Ben Davis HS Boys Basketball Coach Don Carlisle on leave after alleged assault
An Indianapolis mother said her son was punched in the mouth twice by his High School Gym Teacher. Don Carlisle is also the head varsity coach of the state champion Ben Davis High School Boys’ Basketball team. M.S.D. of Wayne Township said Carlisle was placed on leave following a report of an assault by the physical education teacher on a 15-year-old 11th grade student on Sept. 6th. The police report says the incident happened around 1:30pm, but the incident was not reported until the next day around noon. The student’s mother, who did not want to be identified, told WTHR Channel 13 in Indianapolis that her son was changing shoes for gym class in the bleachers when Carlisle confronted him about not using the dressing room. She said Carlisle threw the boy’s slider shoe across the gym floor. The boy allegedly told Carlisle that the teacher should go get it. The mother said Carlisle then punched the boy in the mouth and pushed him up against the bleachers. She said her son grabbed Carlisle’s necklace, defending himself. The mother said Carlisle then pushed the boy to the ground and punched him in the mouth again.
M.S.D. of Wayne Township Schools issued the following statement: “The safety and well-being of students and employees is a top priority, and we take misconduct allegations very seriously. Upon learning of this allegation, we immediately reported it to the Indiana Department of Child Services. We are fully cooperating with authorities throughout their investigation and will continue to do so. The employee in question is on leave during the investigation. We respect the right to privacy and due process of everyone involved and will refrain from further comment at this time.”
Back in March, Carlisle led the Ben Davis Giants to a perfect 33-0 season and a state championship win over Kokomo. This summer, Carlisle was selected for the honor of coaching the Indiana Boys’ All-Star team against Kentucky. This winter would be his sixth year as the varsity coach at his alma mater. He played college basketball at IUPUI and also played professionally.
City of Indianapolis hoping to keep the Big Ten Football Championship Game through 2028
Indianapolis leaders want to keep the Big Ten football championship game, and they’re making an unprecedented move to boost their case. The Indiana Sports Corp said Wednesday morning that it will bid to host the 2025-2028 Big Ten football championship games at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Big Ten has set a deadline of Friday for cities to bid to host those games. Indianapolis has hosted every Big Ten football championship game since its inception in 2011. The championship brings an estimated economic impact from $22 million to $25 million to Indianapolis each year. Indianapolis is set to host the Big Ten football championships in 2023 and 2024.
“The Big Ten fanbase – and even the athletes – have come to know that Indy is the ultimate goal that first weekend in December, every year,” said Sarah Myer, chief marketing officer for Indiana Sports Corp. With the conference expansion to include West Coast teams, other cities including Las Vegas have publicly confirmed plans to bid on the championship events. Myer said, “With this particular bid, we feel we need to do things differently. We need to advocate for ourselves and tell everyone why we think the Big Ten needs to stay here.”
The Indiana Sports Corp asked key corporate supporters and fans to post selfies and videos to social media with the hashtag #B1GInIndy. Community members say Indianapolis is the perfect place for the Big Ten and they want everyone to spread the word. Morgan Snyder, the senior director of public relations at Film Indy, said, “We know this event well; we do it well. The city loves the Big Ten, and through Indiana Sports Corp’s leadership we’re really hopeful we can extend their stay in Indianapolis through 2028.” They say the championship has made a positive impact on the city’s economy. According to Snyder, downtown hotels during the 2022 championship were 94% occupied during the championship.
Snyder said, “Businesses like St. Elmo Steak House find these really unique events to capitalize on that many people in the city.” “Hotels get all decked out for the Big Ten football championship.” It’s also become a favorite tradition for a lot of fans. Myer said, “It’s not really just about the dollars, but it’s really about the meaning, the memories that have been made here, and the collaboration that has been done to keep it here and make it such a wonderful experience.” In 2023, the Big Ten conference moved the women’s basketball tournament to Minneapolis. The women’s tournament had been held in Indianapolis since 2015.
Evansville Otters fall in Game 1 of the Frontier League Championship Series
The Evansville Otters hit three home runs in the last two innings but a three-run walk-off home run gave the Quebec Capitales a 7-6 win in the first game of the Frontier League Championship Series on Tuesday night at the Stade Canac in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Tied at 2-2 going to the eighth, Josh Allen hit a towering go-ahead two-run homer to left. Quebec hit back-to-back solo blasts in the bottom of the frame to tie the game. Evansville responded in the top of the ninth with Gary Mattis hitting a go-ahead solo home run down the left field line. Jake Green followed later in the inning, blasting a solo long ball to left field to give the Otters a 6-4 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, a strikeout started the inning. A Quebec batter was hit by a pitch on a full count and the next Capitales’ batter worked a full count walk. Justin Gideon then blasted the walk-off three run homer over the left field wall.
Braden Scott was brilliant in a seven inning start for Evansville. He allowed just one earned run on five hits with eight strikeouts. The two teams traded two runs in the fifth inning. For Evansville, Mattis notched a single in the fifth and Bryan Rosario followed with a bunt base hit. Jake Green then walked to load the bases. George Callil came in clutch by lining a ball up the middle to score the first two runs of the game on a two-RBI single. Quebec used back to back doubles to score two runs in the fifth inning. Evansville closer Jake Polancic suffered the loss in pitching the ninth. Frank Moscatiello pitched the top of the ninth for Quebec and earned the win. Mattis led the Otters on offense with two hits, two runs and a walk. His go-ahead homer in the ninth was his first long ball of the season with Evansville.
Indiana University Women’s Tennis announces 2023 Fall Schedule
Indiana women’s tennis head coach Ramiro Azcui announced the 2023 Fall schedule Wednesday afternoon. The Hoosiers will participate in five different invitationals this Fall. Indiana will open the season at the Furman Fall Classic on Sept. 15, before returning home to host the annual Hoosier Classic on Sept. 29 at the IU Tennis Center. Following the Hoosier Classic, IU will travel to the ITA Regional Championships in Knoxville, Tenn., on Oct. 18. IU will compete at the Texas Christian Invitational on Oct. 27 before closing out the Fall schedule at the North Florida Fall Invite in Jacksonville, Fla., on Nov. 10.
Five Hoosiers make the 2023-24 USA Swimming National Team
Five swimmers with ties to the Indiana swimming and diving program were named to the 2023-24 U.S. National Team; USA Swimming announced this week. The roster includes two members of IU’s current roster – juniors Mariah Denigan (a member of USA Swimming’s open water team) and Joah Matheny. Indiana Swim Club’s Lilly King, Annie Lazor and Cody Miller are also represented. All four of pool swimmers specialize in breaststroke events.
Denigan, Matheny and King all swam at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships this summer in Japan, combining for four of Indiana’s nine medals at the competition. King earned silver in the 50-meter breaststroke and was a member of Team USA’s world champion 4×100-meter medley relay. Matheny took a gold and bronze medal for his performances in the men’s 4×100 medley relay and mixed 4×100 medley relay. For Matheny, the announcement marks his debut roster appearance for the USA Swimming National Team.
Changes coming as IHSAA announces Winter Sports sectional assignments and locations
Changes to the sectional assignments for several area wrestling teams, a new venue for the girls’ swimming sectional and the announcement of basketball sectional sites were announced by the IHSAA. Also on the list were new dates for the state boys’ basketball finals and a new site for state wrestling in 2024 to avoid conflicts at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Those temporary moves were previously announced in January.
Wrestling- The Bloomington North wrestling sectional will now include Bedford North Lawrence, with Paoli moved to fill the Stars’ spot at Southridge, and Brown County, which trades places with Indian Creek from the remade field at Jennings County. That sectional will also see Franklin moved in from the Mooresville Sectional, while Eastern (Pekin) and Salem are moved in from Jeffersonville. The regional will continue to be at Bloomington South and semistate at Evansville, which is also where the state finals will take place this year on Feb. 16-17, while Gainbridge hosts the NBA All-Star weekend.
Boys Basketball-This year’s area sectionals will take place at Bloomington North (4A), Owen Valley (3A), Paoli (2A) and White River Valley (1A), with the lineups the same as last year. Regional sites for southern Indiana will be at Southport, Seymour, Lebanon, Washington, Greenfield-Central, Southridge, Martinsville and Loogootee. Semi States will be held of New Castle, Southport, Seymour and Washington on March 16. The state finals will be pushed back a week to March 30 due to Gainbridge playing host to an NCAA first and second round games in the men’s tournament March 22-24.
Girls Basketball-Area sectionals will take place at Mooresville (4A), Edgewood (3A), North Knox (2A) and Bloomfield (1A). Regional sites will be Decatur Central, Bedford North Lawrence, Greencastle, Charlestown, Southmont, Crawford County, Southwestern (Shelbyville) and West Washington. Semi States will take place at Southport, Shelbyville, Jasper and New Albany.
Swimming-The boys’ and girls’ sectionals will switch places this year, with the girls now competing at East Central and the boys back at Columbus North. Diving regionals will continue to be at Jasper.
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