Author: Mike Schumann

To the victor goes the spoils, and so it went for the IU baseball program on Tuesday as the Big Ten Conference announced its postseason awards. The headliners for Indiana were starting pitcher Andrew Saalfrank and head coach Jeff Mercer. After going 36-19 and winning the Big Ten regular season title, Mercer was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year.  He becomes the third Indiana head coach to earn the honor.  The Indiana native led the Hoosiers to their seventh Big Ten crown in the program’s history and its first since 2014. Saalfrank won the Big Ten Pitcher of the…

Former Hoosier All-American and current Indiana Pacer and NBA All-Star Victor Oladipo will team up with IU in August to host a basketball fantasy experience in Bloomington. The IU men’s basketball program issued the following release about the three day event: VICTOR OLADIPO ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL BASKETBALL FANTASY EXPERIENCE  Bloomington, IN – Hoosiers basketball great Victor Oladipo has announced the launch of his inaugural Basketball Fantasy Experience in partnership with Indiana Basketball. This unique charitable weekend will be held August 23rd – 25th at Indiana University and offers inside access to the Indiana University Men’s Basketball program. The Game On Mouthguards Victor Oladipo Basketball…

Versatile big men are a hot commodity in the college and pro game right now, and few players in the class of 2020 epitomize what that means more than Dawson Garcia. Although he is 6-foot-11, Garcia is not a traditional back to the basket big man.  The Prior Lake, Minnesota product has good handles, can bring the ball up the floor, finish with both hands, and knock down perimeter shots. According to the 247Sports Composite, Garcia is the No. 28 player in the country in the 2020 class, and the No. 6 power forward.  He is rated as a five-star…

Below are extended videos of several IU class of 2020 recruiting targets from the second Nike EYBL session in Westfield, Ind.  The game action gives you a look at not just highlights but multiple facets of each recruit’s strengths and weaknesses. The first video is a game between the Indiana based Indy Heat and Georgia based AOT. The key names to know for the Indy Heat (black jerseys) are: #1 – Justin Powell #6 – Caleb Furst #12 – Nigel Pack #33 – Kiyron Powell IU is recruiting all of these players to various degrees with Furst (class of 2021)…

There will be no Watford dynasty at Indiana.  Unlike his older brother Christian, Trendon Watford will not be a Hoosier. As has been widely expected, five-star class of 2019 forward Trendon Watford announced today that he will play college basketball at LSU. The 6-foot-9 forward announced his decision today at Mountain Brook High School in the Birmingham, Alabama area. Indiana head coach Archie Miller conducted an in-home visit with the Watford family last month, but that was not enough to sway Trendon.  The Hoosiers hadn’t been thought of as a serious contender for quite some time, with the younger Watford…

Only seven players that saw the floor from the 2018-19 Indiana basketball team will be back for the 2019-20 campaign as of this writing.  While formal practices have concluded, the work never stops for high major college basketball players.  Growth and development happens in the offseason, in individual workouts and permitted organized team activities. If you could talk to each of the seven returning players about their 2018-19 season and what they need to improve going forward, what would you say?  We play Archie for a day and give it a shot with “Exit Interviews.” RACE THOMPSON Quick 2018-19 Recap: You…

It’s time to get back to business. The Indiana baseball program now must transition its focus from its Big Ten regular season crown to the postseason.  Step one is the league tournament. The Big Ten announced the bracket for the 2019 Big Ten Baseball Tournament over the weekend. The annual event will be held May 22-26 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. The eight-team, double-elimination tournament begins on Wednesday, with all eight teams playing on day one.  No. 1 seed Indiana will host Iowa at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on BTN. No. 21 IU (36-19, 17-7) swept the Hawkeyes in…

With what appears to be four available scholarships for its 2020 class, Indiana will make a hard push to fill one of those openings with someone that can play the five spot. One player in the class that the Hoosier coaching staff has been focusing on recently is Elijah Hutchins-Everett. The 6-foot-11 center is rated as a 4-star by the 247Sports Composite.  He is the No. 64 player overall in the 2020 class and the No. 11 center according to that same service. Hutchins-Everett moved up 50 spots in the national rankings in March after strong showings in national events…

They say familiarity breeds contempt, but for Noblesville, Ind. offensive lineman Cameron Knight and the IU coaching staff, it apparently breeds comfort. The younger brother of former Hoosier offensive lineman and current Dallas Cowboy undrafted free agent signee Brandon Knight, Cameron announced on Twitter today that he would be following in his older brother’s footsteps. https://twitter.com/CameronKn1ght62/status/1129868205713965058 Knight becomes the fourth commit for IU in the 2020 class and the third from the state of Indiana. According to the 247Sports Composite, Knight is a 2-star recruit and the No. 23 ranked player in the state of Indiana. Knight also had an…

The Jeff Mercer era is off to a good start in Bloomington.  Less than a year after being hired by Indiana, Mercer watched as his team made a dog pile in the infield after clinching the school’s first Big Ten title since 2014. In a must win situation, IU finished off the sweep of Rutgers with a 13-3 win on Saturday. The Hoosiers dominated the series this weekend at Bart Kaufman field, outscoring Rutgers 31-12 in the three games. A six running fourth inning from IU’s potent offense blew things open on Saturday, and another strong start from Andrew Saalfrank…