Author: Mike Schumann

The money was better at Georgia and Miami. But Fernando Mendoza saw his younger brother’s football knowledge soar in one year with the IU coaching staff. He had to know more. “My brother (Alberto) was at Indiana. I saw first hand how much he developed from high school with that coaching in his first year,” Mendoza said on The Rush with Max Crosby.  “I’m like, this guy basically has more football IQ than me. And I’ve been three years in college.” The Indiana staff promised the one thing they knew they could deliver:  Development.  And in the end they provided…

Did IU basketball emphasize getting bigger at the expense of the three-point shooting? Second-year Indiana coach Darian DeVries doesn’t think so. In fact, he believes some of that added size in the frontcourt will be part of the solution when the Hoosiers take the court in 2026-27. Shooting threes was a major part of IU’s identity last season.  More than half of their attempts from the field (50.5%) came from beyond the arc — the highest percentage ever by a Hoosiers squad — by a wide margin.  That three-point volume was the 14th-highest in the nation.  And their 34.7% make…

IU football quarterback Fernando Mendoza has been selected as the 2025-26 Big Ten Conference Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year, the league announced on Wednesday. Mendoza is the sixth IU athlete to earn the award, and the first since track and field star Derek Drouin in 2013. This is the second such honor for the Hoosiers’ football program, as Mendoza joins College Football Hall of Famer Anthony Thompson, who won in 1990. Beyond Mendoza, Drouin and Thompson, the other three male winners from IU were Jim Spivey (track, cross country, 1982), Sunder Nix (track, 1984) and Steve Alford (basketball,…

BLOOMINGTON — For the third time this summer, The Daily Hoosier attended an IU basketball practice Tuesday morning in Cook Hall. Here are my notes from the two-hour session. – This practice was the first time I watched when Villanova transfer guard Bryce Lindsay was available, so he was someone to naturally keep a closer eye on. – Lindsay is very similar to Darren Harris with his simple, pure shot mechanics and quick release. There’s no wasted motion. He’s proven at this level, after shooting 38.2% from three on 432 attempts over the past two seasons. He made threes in…

Omar Cooper, Jr. had the greatest catch in IU football history at Penn State in November. But he doesn’t even count it as one of the top two standout plays of Indiana’s 2025 national championship season. Cooper says Fernando Mendoza’s fourth quarter touchdown run in the final game was in his top two, along with D’Angelo Ponds pick-six against Oregon in the College Football Playoff national semifinal. “That was just crazy,” Cooper, Jr. said on the New York Jets podcast of Ponds’ interception.  “I was not expecting that.” Nobody was expecting what happened on that tone-setting first play from scrimmage…

The top center in the 2027 class will be in Bloomington for the first weekend in September. Top-20 center Darius Wabbington will visit IU the weekend of September 5, coinciding with the start of the 2026 IU football season. The 6-foot-11 Arizona product recently announced his final six schools are Indiana, Arizona, Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisville and Texas. He also has September/October visits set so far for Louisville, Arizona and Texas as he trends towards a late fall decision. “I’ll probably just be looking at my relationship with the coaches, and then the style of play. Those are the two…

Indianapolis-based 5-star class of 2027 wideout Monshun Sales is expected to make his college decision this week. Here’s what you need to know ahead of his announcement. THE MEASUREMENTS:  Sales is 6-foot-5 and around 205 pounds. WHERE HE’S RANKED:  According to the industry averages, Sales is a 5-star, the No. 8 overall player in the class, and the No. 2 receiver. WHO HE’S CONSIDERING:  Sales is believed to be choosing from finalists Indiana, Ohio State, Alabama, Texas and LSU.  He took official visits to all five schools over the last three months. JUNIOR SEASON STATS:  Sales had 37 catches for…

IU baseball legend Kyle Schwarber is a Major League Baseball All-Star once again. The 33-year-old Schwarber will make his fourth All-Star appearance on July 14. Schwarber leads MLB with 30 home runs, and the NL with a .570 slugging percentage. He is fourth in baseball with a .935 OPS. Schwarber won the 2025 All-Star MVP Award when he went 3-for-3 in a home run swing-off in Atlanta. The 96th Midsummer Classic will be played in Schwarber’s home stadium.  The MLB All-Star Game, in the country’s 250th year, will be played in Philadelphia, the nation’s birthplace. Schwarber is one of six…

Class of 2028 wing Keaton Murry is a name to know for IU basketball. The IU staff offered Murry a scholarship last month after an impressive spring. A product of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the 6-foot-4 Murry attends Putnam City North H.S., a team that reached the 6A state semifinals in 2025-26.  He averaged 10.8 points per game as a sophomore and was named honorable mention All-State. In the average of the national rankings, Murry is a 4-star, the No. 58 overall player in the 2028 class, and the No. 18 shooting guard.  He’s ranked the No. 1 player in Oklahoma…

NBA Summer League 2026 is returning to Las Vegas and will feature all 30 NBA teams from July 9-19, 2026 at the Thomas & Mack Center and Pavilion on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. All 76 games of the 11-day competition will air live on Prime Video or ESPN platforms (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN+). Prior to the action in Las Vegas, the 2026 California Classic will be held in two locations with the Warriors and Kings serving as dual hosts. The Warriors will host games at the Chase Center in San Francisco on July 3, 5-6. The Kings…