Indiana picked up a commitment from class of 2023 defensive back Travon West on Wednesday afternoon. The Piedmont, S.C. 3-star announced the news on his Twitter page after a ceremony at his high school. “Everybody’s just a family (at Indiana),” West told the Independent Mail in a report after the announcement. “They’re real big on family up there. That’s just somewhere I know that I’ll fit in at for the next three, four years. I won’t ever feel left out because it’s always family over football over there. And I could see a big part of that when I went…
Author: Mike Schumann
Designing the nonconference schedule for IU football is a delicate art with competing interests. On the one hand, you want to have enticing games that draw fans. On the other hand, with nine Big Ten conference games each year, and Indiana trying to ensure bowl eligibility as the floor, the program can’t afford to make the three nonconference contests too challenging. The solution seems to be a hybrid approach, with a couple winnable games on paper, and a more challenging game each year. With the news yesterday that IU has scheduled a game against UMass five years from now, all…
It is well documented at this point — Indiana guard Tamar Bates’ freshman season didn’t go according to plan. His appearance in 32 games with 3.9 points and 1.3 rebounds per contest would have been a fine season for 95 percent of high-major freshmen. But as a top-30 national prospect who wowed fans in The Bahamas last summer and started the season with double-figure points in three of his first eight games, the bar was set a bit higher for Bates. And he would have been the first to tell you that. If there was one thing Bates wasn’t in…
If things don’t go well for Kansas in Bloomington next year, Bill Self can’t say he didn’t know what he was getting himself into. The head coach of the defending national champion Jayhawks was asked earlier this month the toughest place he’s ever had to coach. Although he’s been a head coach for 29 years, Self didn’t hesitate. “The best home court that I’ve ever been to was Indiana,” Self said at a coaching clinic in Houston. “When we were at Illinois, they had, I don’t know if you guys remember, they had a kid named Jared Jeffries. They went…
Indiana has formally entered the mix for an up-and-coming guard out of Georgia. Class of 2025 shooting guard Akai Fleming announced an offer from IU on his Twitter page on Monday evening. This is how 247Sports national analyst Brandon Jenkins described Fleming after watching him at an event earlier this month: “A 6-foot-4 long and skinny two-guard, Fleming as the early tools in his toolbox to be a high major target down the line,” Jenkins wrote. “He can slice through a defense, has a great early feel playing off a ball screen, and shows signs of elite athletic ability and…
According to a report by Jon Rothstein, Indiana will travel to Cincinnati to face Xavier in connection with the 2022 Gavitt Games. Game dates and times were not included in the report. The Gavitt Games are typically played during the second week of the college basketball season. In its seventh annual running, the Gavitt Games will will be televised on Fox Sports 1 or the Big Ten Network. The Gavitt Games is an early-season series between the Big Ten and the Big East, and named in honor of Hall of Famer Dave Gavitt, founder of the Big East. Xavier is…
Mark your calendars for a loaded weekend in Bloomington. Indiana is putting a new spin on its annual Hoosier Hysteria basketball tip-off event this year, combining it with the football homecoming game. Hoosier Hysteria will be held Homecoming Weekend on Friday, Oct. 7. The school did not announce a specific time but says the event will take place in the evening and will not conflict with the University’s annual Homecoming Parade which also occurs that day. IU men’s coach Mike Woodson and women’s coach Teri Moren will unveil their 2022-23 basketball teams to Hoosier fans that evening. Admittance to the…
It is never a bad thing when a top-10 national prospect pays a visit. Amid a hectic month full of national events like USA Basketball and the Pangos All-American Camp, local stuff like Indiana All-Stars, and practice and games with Indianapolis Cathedral H.S. — there hasn’t been much time for college visits for 2023 5-star Xavier Booker. But Indiana asked and Booker came for an unofficial visit he weaved into his schedule along with his parents. He also managed to get in stops at Purdue and Notre Dame in the last couple weeks. But you shouldn’t necessarily interpret those visits…
It will be peak-Assembly Hall on Nov. 30 when Indiana hosts North Carolina in connection with the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. It is always entertaining when two of college basketball’s more iconic programs meet on the hardwood, and that will be the case when the Hoosiers and Tar Heels meet for the 16th time in what will likely be the 9 p.m. primetime slot on ESPN. IU and UNC have a history that goes back to 1961. They’ve played in a national title game (1981) and had numerous recruiting battles along the way. Here are nine story lines to watch. TJD…
Indiana has a defensive commit in the 2023 class after highly-rated Florida-based safety Amare Ferrell pledged to the Hoosiers. The Columbia H.S. (Lake City, Fla.) product announced the news on his Twitter page on Sunday evening after taking an official visit to IU last weekend. Ferrell is ranked No. 437 overall in the 2023 class, and the No. 40 safety according to the 247Sports Composite. He is a 3-star prospect according to that service, and a 4-star at Rivals. The 6-foot-1 and 192 pound Ferrell has the versatility to play either safety or cornerback at the next level. He had…