Indiana University Football at Big Ten Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium The Big Ten Conference is hosting the 2023 Big Ten Football Media Days presented by Old National Bank at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, with the Indiana football quartet of head coach Tom Allen, linebacker Aaron Casey, running back/return specialist Jaylin Lucas and defensive back Noah Pierre representing the Cream and Crimson. Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Purdue, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Michigan are set to participate today. On Wednesday new Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petiti gave a 30-minute press conference followed by Announcers Joel Klatt of Fox, Gary Danielson of CBS and Todd Blackledge of NBC as the New Media Rights Partners of the Big Ten which takes effect this season as the Big Ten expands to 16 Teams with USC and UCLA joining the Big Ten in 2024-25 School Year. The Coaches from Illinois, Rutgers, Michigan State, Northwestern, Penn State, Iowa and Ohio State took the stage for a 15-minute press conference followed individual podium sessions in the afternoon with coaches and players.
Tom Allen and the student-athletes appearing live on the Big Ten Network throughout the day, along with a full schedule that includes national television partners, national and local media interviews and the Big Ten Network crew getting the first glimpse of the 2023 college football landscape. Allen will be the first coach to speak from 11-11:15 this morning and the Big Ten Network will televise all the Press Conferences live.
Allen will begin his seventh season at the helm of the Indiana program. The 2020 American Football Coach Association National Coach of the Year, Allen ranks No. 6 all-time on the Indiana coaching victories list, just one shy of John Pont (1965-72). Over his first six seasons at the helm, four Hoosiers have earned All-America recognition, 60 have garnered All-Big Ten honors and IU has played in three bowl games. Allen led IU to back-to-back January bowl games for the first time in program history during the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
A first-team All-American kick returner as a true freshman in 2022, Lucas was also named the Big Ten Rodgers-Dwight Return Specialist of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten. In 11 games, the Houma, Louisiana, native led the NCAA in kickoff return touchdowns (2) and was one of three true freshmen with a kickoff return touchdown. His kickoff return score at Rutgers (10/22) was the first at IU since Tevin Coleman at Northwestern in 2012. He was also the first Hoosier since Coleman in 2014 with three 70-yard scoring plays in a single season. He paced the Hoosiers in all-purpose yards with 944, an average of 85.8 per game. Casey and Pierre are the top two returning tacklers for the Hoosiers from last season. Casey led the team with 86 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss in 2022. He added 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in 11 games. Pierre paced the team with three forced fumbles last season. He added 4.0 tackles for loss – which included 3.0 sacks – with three pass breakups, one interception and one fumble recovery.
Indiana University Swimmer Ahmed Hafanoui wins Gold at the World Aquatics Championships Indiana swimming and diving’s Ahmed Hafnaoui won his first world title on Wednesday triumphing in the 800-meter freestyle at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Japan. Representing Tunisia, Hafnaoui blew away the field in the final 50 meters with a 26.24 final split. His 7:37.00 is the third-fastest swim ever and beat out Sam Short by .76 after the Australian out-touched him by two tenths in the 400-meter race earlier this week. Hafanoui now has a gold and a silver medal in his World Championships debut.
Hafnaoui won what was perhaps one of the greatest distance races ever held. Behind him, Short set the Australian record (7:37.76), Bobby Finke broke the American standard (7:38.67) and Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen established a European record (7:39.19). All four times are top 10 all-time. Hafnaoui is Indiana’s first male swimmer to win a gold medal at a world championship since Zach Apple and Blake Pieroni were members of Team USA’s mixed 4x100m freestyle relay in 2019. Hafnaoui began training at Indiana in 2022 and will make his collegiate debut this coming fall. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Hafnaoui won Olympic gold in the 400-meter freestyle.
Josh Matheny captured his first world championships medal on Wednesday for his contributions to Team USA’s 4×100-meter medley relay. Matheny was a member of the prelim quartet that earned the United States the No. 1 seed for the final, blasting a 58.45 split. The IU junior was seventh in the 100-meter breaststroke earlier this week and will swim the 200-meter race later in the meet. Indiana doubled its medal count on Wednesday, bringing its total to four. Diver Jessica Parratto also earned bronze in the women’s synchronized 10-meter event.
Indiana University Men’s Golf announces 2023-24 season schedule Indiana head men’s golf coach Mike Mayer announced the program’s 2023-24 schedule on Wednesday afternoon. The schedule includes 11 regular season events, highlighted by the Hoosier Collegiate, hosted by the Hoosiers from April 6-7 at The Pfau Course. “Our 2023-24 schedule is both exciting and extremely challenging,” said Coach Mayer. “We will be competing at some of the best venues in college golf including our own gem The Pfau Course at Indiana University which continues to move up in the rankings and is recognized as one of the best collegiate courses in the country. Our schedule will give us the opportunity to go head-to-head with the best teams in college golf. We will be ready for the challenge.”
Indiana opens the schedule with the second-annual Folds of Honor Collegiate from Sept. 4-6 at the American Dunes Golf Club in Gran Haven, Mich. Proceeds from the event with benefit the Folds of Honor and the GCAA Presidential Scholarship Fund. September will keep the Hoosiers busy with the Earl Yestingsmeier Invitational (individuals only) at the Delaware Country Club on Sept. 9-10 in Muncie, Ind., the Chicago Highlands Invitational from Sept. 18-19 at the Chicago Highlands Club in Westchester, Ill., and the Windon Memorial Classic from Sept. 25-26 at the Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield, Ill. The fall slate of the schedule will conclude with three tournaments in the month of October. Notre Dame will host the Fighting Irish Classic on Oct. 1-2 at the Warren Golf Course in South Bend. From Oct. 15-16, the Hoosiers will be competing in the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational in Vero Beach, Fla. Finally, IU will play the Steelwood Collegiate from Oct. 28-29 at the Steelwood Country Club in Loxley, Ala.
The six-event spring slate will begin with the Battle at Briar’s Creek from Feb. 5-6 at The Golf Club at Briar’s Creek in St. John’s S.C. Indiana will compete twice in the month of March, beginning with the Colleton River Collegiate. The 54-hole event will be hosted by Michigan State on March 4-5 at the Colleton River Club in Bluffton, S.C. Indiana will stay south for the Seminole Intercollegiate on March 11-12 at the Seminole Legacy Golf Course in Tallahassee, Fla. IU will send a group of individuals to the Butler Spring Invitational on April 1-2 at the Highland Country Club in Indianapolis before opening April in team competition as hosts of the Hoosier Collegiate (April 6-7) at The Pfau Course before closing the regular season at the Robert Kepler Invitational from April 19-21 at the OSU Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio. Postseason play will begin with the Big Ten Championships at the Scioto Country Club from April 26-28 in Columbus, Ohio. NCAA Regionals will take place May 13-15 with the NCAA Finals May 24-29 in at the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
Former Indiana University Basketball players Maruice Creek and Luke Fischer win in The Basketball Tournament Three former Indiana University Basketball players to the floor for their teams in the Opening Round of the Basketball Tournament. Ten former Indiana University Basketball players are competing in this one-million-dollar winner take all tournament. Six former players lost in the first round and Remy Abell who played for the Xavier Alumni Team lost in the second round.
Maruice Creek and the Maryland Alumni Team Shell Shock beat the Florida Alumni Team Gatarverse 77-74 in the Opening Round at Freedom Hall in Louisville Kentucky. Creek is a Maryland native as he scored 8 points, pulled down 3 rebounds and committed four turnovers in 14 minutes and 57 seconds of action. Creek was 3-5 from the field and 2-4 from three-point range as face the Gutter Cats in the Second Round tonight at 6pm.
Herd That which is Marshall Alumni team featuring Luke Fischer beat Zoo Crew which is the Pittsburgh Alumni Team that features former IU player Josh Newkirk who started his career at Pitt 86-71 in the West Virginia Regional held in Wheeling. Fischer played 7 minutes and 24 seconds going 0-2 from the field. Newkirk scored 5 points in 22 minutes and 39 seconds of action. Newkirk went 1-6 from the field, 1-3 from three-point range and 2-2 from the free throw line along with 3 steals, 2 assists a rebound and a turnover. Herd That will play Best Virginia which is the West Virginia Alumni Team at 7pm this evening.
The Purdue Alumni team called Men of Mackey beat Team Colorado 70-68 in the Opening Round in Dayton Ohio and they will play Friday Beers in the second round at 6pm on Friday. Thier are 64 teams in the tournament playing at eight regionals and the final four teams will play next Wednesday and Thursday in Philadelphia for the Championship.
Indianapolis Indians beat the Louisville Bats in walk-off fashion Wednesday Afternoon Josh Palacios launched a 466-foot walk-off home run as the Indianapolis Indians erased a five-run deficit with six unanswered runs to defeat the Louisville Bats 6-5 on Wednesday afternoon at Victory Field. With the game squared at five apiece and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Palacios crushed the longest home run by an Indian hitter this season and of his career, sealing the team’s second walk-off win this year. Prior to the walk-off blast – the first of Palacios’ career at any level – the Indians (46-51, 13-10) eliminated a 5-0 deficit thanks to a bases-loaded walk by Palacios in the fifth and a four-run eighth inning that included a three-run, opposite-field shot by Canaan Smith-Njigba and game-tying double off the bat of Vinny Capra.
Louisville (51-45, 11-12) nabbed an early lead with a sacrifice fly by Michael Siani in the third and an RBI triple by Cincinnati’s top-ranked prospect Noelvi Marte in the fourth. In the top of the fifth, Nick Martini extended the Bats’ lead with a two-run home run, his second of the series, and Marte chipped in a run-scoring single before Indy stormed back. Palacios went 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBI and two walks to go with his eighth home run of the season. The walk-off dinger off Alan Busenitz (L, 2-2) was his second long ball of the series and fourth home run in his last six games. Juan Minaya (W, 1-1) held Louisville scoreless in a perfect ninth. The right-hander combined with Rob Zastryzny, Duane Underwood Jr. and Yohan Ramirez for 4.1 scoreless innings of relief to aid the Indians’ comeback victory.
Capra went 3-for-4 and is batting .485 (16-for-33) with six extra-base hits and nine RBI in July. The walk-off home run was Indy’s first since Oneil Cruz on April 24, 2022, in an 11-inning, 8-7 win over Columbus. The Indians and Bats continue their series Tonight at 7:05pm. RHP Andre Jackson (1-1, 5.40) is scheduled to start for Indy against RHP Brett Kennedy (3-2, 3.67).
Indiana Fever fall by one point to the Los Angeles Sparks The Indiana Fever (6-17) fell to the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday night, 79-78, in a game that featured 12 lead changes in the first of three regular season matchups this year. Though overcoming an 11-point deficit in the third quarter and maintaining the lead for roughly eight minutes in the final quarter, it was a completed 3-point field goal from Sparks guard Jordin Canada that put Los Angeles ahead with 3.7 seconds left for the win. With the win, Los Angeles ended an eight-game losing streak as the two teams meet up for the second time at 3:30pm this afternoon and the game will be televised on NBA TV.
Kelsey Mitchell led all Indiana scorers for the seventh time this season as she notched 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the court to go along with four assists. In addition, Mitchell maintains second place in the franchise ranks for completed three-point field goals after recording her 400th career three-pointer this evening. Victoria Vivians, who recorded her 1,000th career point on the night, followed behind Mitchell in the scoring column with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. Vivians also pulled down six rebounds and dished out three assists. As she ended the night with 1,013 career points, Vivians became the 17th player in franchise history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Erica Wheeler contributed 15 points and dished out a team-high eight assists. She continued the record-setting trend as her first three points of the night moved her past 1,500 points in a Fever uniform. Wheeler owns sole possession of ninth place in the franchise ranks for most points in Fever history with 1,512 points heading into Thursday. Aliyah Boston added nine points and two steals, Lexie Hull tallied eight points to go along with two assists and two blocks. Emma Cannon recorded her 500th career point on the night and pitched in seven points and five rebounds off the bench. Former Indiana University Star Grace Berger played 11 minutes off the bench and did not score. Berger pulled down 2 rebounds and committed one turnover as she was 0-3 from the field and 0-1 from the three-point line.
The first matchup between the two teams this season opened with back-and-forth play as the first quarter consisted of five lead changes and four tied scores. The Sparks shot 6-of-10 from the floor within the first five minutes of play but were held to 2-of-7 shooting for the remainder of the quarter. The Fever were led by Vivians’ seven points, Hull’s six points and Wheeler’s five points to go along with three assists. Indiana held the advantage going into the second frame, 22-20. The Sparks took the lead early in the second quarter and remained within reach for Indiana as it did not exceed six points until the last thirty seconds of the half. The Fever were guided by Mitchell and Boston to close out the half as they each contributed five points. Los Angeles ended the final three minutes of the first half on a 14-6 scoring run that eventually put the Sparks ahead heading into halftime, 47-38.
Indiana led Los Angeles on a 21-9 scoring run in the third quarter that helped the Fever reduce an 11-point deficit and take the lead at the 1:43 minute mark. Mitchell fueled the Fever offense in the third frame as she notched 10 points on a 4-of-5 shooting clip, which included perfect 2-of-2 shooting from beyond the arc. The Indiana defense held the Sparks to only 13 points in the third quarter on 5-of-18 shooting, allowing it to maintain a one-point lead heading into the final frame, 61-60. Indiana outscored Los Angeles in the second half, 40-32. The Sparks were led in scoring by Nneka Ogwumike’s season-high 30 points. Ogwumike also added eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. Canada supported the offense as she netted 20 points on the night, while also dishing out a season-high ten assists and recording a game-high three steals. Azura Stevens added 15 points to the win, as well as a game-high three blocks.
Follow us on Facebook
For more local news . . . Check out our archived episodes of What’s Happenin’ and Talkin’ Sports with Nick Jenkinson