Indiana head women’s basketball coach Teri Moren has filled the vacancy on her staff. The Hoosiers announced Monday they’ve hired Kentucky’s Amber Smith as an assistant coach. She’s Moren’s second hire in the last two years, as Linda Sayavongchanh joined the staff in spring 2022 as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Rhet Wierzba remains IU’s associate head coach. Smith’s position became available in early May when associate head coach Glenn Box left to become head coach at Miami (Ohio). “I am thrilled that Amber is joining us in Bloomington,” Moren said in a press release. “Amber is passionate, high energy,…
Author: Seth Tow
For IU head men’s basketball coach Mike Woodson, this has been an offseason defined by replacement. That took multiple forms. He underwent a much-needed knee replacement surgery in April, and he had to replace some major roles on the Indiana men’s basketball roster. Neither was easy and seamless for the 65-year-old Woodson and the Hoosiers. But as players come back to Bloomington for summer workouts, both Woodson and his team have come out of that period stronger. Some questioned the timing of Woodson’s right knee procedure, in the middle of a hectic transfer portal recruiting season. But he said he…
Indiana is one of the biggest winners of the Big Ten’s new football scheduling format for 2024 and 2025. The program may not say anything publicly celebrating or admitting it. But it’s the truth. These changes, brought on by UCLA and USC joining the Big Ten next summer, benefit IU football. Maryland and Rutgers surely feel the same way. The new format helps all three programs. The Big Ten scrapped its two divisions for football in favor of a “Flex Protect Plus” model. Several rivalry matchups — including Indiana-Purdue — were protected so the teams will continue to face off…
Indiana women’s basketball has landed its second recruit in the class of 2024. Forward Sydney Fenn out of AZ Compass Prep announced her commitment to the Hoosiers Tuesday on her Twitter. https://twitter.com/sydney_fenn/status/1666164932713369600 Fenn joins guard Faith Wiseman in the class of 2024. Her other offers included Cornell, Pittsburgh, Penn, Vermont, American, and Buffalo. The 6-foot-3 post player is originally from Buffalo, N.Y. Her AAU team, XGen Elite, is based in Buffalo. She’ll join Indiana’s frontcourt at a time of transition, when the Hoosiers will move on from first team All-American Mackenzie Holmes after this coming season. IU’s other forwards for…
Xavier Johnson waited just as restlessly as IU fans did to find out if he’d be able to play this coming season. Johnson applied for a medical hardship waiver after last season ended, hoping for another year of eligibility after missing the last three months of the season after a mid-December injury. The waiver was approved in late April, giving IU a crucial piece back for 2023-24. Johnson met with media last week at IU’s annual event at Huber’s Winery in Borden, Ind. — his first media availability since his injury in December. And the guard said learning the waiver…
Indiana baseball began its regional weekend by stepping up in big moments. The weekend ended because the opposite happened. Indiana started 2-0 in the Lexington regional and needed just one more win to advance to its first Super Regional since 2013, while Kentucky needed two wins. And in Monday’s deciding winner-take-all game, the Wildcats got the job done. Kentucky advanced with a 4-2 victory at Kentucky Proud Park. The stat that will haunt Indiana from this game is its 1 for 15 mark with runners in scoring position. The Hoosiers stranded seven runners in scoring position. It’s difficult to pick…
New Indiana center Kel’el Ware has already started his offseason work to improve heading into next basketball season. Ware told DraftExpress he’s been working at Proactive Sports Performance in California for around a month, with a schedule routine built around working out and getting better. He said he’s working on his outside shooting and building strength. “I’m just trying to work on my 3-pointer more, get that more effective, and just work on being stronger in the post,” Ware said. “(The trainers) want to see me be more dominant in the post, and be stronger with the ball whenever I…
Indiana baseball entered this season with modest expectations, but suddenly, the Hoosiers are on the precipice of history. The Hoosiers advanced to a regional final for the first time since 2018 with a dramatic 5-3 win over Kentucky on Friday. IU (43-18) will face the winner between UK (37-19) and West Virginia (40-19) on Sunday at 6 p.m. A win would send the Hoosiers to Super Regionals for the first time since 2013, when they went to the College World Series. A loss would set up a winner-takes-all rematch on Monday. Saturday’s showdown was not easy for Indiana. This game…
As opponents swarmed Jules LaMendola with extra defenders and different schemes to limit her, she was unfazed. She frequently encountered that last season as a senior, as teams knew how dangerous the IU commit was. When LaMendola was a junior, her Coppell (Texas) High School team had a center who went on to play in Division II, and that helped alleviate some pressure on her. But there were no detractors last year. So opponents constantly sent double-teams and triple-teams at her, and did whatever they could to stop her. “I think they would throw all five players at her if…
Tim Carpenter did not grow up an Indiana fan, but he fondly remembers watching the Hoosiers excel in 2020. Living in Dayton, Ohio, Carpenter was an Ohio State fan. But the 6-2 IU team during the COVID-affected season was a memorable team for him. And that’s largely because of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Carpenter watched Penix play and saw a quarterback whose game resembled his own. He looked up to Penix because of that. “Just his play style, and just the person. I didn’t know him off the field, but just getting a sense of who he was off the…