Author: Seth Tow

Lawrence “Jay” Timmons faced a crossroads one year ago; in football, and in life. After his sophomore year at Pine-Richland High in Gibsonia, Pa., he didn’t receive any college offers until June, when Akron was the lone school to offer him a scholarship. Timmons was not in a good place, mentally, in spring 2024. He always put immense pressure on himself to thrive on the field, and that pressure became overbearing. “After that sophomore year, I lost my love for football,” Timmons told The Daily Hoosier in a phone interview. “I didn’t really like the team I was on. I…

When Colsten Thompson played basketball at Hartselle High in Alabama, he found the girl’s games hard to watch. The Hartselle girl’s team almost always played right before the boy’s team, and Thompson just wasn’t into those contests. The slower-paced girl’s games didn’t capture his attention. “I couldn’t sit out there and watch the game before us. I couldn’t. It would slow my focus down. I just couldn’t,” Thompson told The Daily Hoosier in a phone interview. “That’s bad to say, but that was me in high school.” Many years later, in mid-April 2025, Thompson joined Indiana women’s basketball’s coaching staff…

Blake Smythe has been surrounded by football as long as he can remember. The game runs in the Smythe family — Blake’s grandfather, uncle, and father all played. That meant throwing the ball around with his brother from a young age, watching ESPN when other kids would watch cartoons, accumulating a large collection of football cards, and Thanksgivings highlighted by annual family Turkey Bowls. Smythe’s earliest football memory came at one of those Turkey Bowls, when he was five years old. He remembered running around playing with the adults and having a blast. He was bred into the game. “I…

Indiana women’s basketball has landed a commitment from junior college transfer Jade Ondineme, she announced on social media in early May. https://www.instagram.com/p/DJQEQgmChUv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Ondineme, an Orleans, France native, played two seasons at Northwest Florida State, helping the program to a runner-up finish in 2024 before winning the NJCAA national championship in 2025. The 6-foot-3 forward averaged 6.0 points, 1.1 assists, and 4.5 rebounds per game this past season as a sophomore. She shot 51.1 percent from the field, but finished 46 percent at the free-throw line. The amount of eligibility Ondineme will have remaining at Indiana will likely depend on an…

Indiana football became Jacob Savage’s favorite program as his recruitment process went along, but he had one main concern. The linebacker was well aware of IU’s history on the football field. Head coach Curt Cignetti and his staff were new at that point — they talked a big game, but they were up against a long, overwhelmingly rough track record. So when Cignetti led the Hoosiers to a historic season in 2024, Savage watched from afar with increasing confidence of his eventual college decision. “Ever since camp, I really fell in love with Bloomington as a whole, and the coaching…

Indiana softball is headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season. The Hoosiers earned the No. 3 seed in the Fayetteville Regional, and they’ll take on No. 2 seed Oklahoma State in the first round on Friday at 4 p.m. ET. The winner of that game will face the winner between No. 1 seed Arkansas and No. 4 seed Saint Louis for a spot in the regional final. IU enters the NCAA Tournament with a 33-18 overall record on the season. Shonda Stanton’s team went 10-12 in Big Ten play, and defeated Washington in the Big Ten…

Trevor Gibbs’ love for football can be credited to an entirely different sport. The recent IU commit started playing football in second grade, but it wasn’t his first athletic endeavor. Gibbs’ youth baseball coaches also coached a football team, and their gridiron squad was short one player. So they asked if Gibbs would play football, and his dad signed him up. The Crown Point, Ind. native quickly discovered he’d made a good choice. “I liked it more than baseball right away,” Gibbs told The Daily Hoosier in a phone interview. He took off from there, launching a football career that led…

Ohio State men’s basketball is hiring former Indiana assistant coach Brian Walsh to its coaching staff in the same position, the Buckeyes announced Friday. Walsh spent eight years on staff at Indiana under Archie Miller and Mike Woodson from 2017-2025, with the final three years as an assistant coach. He served as team and recruiting coordinator in 2021-22, and previously held a director of operations role. “I’m excited for Brian and his family to join our Ohio State Hoops family,” Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler said in the program’s press release. “Brian is a proven recruiter with deep Midwest ties…

Indiana football’s running game was solid throughout 2024. The Hoosiers ranked 63rd in the country and fifth in the Big Ten in rushing offense last year, at 165.1 yards per game. That was their highest average as a team since 2015. IU primarily rotated between Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton last year, and that tandem provided a lot of production. They became the first Indiana duo since 2000 to each finish with 10 or more rushing touchdowns in a single season. The team’s rushing success faded down the stretch, though. Indiana finished under 100 rushing yards in three of…

Indiana football is continuing to fill in some gaps through the transfer portal, but the roster still looks pretty clear. Curt Cignetti is looking to build on his historic first season in Bloomington, and he’s built another team with high potential for 2025. Plenty could change with the roster picture, between additional portal commitments, any injuries, or position battles during fall camp. But, with that said, here’s how The Daily Hoosier projects Indiana’s two-deep depth chart after spring camp, with some key spring portal additions factored in. Offense Quarterback: Fernando Mendoza (1); Grant Wilson (2) There’s no question over Mendoza…