Local Sports Headlines: October 18, 2023

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Indiana University Women’s Basketball ranked Ninth in both Preseason Polls
Indiana Women’s Basketball will start the season off in the Top 10 in both national polls as the Associated Press and WBCA/USA Today coaches’ polls were released on Tuesday. The Hoosiers have been ranked in the last five-straight preseason AP Top 25 polls while earning four-straight nods in the WBCA/USA Today coaches’ poll. They have appeared in 75 straight AP Top 25 polls and 42 consecutive coaches’ polls, both dating back to the 2019-20 season.

Indiana was selected to finish second in the Big Ten amongst the league’s media while third in the coaches’ vote. The 2023-24 Hoosier roster will feature four returners from a team that finished 28-4 overall and 16-2 in Big Ten play. The program won the Big Ten regular season championship outright for the first time in 40 years on its way to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Lading Indiana’s roster for the upcoming season is graduate student guard and preseason All-Big Ten selection Mackenize Holmes who averaged 22.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in 2022-23. She’s accompanied by four other All-Big Ten selections from last season in senior guards Chloe Moore-McNeil, Sydney Parrish and Sara Scalia along with sophomore guard Yarden Garzon. General admission season tickets and single game tickets are now on sale through the IU Ticket Office, visiting the ticket office windows in the west lobby of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall or calling 812-855-4006.

Indiana University Women’s Soccer player Piper Coffield collects her Third Big Ten Conference Weekly Award
Indiana freshman defender Piper Coffield earns her first Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week award and her third of the season after another stellar performance in the back field.  Coffield made her 15th career start, playing 180 minutes on the pitch this week. She scored the game winning goal against Michigan on a penalty kick in the 61st minute and held the Wolverines to only two shots on goal. This is the second time this season that she has converted on a penalty kick.  The Hoosiers battled the No. 20 ranked Michigan State Spartans to a 1-1 decision conceding only one goal in the match up.  Additionally, she has earned two Freshman of the Week awards this season.  Coffield is the third Defensive Player of the Week for the Hoosiers this season alongside Lauren Costello and Hope Paredes. Indiana will compete against No. 4 Penn State on Thursday in University Park, Pa. The match is set to air live on B1G+ at 7pm.

Indiana University Women’s Basketball player Sara Scalia named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Preseason Watch List
Senior Guard Sara Scalia has been named one of 20 players to the 2024 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award preseason watch list, announced by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) on Tuesday. Named after the first player, male or female, named to an All-America Team in four straight college seasons, the annual award in its sixth year recognizes the top shooting guard in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball. To be considered for this prestigious award, candidates must exhibit the tenacity and scoring prowess of Class of 1993 Hall of Famer Ann Meyers.

Scalia returns for her final season with the Hoosiers, after playing in all 32 games in 2022-23 where she also made 14 starts. The Stillwater, Minn. native averaged 9.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per games where she was third on the team with 53 triples last season. She was named to the All-Big Ten honorable mention squad a year ago and is a four-time All-Big Ten selection in her career. She shot 34.4 percent from long range and had multiple 3-pointers on 15 occasions while also turning in the team’s best free throw percentage with a 91.2 clip at the charity stripe. Scalia was also named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award preseason watch list in 2022-23.

Indiana University Volleyball travels to #19 and In-State Rival Purdue
The Indiana Volleyball team (15-6, 5-3) will take a three-game winning streak into rival territory this evening to face in-state foe and 19th-ranked Purdue in the second of two matches in a seven-day span between the two sides. IU broke a 21-game losing streak to Purdue last week in Bloomington with an emphatic 3-1 victory at a sold-out Wilkinson Hall. Both teams are fresh off of weekend wins, with IU beating Michigan and Purdue downing Ohio State. Purdue is expecting a sold-out and raucous Holloway Gymnasium for tonight’s clash (7:00 PM, BTN+) and will look for the series split while IU goes for the first season sweep of its in-state opponent since 2002. Sole possession of fourth place in the conference is on the line in West Lafayette.

The Hoosiers sit at 15-6 (5-3) heading into the weekend’s competition. On the season, IU has quality wins at Miami (FL) and Maryland as well as beating No. 15 Purdue at home. All six losses have come to teams who have won national titles before and are top-60 RPI programs. IU tested itself early in the season with a trip to the Long Beach Invitational. A tough weekend at The Beach, which featured three defeats and eight of nine set loss by four of fewer points, was a strong litmus test for the Hoosiers in the early going of the season. With a straight sweep of opponents at the Stacheville Challenge and four wins at the 305 Challenge, IU won seven-straight contests heading into Big Ten play. The Hoosiers’ only losses in the Big Ten have come at No. 1 Wisconsin, vs. No. 2 Nebraska and at No. 14 Penn State. Those three teams are a combined 18-0 in Big Ten play and sit first through third in the conference standings. A victory over No. 15 Purdue (Oct. 11) was the fourth top-15 win of the Steve Aird era and the first in Wilkinson Hall (opened in 2019). IU’s 5-3 start to the conference slate is the best eight-game start in Big Ten play since 1993. IU earned two weekly honors from the Big Ten office, winning the league’s Setter of the Week award with Camryn Haworth and Freshman of the Week award with Ramsey Gary.

 A win over Purdue would extend IU’s winning streak to four-straight games and move the Hoosiers’ record to 16-6 (6-3) on the season. The Hoosiers haven’t swept the season series over Purdue since 2002. A win in West Lafayette would give IU top-20 road wins in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history (IU won at No. 5 Ohio State in 2022).  Purdue leads the all-time series 76-35. The first rematch of the season for IU, the two teams will meet for the second time in seven days. Outside hitters Eva Hudson and Chloe Chicoine combined for 34 digs in the first matchup. Hudson and Chicoine are third and fourth in the Big Ten in kills. They’re both top-six in kills per set. Maddie Schermerhorn is second in the Big Ten in digs per set with 4.30. Purdue defeated Ohio State 3-1 in Columbus on Sunday.

Former Indiana University Men’s Basketball player Victor Oladipo traded to the Houston Rockets
Former Indiana Hoosiers guard Victor Oladipo was traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Houston Rockets Tuesday in a deal involving four teams, first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Wojnarowski, the Houston Rockets are trading guard Kevin Porter Jr., and two future second-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder who are waiving Porter Jr., immediately. Thunder is sending the Rockets guard Victor Oladipo and forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl in the transaction. The Thunder are acquiring a 2027 second-round pick via Minnesota and a 2028 second-round pick via Milwaukee in the deal, sources said. Porter Jr. is facing assault charges based on an incident with a girlfriend. OKC is essentially buying the two picks and releasing Porter Jr. The Thunder will have to pay the $16.9M guaranteed left on Porter Jr.’s contract as they waive him. OKC gathered four second-round picks in acquiring and moving Oladipo’s $9.5M expiring deal this offseason. OKC has 15 first-round and 22 second-round picks over the next seven years.

Oladipo returns to Houston, where he made 20 starts during the 2020-21 season. Though it’s a small sample size, this was an impressive stretch of Oladipo’s NBA career, as he averaged 21.2 points, 5.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds for the Rockets. Oladipo, 31 years old, is entering his 11th season in the NBA. He was originally selected as the No. 2 overall pick by the Orlando Magic in the 2023 NBA Draft, following an All-American college career at Indiana under coach Tom Crean. He has played for five NBA teams, including the Magic, Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets and Miami Heat. Oladipo made the 2013-14 All-Rookie team and was a two-time All-Star with the Pacers in 2017-18 and 2018-19. During the 2017-18 season, Oladipo was named to the All-NBA third team, NBA All-Defensive team, Most Improved Player of the Year and led the league in steals. That was his most productive statistical season, averaging 23.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.4 steals on 37.1 percent 3-point shooting.

Including his 2023-24 contract, Oladipo’s career earnings are estimated to reach $124,764,581, according to Spotrac. He most recently signed a two-year, $18 million deal with the Miami Heat before the 2022-23 season. Despite this success, Oladipo’s NBA career has often been marred by injuries. It started in 2019, when Oladipo suffered a ruptured quad. With various other injuries, he played 42 games or less each season in a five-year stretch from 2019-23. Most recently, Oladipo suffered a torn patellar tendon during a 2023 NBA Playoff game as a member of the Miami Heat. Oladipo’s availability for the 2023-24 season remains unclear. On Sept. 27, Thunder general manager Sam Presti said Oladipo won’t report to the Thunder’s training camp, but he will “be back this season at some point.”

Big Ten Network announces 2023-24 Big Ten Wrestling television schedule
The nation’s premier wrestling conference returns to the Big Ten Network in search of a 17th consecutive NCAA Championship, with 24 duals and Big Ten Wrestling Championships coverage airing live on Big Ten Network and the FOX Sports app. Action begins on Sunday, Dec. 3, with the defending national champions and No. 1 team in the nation as Penn State hosts No. 24 Lehigh at 2pm. No. 7 Ohio State will take on two ranked non-conference opponents at the start of the year, as No. 15 Pittsburgh visits on Dec. 10 at noon and No. 2 Cornell heads to Columbus on Jan. 5 at 8pm.

Conference wrestling on the network begins in 2024 with primetime matchup on Friday, Jan. 12, between No. 8 Iowa and No. 5 Nebraska at 7pm. The following Friday, Jan. 19, is home to a tripleheader of action with No. 5 Nebraska at No. 16 Minnesota, No. 1 Penn State at No. 9 Michigan and Purdue at No. 8 Iowa squaring off. Throughout the remainder of January and February, Friday night wrestling on BTN will be a mainstay with primetime duals. Additional schedule highlights include a Friday doubleheader on Feb. 9, when No. 9 Michigan takes on No. 5 Nebraska at 7pm ahead of No. 1 Penn State traveling to No. 8 Iowa at 9pm. To close out the regular season, No. 25 Wisconsin visits No. 8 Iowa and No. 5 Nebraska competes in Happy Valley against top-ranked Penn State on Sunday, Feb. 18.

More than 80 additional contests will be available for streaming on B1G+, BTN’s home for non-televised events and on-demand archives. B1G+ is home to coverage of the Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, supplemental coverage of the 2024 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, Soldier Salute, Zingo Nationals and the University of Iowa women’s wrestling team’s first ever home event, the “Trailblazer Duals.” Subscription options include a conference wrestling pass, which delivers all Big Ten wrestling on B1G+, for just $69.99 per year. B1G Wrestling & Beyond will return in January of 2024 with host Rick Pizzo and analyst Shane Sparks taking you around the Big Ten with an assortment of highlights, analysis and guests. Additional coverage includes the return of On the Mat, BTN’s multi-platform, behind-the-scenes look at Big Ten wrestling, as well as BTN’s Big Ten wrestling Instagram page. According to Intermat’s preseason rankings, the Big Ten has 11 teams ranked in the top 30. Defending national champion Penn State leads the way at No. 1, followed by No. 5 Nebraska, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 8 Iowa, No. 9 Michigan, No. 14 Rutgers, No. 16 Minnesota, No. 18 Illinois, No. 22 Maryland, No. 25 Wisconsin and No. 29 Indiana.

2023-24 Big Ten Network Wrestling Schedule

DayDateVisiting TeamHome TeamTime (ET)
Sunday12/3/2023LehighatPenn State2:00 PM
Sunday12/10/2023PittsburghatOhio State12:00 PM
Friday1/5/2024CornellatOhio State8:00 PM
Friday1/12/2024IowaatNebraska7:00 PM
Monday1/15/2024MinnesotaatIowa8:00 PM
Friday1/19/2024Penn StateatMichigan6:00 PM
Friday1/19/2024PurdueatIowa8:00 PM
Friday1/19/2024NebraskaatMinnesota10:00 PM
Sunday1/21/2024Ohio StateatWisconsin3:00 PM
Friday1/26/2024MichiganatOhio State7:00 PM
Friday1/26/2024IowaatIllinois9:00 PM
Sunday1/28/2024Penn StateatMaryland12:00 PM
Sunday1/28/2024NebraskaatWisconsin2:00 PM
Friday2/2/2024Ohio StateatPenn State6:30 PM
Friday2/2/2024IowaatMichigan8:30 PM
Sunday2/4/2024Michigan StateatIndiana12:00 PM
Sunday2/4/2024NorthwesternatMinnesota2:00 PM
Friday2/9/2024MichiganatNebraska7:00 PM
Friday2/9/2024Penn StateatIowa9:00 PM
Monday2/12/2024RutgersatPenn State7:00 PM
Friday2/16/2024Ohio StateatMichigan State7:00 PM
Friday2/16/2024WisconsinatMinnesota9:00 PM
Sunday2/18/2024WisconsinatIowa2:00 PM
Sunday2/18/2024NebraskaatPenn State4:00 PM
Saturday3/9/2024Session 1atB1G Championships10:00 AM
Saturday3/9/2024Session 2atB1G Championships7:00 PM
Sunday3/10/2024ChampionshipsatB1G Championships4:30 PM

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