OPS. Sophomore pitcher Brianna Copeland picked up two wins against the Wolverines and holds an 18-2 record inside the circle.
Michigan State (14-29, 4-16 B1G) won the series against Purdue last weekend (9-8, 4-0, and 2-4). Sophomore pitcher Faith Guidry tossed the Spartans’ 24th no-hitter against the Boilermakers. She leads MSU inside the circle with 101 innings pitched, with a 4.44 ERA and has tallied 55 strikeouts with a 5-11 record on the season. Guidry tossed a one-hit shutout against Northwestern and two no-hitters against Purdue on the season. Senior outfielder Jessica Mabrey is hitting a .325 on the season on 41 hits and 21 RBI. She holds a 1.013 OPS. The Spartans are batting .247 on the season with 262 hits for 262 runs. They have tallied 47 doubles, 10 triples and 16 home runs with 125 RBI.
The Hoosiers lead the series 73-57 against the Spartans. IU won the series in 2021, 2-1, with two shutouts (3-0, 4-0) before falling 2-0 in game three. Team 50 is etching itself in the record book after setting new single-season records for most home runs, RBI and runs scored. Indiana is on pace to set season records in four additional categories: hits, doubles, stolen bases and batting average. Indiana won its first three series going 9-0 to start conference play sweeping No. 22 Maryland, Purdue and Ohio State. They earned their fifth sweep with back-to-back weekend wins against Rutgers and Michigan.
Indiana University Track and Field hosts Billy Hayes Invitational
The Indiana track and field teams will wrap up the outdoor regular season Today at the Billy Hayes Invitational. The final installment of a seven-week regular season will give IU’s athletes one final tune-up before the postseason begins. The Hoosiers will host this year’s Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Bloomington from May 12-14, the first time the meet has been at IU since 2018. The NCAA East Preliminary round will be held in Jacksonville on the campus of North Florida while the NCAA Outdoor Championships takes place in Austin at the University of Texas.
59 athletes are scheduled to compete for IU this weekend including a heavy contingent in the 800 meters, pole vault and long jump. The next two weeks will decide the postseason fate of a number of athletes. Each Hoosier will need a top-48 mark in their respective event to qualify for the NCAA East Prelims. Before this weekend’s action, the Hoosiers would have 27 entries to the NCAA East Prelims with a number of athletes firmly in contention to qualify. Today’s action begins at 1:00 PM and lasts throughout the day, ending with the men’s and women’s 4×400 relays at 8:30pm.
Purdue Men’s Basketball to face Alabama in Toronto during the 2023-24 season
Alabama basketball has scheduled a game against Purdue for the 2023-24 season, a source with direct knowledge of the schedule confirmed to The Tuscaloosa News. The game will be played in Toronto on December 9, but no official announcement has been made which includes Clemson and TCU facing each other as part of a doubleheader. The game could be a Canada homecoming for Alabama center Charles Bediako and Purdue center Zach Edey. Bediako is from Brampton, Ontario, while Edey is from Toronto. Both Bediako and Edey declared for the 2023 NBA Draft but left the option to return to school open. The NBA Draft is scheduled for June 22 and the NCAA early entry withdrawal deadline is May 31.
Alabama and Purdue each earned No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers lost in the first round to No. 16 seed Farleigh Dickinson. The Crimson Tide beat No. 16 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round and No. 8 seed Maryland in the second round before losing to No. 5 seed San Diego State in the Sweet 16. Purdue has been under the direction of Matt Painter since 2005-06. Meanwhile, Nate Oats has led Alabama since the 2019-20 season. The Crimson Tide and the Boilermakers have split the four games previously played. The last of which was a 65-56 Alabama win in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Nov. 20, 2011, behind 14 points from JaMychal Green.
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