Author: Mike Schumann

College football was getting very predictable for a while. Alabama. Clemson. Rinse. Repeat. Although still among the traditional powers of the sport — LSU, Georgia and Michigan brought some fresh names to the stage from 2019 to 2023 as the talent pool seemed to begin flattening. But things were still fairly predictable.  Those teams didn’t come from nowhere.  In fact, no matter which team won the national title in the College Football Playoff era beginning in 2014, they all had one thing in common.  They were all in the preseason top-six in the AP Poll. That was of course, until…

Former IU basketball star Victor Oladipo is not giving up on his professional basketball career. After playing 15 games in the G League in 2025-26, Oladipo took to social media this week to announce he’s still pursuing opportunities. “I’m a free agent. I don’t have an agent right now just me and my family,” Oladipo wrote.  “I know I have a lot left, and I genuinely love this game. I’d rather show you I’m ready than spend my time trying to explain why or flood you with analytics to prove it. “If you’re about winning, value mentorship, and think there…

Class of 2028 wing Will Brunson is an IU basketball recruiting name to know. Indiana offered Brunson a scholarship in June. The 6-foot-6 Brunson announced this week he is transferring to IMG Academy for his junior high school season.  He attended Rutgers Prep in New Jersey as a sophomore and scored 22.2 points per game to go with 8.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists. He also hit 53 three-pointers on the season and helped his team reach the Non-Public B state semifinals. In the average of the national rankings, Brunson is a 4-star prospect, the No. 23 player in the 2028…

Former IU defensive star Marcelino McCrary-Ball saw three postseason appearances in his six years in Bloomington. But of course he never saw anything quite like the 2025 Indiana Hoosiers. No one had. At IU from 2016 to 2021, McCrary-Ball experienced the highs and lows.  He played in the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl and the 2019 Gator Bowl, and watched with an injury as his teammates played in the 2020 Outback Bowl.  It was actually a pretty good run for the Hoosiers. McCrary-Ball also saw a pair of 5-7 seasons in 2017 and 2018, and a miserable 2-10 season to wrap-up…

The 2026-27 college basketball season is just four months away.  And rosters are fairly locked in at this point. IU basketball does still have one open roster spot, but it doesn’t appear to this point we’ll see a pivotal addition to the team, if any. In our last look at several preseason too-early top-25s, Indiana was a fairly consistent No. 20 to No. 30 team, and that’s where the Hoosiers remain in ESPN’s July update. Jeff Borzello of that outlet has the Hoosiers in his “next five” at No. 29. Borzello’s top team in the Big 10 this season?  The…

Former IU baseball star Kyle Schwarber is on pace for another monster season with the Philadelphia Phillies. Just past the season’s midpoint, Schwarber has a Major League Baseball best 30 home runs, four more than second place.  He has reached 30 or more home runs in each of his last five seasons, and he’s the ninth player in MLB history to hit 30-plus home runs in each of their first five seasons with a franchise.  He joins greats such as Babe Ruth, Manny Ramirez and Albert Pujols on that list. Now at 370 home runs for his 12-year career, the…

Indiana offered class of 2028 wing Isaac Smith this week. A product of Danville, Virginia, Smith attends Monarch Academy in Kansas City, Kansas. In the average of the national rankings, the 6-foot-5 Smith is a 4-star, the No. 38 overall player in the 2028 class, and the No. 9 small forward. Smith is a classic wing, with length, athleticism and the ability to both shoot from the perimeter and score off the bounce. As a sophomore, Smith attended Hargrave Military Academy, where he averaged 17.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest. For travel basketball Smith plays for Team…

Indiana is among the final six schools for class of 2027 center Darius Wabbington. The 6-foot-11 Arizona product is also still considering Arizona, Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisville and Texas. Wabbington is in the process of scheduling official visits.  Louisville, Arizona and Texas visits have been set, but to this point there are no reports of an IU visit.  A trip to Bloomington will be a key marker to keep an eye on. Indiana’s staff offered Wabbington last summer. Based on the average of the national rankings, Wabbington is a 4-star, the No. 14 overall player in the 2027 class, and…

Illinois was humbled by Indiana in their Big Ten opener last September. So much so that the 63-10 dismantling they suffered at the Bloomington version of Memorial Stadium had Illini coach Bret Bielema singing the praises of the IU staff — to his own staff. One of the standout features of the sudden emergence of IU football is that they’ve been elite on both sides of the ball. Under the direction of offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, Indiana has been among the the nation’s best on both offense and defense in virtually every statistical category.  And…

It’s been a rough decade for college sports purists. First the transfer portal and player payments were unleashed upon fans.  And this summer the emerging new trend seemingly certain to sweep across the landscape and arrive in Bloomington:  jersey patches. Introducing the Culver’s Wisconsin Badgers, and the MSU Federal Credit Union Spartans. No word yet if Culver’s is introducing a flop-burger in connection with today’s news. In just the last couple weeks, both Wisconsin and Michigan State have announced corporate sponsor patches will appear on all of their team uniforms.  And that creates a near certainty we’ll be seeing a…