Indiana Hoosiers Women’s Basketball Joins the Field For 2026 Elevance Health Fort Myers Tipoff Indiana women’s basketball has been announced as one of eight teams in the 2026 Elevance Health Fort Myers Tipoff, slated for Nov. 27-28, 2026, at Florida SouthWestern State College. The event will air on ION. The Hoosiers will participate in the Shell Division which includes TCU, Mississippi State and Georgia Tech. IU will draw matchups against Mississippi State and Georgia Tech at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Game dates and tip times will be announced in the coming weeks. Scripps Sports/ION returns as the event’s broadcast partner, with every game airing nationwide. ION is available in every U.S. television household via pay TV, connected TV, free ad-supported streaming platforms and over-the-air, reaching 128 million homes.
Event travel packages will become available on May 20 and will include tickets to all games of either the Island or Shell Division, hotel accommodations at a host hotel and parking at the venue. To register to receive updates on travel package sale dates and additional event information, please visit www.womensfortmyerstipoff.com/travel. Indiana recently took part in the same event in the 2023-24 season where it defeated Tennessee and Princeton. The 2026-27 roster will be led by returners junior guard Lenée Beaumont and junior forward Zania Socka-Nguemen. The eighth-ranked freshman class will also make their debuts for IU next season led by McDonald’s All-American Addy Nyemchek, Naismith All-American GiGi Battle and Miss Kentucky Basketball Ashlinn James. Four transfers will join the mix as well in forwards Alisa Williams and Jess Petrie and guards Kenzie Hare and Malia Samuels.
Six Taylor Trojan Softball Players Take Home Honors in Crossroads League Season Awards The Crossroads League announced its All-Crossroads League Teams along with season awards on Monday, with six Trojans taking home honors. Kaylee Larkin and Bella Browning were named Second-Team All-Crossroads League after terrific seasons. Larkin capped her TU career as one of the best sluggers to play at Gudakunst Field. The Brownsburg, Indiana Native hit .363 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI to earn her third All-Crossroads League honor. Larkin finished her career with 40 home runs, the second most in program history and the program record holder with 93 walks.
Browning made a huge step as a sophomore and became the Trojans most consistent bat in the three-hole. The sophomore shortstop hit .415, the tenth-best single-season mark in program history and roped 18 doubles. Browning more than doubled her amount of hits with 66 and drove in 31 while crossing the plate 30 times as she continued to provide excellent defense. Jayci Kitchen, Lizzy Sinders and Grace Mullins were each named Honorable Mention All-Crossroads League after producing in the top and middle portion of the batting order. Kitchen was fantastic at the top of the order collecting 65 hits and a .378 batting average while swiping a team-high 16 bases.
Sinders was a fantastic two-way player in her collegiate debut, batting .35 with 59 hits and 40 runs scored, the second-most on the team. The freshman also notched 10 wins inside the circle with 82 strikeouts and a solid 3.40 earned run average. Mullins used her patient approach at the plate to pile up 32 walks, the third most in a single season in program history. The junior led the squad with an impressive .479 on-base percentage and crossed the plate 34 times. Madisyn Standridge was the final award recipient for TU, taking home the gold glove at third base or the Crossroads League this season. Standridge has been a dynamic defender during her entire career at TU, manning the hot corner with poise. Taylor finished fourth in the Crossroads League at 20-16 in league play their best mark in league since 2021 and have a solid group of returns hoping to improve on that mark.
Four Players from the State of Indiana have been Invited to the NBA Draft Combine The NBA Draft Combine takes place from May 10–17 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Among the 73 invited players, a select few share deep ties to the Hoosier State. Flory Bidunga, Ryan Conwell, Braden Smith, and Peter Suder will represent both their respective universities and their home state as they look to pave their way to the professional level.
Flory Bidunga: Kokomo High School- A native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a graduate of Kokomo High School, Flory Bidunga is one of the four participants with Indiana ties in next week’s combine. Bidunga played three years of varsity basketball at Kokomo before committing to the University of Kansas to play under head coach Bill Self. Bidunga earned two-time Gatorade Indiana Player of the Year Awards in 2023 and 2024 at Kokomo. In his senior year at Kokomo, Bidunga averaged 19.0 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 4.4 blocks per game. The 6-foot-10-inch center averaged nearly five blocks per game in high school and led Kokomo to a state championship appearance in 2023. After winning the 2024 Indiana Mr. Basketball title, he played two seasons at Kansas before transferring to Louisville last month.
Ryan Conwell: Pike High School- Pike High School graduate Ryan Conwell wrapped up an impressive collegiate career with the Louisville Cardinals this past season. Before beginning his Division 1 career, Conwell averaged 22.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 3.0 steals per game in his senior season at Pike. In college, Conwell played for four schools over four years. He began his career at the University of South Florida, transferred to Indiana State as a sophomore, moved to Xavier University as a junior, and finally joined Louisville for his senior season. Conwell started 127 collegiate games and averaged 14.4 points per game over his career. In his lone season at Louisville, the 6-foot-4-inch guard averaged 18.8 points per game, helping the team reach the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. He finished his college career with a total of 1,991 points.
Braden Smith: Westfield High School-Braden Smith recently concluded a historic four-year career at Purdue University. The Westfield native and 2022 Indiana Mr. Basketball winner ended his time as a Boilermaker with 1,103 assists, the most in NCAA history. At Westfield, Smith set the school record for career assists (502) and steals (210). Smith’s resume includes being a two-time First-Team All-American, the 2025 Big Ten Player of the Year, the 2026 Big Ten Tournament MVP, and several others. He was instrumental in leading Purdue to two Big Ten Tournament titles and an NCAA National Championship appearance in 2024.
Peter Suder: Carmel High School-Carmel native Peter Suder was a vital starter on two state championship teams for the Carmel Greyhounds in 2019 and 2021. Suder played his first two collegiate seasons at Bellarmine University before transferring to Miami (Ohio) for his junior and senior years. During his senior season, Suder was named the MAC Player of the Year after leading the Redhawks to a perfect 31–0 regular-season record and an NCAA Tournament victory over SMU. Having left their mark on Indiana, these four athletes are now transitioning toward careers in the NBA.
Kiana Siefert’s Powerful Performance Earns Taylor University Senior CL Field Athlete-of-the-Week Honors Kiana Siefert was named the Crossroads League Field Athlete-of-the-Week on Monday afternoon after a phenomenal performance at the Crossroads League Championships. Siefert took home 36 points individually and 44 in total as she buoyed the Trojan effort at the CL Championships. The sensational senior won the heptathlon in her first foray into the event with 4406 points and first-place finishes in almost half of the events. The two-sport standout also was the individual champion in the 100-meter hurdles, an event she has provisionally qualified for the NAIA National Championships. Siefert then finished second in both the long jump and triple jump and hit the NAIA B Standard in the long jump with a leap of 19 feet. The Noblesville, Indiana native teamed up for a second-place finish in the 4×100-meter relay to complete an action-packed meet. The fast group also hit the NAIA B Standard and came within two-tenths of a second of setting a new program record. Siefert is set to join a collection of Taylor athletes at the Fighting Chance Invite hosted by Saint Francis (Ill.) beginning Friday, May 8th, before the NAIA National Championships cap the season.
T.J. McConnell to Represent the Indiana Pacers at the NBA Draft Lottery The Indiana Pacers announced their on-stage representative for the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery on Monday, and it’s a choice that should have fans fired up. Fan-favorite guard T.J. McConnell will represent the Blue & Gold at the Draft Lottery, which will be held on Sunday, May 10, at 3:00 PM ET in Chicago. McConnell is the longest-tenured member of the Pacers roster, having just completed his seventh season in Indiana. He has appeared in 448 games for the Blue & Gold and ranks sixth in franchise history in assists with 2,367 and 11th in steals with 505 and counting. His all-out effort has endeared McConnell to the Pacers fanbase. His stellar play off the bench during recent playoff runs to the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals and 2025 NBA Finals cemented his status as one of the most beloved players in franchise history.
McConnell will hopefully be the lucky charm that helps the Pacers land their highest draft pick in nearly four decades. Indiana enters the lottery with a 52.1 percent chance of securing a top four pick and a 14 percent chance of landing the first overall selection in the 2026 NBA Draft. The Pacers have not drafted in the top four since they took Rik Smits with the second overall pick in 1988. Indiana has never had the number one pick in the NBA Draft. If the Pacers’ pick falls outside the top four, it will be conveyed to the Los Angeles Clippers as a condition of the Feb. 5 trade that brought Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown to Indiana. You can watch McConnell and find out the results of the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery on ABC on Sunday at 3:00 PM ET.
Taylor Trojans Finish Fifth at Crossroads League Women’s Golf Championships The Taylor women’s golf team improved one spot in the team standings over the final 18 holes of action on Tuesday but could not make a serious push and settled for a fifth-place team finish at the 2026 Crossroads League Championships. The Trojans matched their second round total of 322 over the third and final round on Tuesday, gaining 10 strokes on Huntington to overtake the Foresters for fifth in the standings with a three-round score of 977. Shayne Lim followed her pair of 78’s on Monday with a 75 on Tuesday to hold steady in ninth and record a 54-hole score of 231. Eleanor Schuitema also registered a sub-80 round on Tuesday, carding a 78 to finish at 237 and in 15th position. No. 18 Taylor will now wait to learn if it will receive an at-large bid to the 2026 NAIA National Championships in Ypsilanti, Michigan on May 19-22.
Taylor University Baseball’s Brayden Manning Rides Hot CLT Stretch to Player of the Week Taylor University’s Brayden Manning has been selected the Crossroads League Baseball Player of the Week, announced by league headquarters on Monday. Manning, a senior from Lakeville, Minnesota, carried No. 1 TU to three straight wins to open the Crossroads League Tournament. The senior hit .636 and belted two home runs and two doubles in the three games, driving home eight runs and scoring five. It’s the fourth career CL weekly nod for Manning. The recognition marks the 10th CL weekly honor earned by a Trojan this season and the fifth CL Player of the Week selection. Taylor Athletics has now garnered 61 Crossroads League, WHAC and MSFA Player-of-the-Week awards and six NAIA National Athlete-of-the-Week honors during the 2025-26 campaign. No. 1 Taylor will prepare to host the NAIA Opening Round for the fifth straight year on Monday-Thursday, May 11-14 at Winterholter Field.