Author: Mike Schumann

Indiana has received a commitment from 4-star class of 2026 edge Ronelle Johnson. The 6-foot-4 and 265-pound Johnson chose the Hoosiers over finalists Kansas State, Missouri and Ole Miss.  His decision comes after visiting IU earlier this month. Johnson is the No. 296 overall player in the class and the No. 30 edge according to the average of the national recruiting sites.  He’s the third defensive lineman in Indiana’s 2026 class who is rated a 4-star by at least one of the national recruiting outlets. Playing for Blue Springs H.S. in Blue Springs, Mo., Johnson posted more than 60 tackles,…

The 2025 NFL season is quickly approaching, and that means several former Indiana football players are battling for roster spots. Below is a summary of which Hoosiers are currently on 90-man rosters, along with the key dates as teams get set to cut down to 53 players. The Los Angeles Chargers and Detroit Lions, who will face off in the Hall of Fame Game on July 31, will be the first two teams to have rookies and veterans report. Chargers veterans report on July 16, while Lions veterans report on July 19.  Veterans on all of the other teams report…

Indiana has a chance to start its 2027 recruiting class with a bang. The Hoosiers are trending for rising 4-star junior quarterback Jameson Purcell.  That’s according to Steve Wiltfong of Rivals, who placed a prediction this week for Purcell to end up in Bloomington. Purcell is one of the best quarterbacks in the 2027 class. As a high school sophomore, the Park Ridge, Ill. product (Maine South H.S.) threw for 2,572 yards and 30 touchdowns.  He completed 70% of his throws. The 6-foot-2 and 193-pound Purcell is a 4-star based on the average of the national recruiting sites.  He’s the…

Indiana landed a commitment from class of 2026 wide receiver Walker Bryson on Friday afternoon. Walker announced his commitment on his social media pages.  He recently visited Bloomington earlier this month. The 6-foot and 180-pound Walker is a 3-star, the No. 511 overall player in the 2026 class, and the No. 26 athlete according to the average of the national sites. Walker attends Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Rabun Gap, Ga.  One of his greatest assets is high-end speed.  He reports a laser-timed 4.4 40-yard dash.  And Walker uses that speed in a number of ways, as a receiver, returner and…

Well-known college football analyst Phil Steele was more optimistic than most when it came to Indiana’s 2024 outlook under then first-year head coach Curt Cignetti. While much of the college football world was calling for a last or second-to-last place finish for the Hoosiers, Steele pegged Indiana as the No. 12 team in the Big Ten.  That was still way off from IU’s tied for second-place finish, but it was clear Steele placed more value on Cignetti and his transfer portal haul than most. So what does Steele say about IU going into 2025? With what appears to be a…

Class of 2026 4-star wing Cole Cloer says Indiana is one of the eight schools he’s still considering for college. The other seven on his list are N.C. State, UConn, Florida, Alabama, Virginia, North Carolina and Louisville, according to Joe Tipton of Rivals. The 6-foot-7 Cloer attends Caldwell Academy in Hillsborough, N.C. He averaged 18.9 points with 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists as a high school junior. He shot 40.7% from three while leading his team to a state championship. This is the first major public facing indication of positive momentum for Indiana with Cloer.  The next thing to watch…

The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie is projecting IU basketball forward Tucker DeVries will be drafted in the NBA next summer. Vecenie has DeVries as the No. 54 player on his 2026 NBA Draft board. He wasn’t included on a similar 2026 preview by ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo, and DeVries is the only member of the current IU team receiving draft projections at this time. Other familiar names appear on Vecenie’s 2026 top-60 (i.e. two rounds), including UConn’s Braylon Mullins (No. 7), Kansas’ Flory Bidunga (No. 39), Texas A&M’s Mackenzie Mgbako (No. 57), and Purdue’s Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn…

When Indiana opens fall camp on July 30, at least four preseason All-Americans will take the practice fields. Both Phil Steele and Walter Camp have named their respective preseason All-American teams, and so far three IU defenders and one member of the offense have been recognized. Steele says wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, edge rusher Mikail Kamara, and linebacker Aiden Fisher are all second-team All-Americans, while cornerback D’Angelo Ponds is on the third-team. Steele names the All-American teams on page 18 of his annual preseason magazine. Indiana is one of just five schools (Alabama, Clemson, Indiana, Penn State and Texas) to…

A year ago at this time IU fans were introduced to an unfamiliar topic:  a quarterback with a chance to win the Heisman Trophy. Various sports books listed Kurtis Rourke with anywhere from 150/1 to 300/1 odds to hoist the coveted hardware in New York. Including Rourke as a contender proved prescient, as he ended up ninth in the final 2024 Heisman voting. Now Heisman talk is becoming situation normal in Bloomington. Ahead of the 2025 campaign, new IU quarterback Fernando Mendoza has even better preseason odds than Rourke, ranging from 50/1 to 75/1 across six well known national sports…

It had been 20 years since Indiana had defeated Michigan.  36 years since the Hoosiers last claimed a victory over Ohio State. IU had never beat both the Wolverines and the Buckeyes in the same season. All of those streaks came to an end in 1987. Bill Mallory’s first season (1984) saw the Hoosiers go 0-11.  Just three years later, Mallory and his Hoosiers were taking down college football giants. The non-conference portion of the schedule didn’t portend what was to come. The Hoosiers handled Rice (with current IU coach Curt Cignetti on staff) easily to open the season…