Author: Jason Sanders

It’s difficult to get college coaches to speak candidly on much of anything. That’s why we like Athlon’s annual tradition of obtaining anonymous quotes from coaches from around the Big Ten containing candid thoughts about other programs in the league. It’s bulletin board material — without a name attached. What do Big Ten football coaches think about Indiana and second-year head coach Curt Cignetti? The quotes below come from Athlon Sports’ 2025 College Football Preview print magazine. Order your copy today online, or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide. Here are the four quotes Athlon published regarding…

Cornerback D’Angelo Ponds just completed his sophomore season at Indiana, but he stands among the best-of-the-best in college football. After earning multiple freshman All-America honors in 2023 at James Madison, Ponds was named an All-American by six different national outlets as a sophomore at IU in 2024. What does the future hold for Ponds as he turns the page to his junior season? An ESPN panel of 10 analysts say Ponds begins the upperclassman portion of his career as one of the five best defensive backs in all of college football. “He’s everything you want in a corner,” IU CB…

It’s well known Bob Knight would on occasion concoct outrage in an effort to send a message to his team. Knight’s tactics were sometimes referred to by folks in and around the program as “BK Theater.” Steve Alford told a tale of such a moment this summer as it relates to the 1984 Olympic team, when Knight threw the team out of practice. Former NBA star Mike Bibby shared a story last week about Mike Woodson that sounded like it may have been influenced by his time playing for Knight. When Woodson was coaching the Atlanta Hawks, Bibby was his…

Class of 2025 in-state guard Braylon Mullins hasn’t formally announced that he’s down to seven schools, but his fall plans suggest that’s where things stand. Mullins shared with Kyle Neddenriep of the Indy Star on Monday that he will not visit Purdue, Alabama or Kansas over the next couple months.  All three schools were listed in his top-10 announced in July. The 6-foot-5 product of Greenfield Central H.S. did visit Connecticut earlier this month, and he does have six more visits scheduled.  All previously reported, they are as follows: Michigan (Sept. 7), North Carolina (Sept. 14), Indiana (Sept. 20), Duke…

Headlining Indiana’s massive recruiting weekend that has already led to three commitments was 5-star class of 2025 quarterback Julian Lewis. Lewis is the the No. 10 overall player in the rising senior class according to the On3 Industry Average, and the No. 2 quarterback.  Indiana is competing with USC, Auburn and Colorado for the services of the Carrollton, Ga. product. The first time Lewis visited IU it made a splash, the second this past weekend it opened some eyes to the possibility.  Is yet a third visit possible?  Yes. Lewis has a specific weekend in mind. “If I do go…

If Kyle Schwarber gets his arms extended the barrel of the bat on the ball, look out. The former IU and current Philadelphia Phillies star hit 93 home runs in 2022 and 2023 combined. What’s his secret? Baseball Savant rolled out a new bat speed metric a couple weeks ago, as measured by Statcast, and it provides a major clue. Schwarber has the third-fastest swing in the Majors at 77.1 mph. Only the Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton (80.5) and Oneil Cruz (77.8) of the Pirates swing faster. Schwarber’s fast swing rate — or his percentage of swings that are 75 mph…

Curt Cignetti already has one quarterback locked up in the 2024 class, but it appears he’s not done trying to amass arm talent from the high school ranks for next year’s roster. On Monday Indiana got a commitment from former James Madison pledge Alberto Mendoza.  But he hasn’t been the only 2024 signal caller being pursued by the new IU staff since they took over. In-state 4-star quarterback Tyler Cherry (Greenwood, Ind., Center Grove H.S.) has reopened his recruitment after a coaching change at Duke. Cherry visited IU on Friday before Mendoza committed, and according to Indy Star’s Kyle Neddenriep,…

Whenever you see any photo of LeBron James’ shot that broke the NBA’s all-time scoring record, you’ll probably see former IU center Thomas Bryant in the frame. And there are a lot of photos of that moment. The sixth-year pro was out the left wing as James drove from the right elbow to the left. Whatever the moment, Bryant knew instinctively what to do as James looked his direction on the set. “You know what was crazy?  We went through that same play in practice, and whenever LeBron sees me on that wing he tells me to cut, and if…

IU basketball coach Mike Woodson said on a podcast released Wednesday freshman guard Jakai Newton has been hurt, and implied his availability for the upcoming season is unclear. If Newton did turn out to be unable to go at the start of the 2023-24 season, IU would be down to just five guards — Xavier Johnson, Gabe Cupps, Trey Galloway, Anthony Leal and C.J. Gunn. And obviously just two of those five have a proven track record at the high major level of college basketball. The IU staff had a number of lines in the water when it came to…

Most recruiting stories today have a transactional feel. How much playing time and how much NIL? When Mackenzie Mgbako decommitted from Duke, those certainly seemed like two of the more relevant issues that would be front and center for any school that tried to recruit him. But things started out a little different when it came to IU and Mgbako. According to IU assistant coach Kenya Hunter, it was Mgbako’s mother who started out being the recruiter, and Indiana the recruited. “Mackenzie’s deal is kind of unique because the crazy thing is Mackenzie’s mom reached out to coach Woodson with a…