IU Sports

2007-11-20T18:08:00.001-05:00

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1079049493/bctid1313717060

Hardy, Others Injured...?

2007-08-14T08:04:00.001-05:00

After writing about James Hardy's potential departure to the NFL next season, the Hoosier wide receiver responded well with an injury that will keep him out two weeks. TWO WEEKS. Fortunately, Hardy only broke his ring finger during practice...not a serious injury by any means.

Not only is Hardy plagued by injury, but redshirt junior Greg Brown and tight end Nick Sexton are expected to take some time from practice. Brown suffered a left shoulder injury while Sexton's was not disclosed. Greg Brown is a pretty big loss to the program, as he started all 12 games, according to the Hoosier Report blog. In addition, he's IU's leading tackler among the defensive linemen. Indiana's problems defensively are pretty obvious, and the leading tackler getting injured is not welcome news.

Hardy to NFL Next Year?

2007-08-11T19:31:00.000-05:00

James Hardy going to the NFL after this season would be a major blow to the football program at IU. He mentioned to IndyStar's Terry Hutchens that it is possible he'd be in Orlando next season to prepare for the NFL Draft. Hardy is one of the most dangerous wide receivers in the Big Ten and he and sophomore Kellen Lewis are a lethal tandem. Now that Lewis is strong and experienced, it should be fun to see how they perform this season. But with Hardy hinting at the NFL, it will be interesting to see how the Hoosiers cope with the potential loss of their strongest receiver. Even though I'd like him to stay, he's good enough to be a top draft pick, and it would be senseless not to enter the NFL.

IU Wins "Bill Snyder Scheduling Award"

2007-08-05T15:00:00.001-05:00

The Indiana football team was given the inaugural "Bill Snyder Award Honoring Excellence in the Scheduling of Creampuffs and Patsies" by the AOL Sports Football FanHouse blog. The award recognizes college football teams who display exemplary skill and effort in scheduling cupcake teams to play, in order to boost their overall record and become bowl eligible. The award is named after Kansas State's football coach, Bill Snyder, who "is a legend... for his astounding non-conference schedules that presented not simply a minimal risk of loss, but usually guaranteed a 3 touchdown beatdown—minimum."

Indiana won the award in the Big Ten Edition. Cupcake non-conference games include Indiana State (1-10 last year) and three MAC opponents in Western Michigan, Akron, and Ball State. The Golden Gophers of Minnesota were runner-up, as their schedule of 1-AA North Dakota State, MAC foes Bowling Green and Miami, and 1-A Florida Atlantic was not enough to keep Indiana from the top honor.

Writes author Bruce Ciskie, "Maybe IU is plotting to join the MAC."

Random Happenings in B-town

2007-08-01T15:35:00.000-05:00

Well...there have been two pretty significant events that have happened in B-town this week (and last). For one, there is now a new noise ordinance. It requires you to have your music at a "reasonable volume", low enough in that it can't be heard from 30 feet away. We must have some city council members who live under a rock because they apparently don't realize that Bloomington is a college town. I may not be a college student, but I certainly enjoy blaring some T.I. tracks while on the road.

Along with the noise ordinance (blah), there was a kid who was shot to death after he was seen fleeing from a burglary by a police officer. The story is actually from Gary, but it's random and it was in the local paper. The officer had no intention of shooting until the kid "tried to pull up his sagging pants, causing the officer to mistake the movement for a reach for a weapon." As a result, the kid with the sagging pants was killed. So stop wearing saggy pants. You never know. It might be your last day.

Hoosiers Soccer No. 8 in Preseason Poll

2007-07-30T08:32:00.001-05:00

The IU Men's Soccer Team was placed in the No. 8 spot by College Soccer News in a preseason poll. This year's team will feature eight returning starters from last year, which went 15-4-3 and reached the third round of the NCAA tournament before losing to Santa Clara in a shootout. Returning starters for Head Coach Mike Freitag's squad include junior Brian Ackley and sophomore Darren Yeagle, who tallied 7 goals apiece last season. IU, which has a recruiting class ranked No. 2 in the nation, is one of two Big Ten teams in the top 30, along with Northwestern, which is twentieth. Indiana will face 8 of the 30 teams in the poll next season, including home games against UCLA and Maryland. The top ten teams in the poll are:

1. UCLA (14-6-4)
2. Duke (18-3-1)
3. UC Santa Barbara (17-7-1)
4. Wake Forest (18-3-3)
5. Santa Clara (13-5-5)
6. Virginia (17-4-1)
7. Southern Methodist (17-2-4)
8. Indiana (15-4-3)
9. Maryland (16-5-1)
10. New Mexico (14-4-3)

D.J. Dominant in Pan Am Games

2007-07-29T08:20:00.000-05:00

Despite losing their first two games, D.J. White's Pan Am Team has shined in reaching the consolation finals of the Pan Am Games. After losing to Uruguay and Panama in relatively close games, White scored consecutive 22 point games in victories over a previously unbeaten Argentina team and a struggling U.S. Virgin Islands squad. His scores were team highs in both games, as well as his 13 rebounds in the win over the U.S. Virgin Islands. The U.S. Pan Am Team (2-2) will continue play in the 5th/6th place game against Panama (2-2).

White, Hibbert Choose "Class over Cash"

2007-07-23T12:41:00.000-05:00

Let's face it. If you're really skilled in basketball and you have the option to go to the NBA and leave college early, it's basically a no-brainer. But to some, college is much more important than that. IU's D.J. White isn't the only high profile college player to choose school over the monetary rewards of the NBA. White's Pan Am teammates, Roy Hibbert, Wayne Ellington, Joey Dorsey, and Josh Carter all chose to stay in school for another year. Says Hibbert from Yahoo Sports:

"Yeah, it's OK to get drafted to make the quick money, but I'm looking for the long term, for maybe getting a second contract," he said. "I don't want to just play in the NBA. I want to have a career."

D.J. White to Play for Team USA

2007-07-18T20:41:00.000-05:00

D.J. White will play on Team USA for the Pan Am Games. The 12 member squad was announced late Thursday. It's pretty impressive that D.J. made the cut, considering he went through 5 trial sessions. He'll be playing with the likes of Georgetown's Roy Hibbert and MSU's Drew Neitzel. Congrats D.J., you'll represent us well! Here's the full list.

Players:

Josh Carter (Texas A&M)
Joey Dorsey (Memphis)
Wayne Ellington (North Carolina)
Shan Foster (Vanderbilt)
James Gist (Maryland)
Roy Hibbert (Georgetown)
Maarty Leunen (Virginia Commonwealth)
Drew Neitzel (Michigan State)
Scottie Reynolds (Villanova)
Bryce Taylor (Oregon)
Kyle Weaver (Washington State)
D.J. White (Indiana)

Coaches:

Jay Wright- head coach (Villanova)
Mark Gottfried- assistant coach (Alabama)
James Jones- assistant coach (Yale)

Pre-Pre-Big Ten Standings

2007-07-16T08:47:00.001-05:00

Based on the fact that sports enter a dull phase when baseball season rolls around, I've decided to compile a pre-pre-Big Ten standings list for next year. And for all the baseball fanatics, I have three things to tell you.

1.) Baseball sucks.
2.) Find a better sport to watch.
3.) I don't care if baseball is the only sport played during the summer...
don't watch it.

I could list a ton of reasons why baseball sucks (don't give me that face...you know it does) but I have better things to do. To keep you off my back, I'll just note that nobody tries in baseball. It's kind of like the NBA during the season, where nobody really cares about winning until they reach the playoffs. When they get to the playoffs (yes, crappy teams make the playoffs...Orlando for example) they find that they can add to their already fat paycheck by scoring a few points here or there, or maybe play some defense on some plays. So please don't whine that baseball is a real sport, cuz it's not.

Now, by this time I think it's at least somewhat clear how each of the Big Ten teams look for next season. Soooo, I've listed below my rankings of the top five teams for the 08' Big Ten season. Obviously, it's not official yet but what the heck.

1.) Michigan State
Tom Izzo has tenure at MSU and his incoming class is ranked 5th by Scout.com. It's lame to dwell on how the recruiting classes change the outcome of games, so I won't. But they have a weapon in Durrell Summers, a five star Shooting guard who averaged nearly 30 points at his high school in Michigan. It seems kind of ironic that Izzo would look for a talented shooting guard for 08' because he already has one in Neitzel, but it makes no difference. They could use some help on defense with their 245 pound Center Goran Suton, a redshirt sophomore, who led the team in turnovers and averaged less than 1 block per contest, but Izzo should have him ready to play for next season. That's why I choose MSU as my No. 1 pick for 07'.

2.) Indiana
Indiana wasn't chosen second just because I'm a Hoosier fan. The Hoosier Nation has waited way too long for another IU basketball team to fail miserably (ahem...Davis), and it definitely won't happen this year. Eric Gordon is arguably the best player in the nation, considering that he's going to a strong basketball school at Indiana while OJ Mayo is not (So. Cal). Gordon is a beast on the court, without question. Not only is he a scrappy player and plays defense, but he is silky smooth on offense and is not afraid to pound it inside. DJ White is another important highlight for next year's team, and he will not disappoint. White showed why he was one of the top big men last year, as he averaged 13.8 points and over 2 blocks per game.

3.) Ohio State
Hating Ohio State is like riding a bike. It just comes naturally. Even though I hate their guts, I still have to give them some much deserved credit. They went all the way with Oden and Conley, two stolen players who escaped our grasp via Davis. Thad Matta impressed me last year, and I think he'll continue to do so this year (just do me a favor and don't name your kid Thad, cuz he'll be...well...very Thad). Anyway, the Buckeyes should look pretty solid next year because of a few incoming recruits, even though Oden and Conley will be two tough losses. 7 foot Kosta Koufos averaged 24 points in high school, and 6'8'' Center Dallas Lauderdale should provide some much needed help on defense.

4.) Purdue
Ahhh....it looks like the lame Boilerfakers are sitting in fourth place. How depressing. I really don't understand why such a whiny baby like Matt Painter landed all those recruits, but I guess it happens. They should be fine this year, even from losing some golden recruits from last year's team. David Teague and Carl Landry were their main offensive force last year, and that Chris Kramer guy (the one that looks like a true West Lafayette native) came up with some big plays late in the year. New recruits JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore are some big time play makers. Johnson is a strong and able Power forward while Moore put on a strong showing against Eric Gordon in the Indiana state championship game to lead his East Chicago Central High School to the title. I see Purdue being a contender in the Big Ten, but more of a force next year, when their incoming players have more experience.
5.) Illinois
Bruce Weber is a complete goof. I absolutely hate it when he reacts to calls (good calls most of the time) because his mouth is always gaping open. Even worse, he thinks he can coach. And IU taking Eric Gordon away from his little fingers was awesome. The fact that Weber acted like a jerk about the whole thing just shows what kind of program he's running at U of I. Warren Carter was their best player last year (yes, the tall dude with the wacky dreds) and now that he's gone they're soooooo screwed. Shaun Pruitt was OK last year, but the main reason Illinois is #5 is because the bottom of the Big Ten is relatively weak and they have a decent player with Demetri McCamey, who should offset the loss of shaggy (Carter). I don't expect em' to go too far in 07'.

Greenspan Taking Right Steps

2007-06-29T09:37:00.002-05:00

AD Rick Greenspan has already begun to honor Hep by taking steps to rename the North Endzone Project the Hep Center (Hoosier Education and Performance Center). Memorial Stadium cannot be renamed but a plaque or statue at the entrance to the Stadium (along with The Rock) should be enough. As the Hoosier Report blog mentioned, there is a strict renaming policy for Indiana University, which includes a waiting period of five years after the death of an individual before their name can be considered. In that case, we'll be waiting for a while before anything such as this happens.

Eshaunte Jones Opens Recruitment (Again)

2007-06-29T09:19:00.000-05:00

Eshaunte Jones, a four star Shooting guard ranked 16th in the class of 2008, de-committed from IU. Jones graduated from Fort Wayne North Side and plans on attending Hargrave Military Academy for a year before going off to college. IU's Jordan Crawford also attended Hargrave, before selecting Indiana as his top pick for the class of 07'. Hmmm....I hope Crawford won't get any bad ideas from Mr. Jones. Its been rumored that he's interested in Mizzou, but still looking at Kentucky and Indiana.

Terry Hoeppner Passes Away

2007-06-24T11:30:00.000-05:00

Indiana Football Coach Terry Hoeppner passed away on June 19, 2007. I think I can speak for everyone in that IU Football was a basically a nobody for many years until Terry came to the program. I gotta give credit to AD Rick Greenspan for hiring such a talented and caring coach. The thing that separated him from a lot of coaches was that he really wanted to be here in Bloomington. Yes, being from a small town in Indiana helped and so did the paycheck, but he could've just stopped right then and there. But he didn't. He established The Rock at Memorial Stadium, as well as The Walk where the players walk to the stadium along with the band and fans. He even started a new chant for every first down the Hoosiers got. Hoeppner always believed that success came by never quitting, and it showed. We beat No. 13 Iowa in only his second season at the helm. Also, from what I can remember, we won a Big Ten road game (Illinois) for the first time in....ever. I'm really glad that IU had a memorial service for Hep because he definitely deserved it. Goodbye Coach Hep. Go Hoosiers!

Devin Ebanks Committed in 08'

2007-06-17T09:04:00.000-05:00

Devin Ebanks, a 6'8'' high school junior who had been deciding between Indiana and Miami(FL), finally commited to IU. Ebanks traveled to Bloomington for the adidas May Classic and spoke with Sampson. He said that his reasons for choosing the Hoosiers were both the strong incoming class and his need for improvement on defense. He said that Sampson was a coach that could help him improve his defense. Devin is ranked 10th in the class of 2008, and 3rd as a Small Forward.

Lynch Taking Over for 07'

2007-06-16T12:37:00.001-05:00

Assistant Football Coach Billy Lynch is now the head coach for IU. Hoeppner's health problems are apparently very serious now and I'm not sure if he'll be appointed head coach for 2008 or what. The paper didn't give didley squat about whether he might come back. We'll just have to see how Billy does this year, considering last year didn't go too well when he took over for the Southern Illinois and Connecticut games. But I think if he becomes head coach, he'll have enough experience and skill for next year to make the Hoosiers contenders in the Big Ten.

Enough Said

2007-06-14T18:54:00.001-05:00

Joey Shaw Leaving

2007-05-16T17:17:00.001-05:00

Joey Shaw has left the Hoosiers, leaving yet another open scholarship for a new recruit. Shaw is the second Hoosier player to leave, along with Xavier Keeling. Could next year's class get any better? I couldn't ask for more.

For one thing, our two worst players (just my opinion...but mostly right) have now left the team and we have one of the top ranked recruiting classes in the nation. Shaw had a good game against Purdue, I'll give him that. But every time he was called in to the game I'd think....ok......let's see if he shows me something this time. Maybe it's that baby face of his that makes him play bad basketball.

Joey reminds me of Sean Kline or that really bad Donald Perry when Davis was at IU. The only thing I remember about Perry was that he looked like a duck.....and he lost us a butt load of games. Anyway, like Kline, Joey Shaw served as both a bench warmer and a celebrity look-a-like for the halftime show (Can anyone say Dumbo?). Joey was mainly there to get noticed on national TV and to get the candy-striped warm up pants for free. Good luck at Southern Idaho. By the way....Idaho and sports don't mix (Boise State football is an exception).

Big Ten Network

2007-05-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

The Big Ten Network will begin the 2007-08 season with a launch in August 2007. The new network will run 24/7 and show a wide variety of sports from all Big Ten schools. There will be 35+ televised football games, and more than 105 men's basketball games. In addition, the channel will host coach's shows, archived events, Olympic events, and over 600 hours of Big Ten programming.

The Network should be awesome. I'm kinda hoping it'll be shown by some local cable providers in Bloomington. That would be great, so I won't have to pay extra for it. This is becoming a big deal for Big Ten athletics, as each school is estimated to receive about $7.5 million in revenue in its first year of operation. This is pretty sweet for IU, as some or all of the money from the channel will be put towards the $55 million in facilities upgrades.

You can find more info at bigtennetwork.com .

Hoeppner Returning

2007-05-09T14:53:00.000-05:00

IU head coach Terry Hoeppner will be back with the team after missing all of spring training, the Indiana University Athletic Department announced. Coach Hoeppner has been absent from spring training with problems associated with the brain surgery he had performed in 2006. Interim head coach Bill Lynch will remain coaching with the team until Hoeppner's return.

I'm actually a little skeptical about whether leaving spring training in the hands of Lynch is a good thing. He covered two games last season, the Southern Illinois and Connecticut games, and what I saw was pretty pathetic. We lost both games (excuse me, he lost them) to sub-standard teams. If we won just one of those games we would have been in a bowl game. Thanks, Lynch.

South Park Big Ten Coaches

2007-05-06T20:09:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't love the complete set of South Park Big Ten football coaches?

ACC-Big Ten Challenge

2007-05-03T15:32:00.001-05:00

The ACC-Big Ten Challenge starts next season for the Hoosiers with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets coming to B-town. Georgia Tech is 4-4 overall in the Challenge while IU is 2-4. Game time starts at 7:00 p.m., and is televised on ESPN.

November 26

Wake Forest @ Iowa, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN2)

November 27

Georgia Tech @ Indiana, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Minnesota @ Florida State, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Northwestern @ Virginia, 8:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
Wisconsin @ Duke, 9:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Purdue @ Clemson, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

November 28

N.C. State @ Michigan State, 7:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Illinois @ Maryland, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
Boston College @ Michigan, 8:00 p.m. (ESPNU)
North Carolina @ Ohio State, 9:00 p.m. (ESPN)
Virginia Tech @ Penn State, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

No More Assembly Hall?

2007-05-02T22:03:00.000-05:00

IU Trustees talked with the Athletics Department on whether Assembly Hall should be reconstructed or renovated. The Hall has been the home of our beloved Hoosiers for over 35 years, but some serious issues have surfaced recently.

1.) Space available for coaches and players
2.) Seating for fans, both student-wise and overall viewing
3.) Increased seating for better revenue
4.) Staying in line with Big Ten schools

As the IU Athletic Director Rick Greenspan put it, "In order for the athletic program at IU to continue to compete at that high level, we must invest in our success, and that means providing comparable resources and facilities to that of our peers."

Keeling Leaving Program

2007-05-02T15:33:00.001-05:00

By now it's pretty well known that Xavier Keeling has left the program. Keeling, the 6'6'', 230 pound forward from Huntsville, Alabama, was an AAU teammate of DJ White. He averaged just 1.8 ppg., and played just 8.2 minutes per contest.

The good news about his leaving is that a scholarship is freed up for DeAndre Thomas, the incoming 6'8'' center. His scholarship will be put to good use, of course. He averaged 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as a JUCO at Chipola College in Florida.

Kelvin Sampson Website

2007-05-02T14:36:00.000-05:00

Kelvin Sampson just recently created a website for Hoosier fans. In it, he includes his biography, heritage, the latest information on IU basketball, and some tid bits about Indiana University and Bloomington in general.

Be sure to check out his website at www.kelvinsampson.com It's still pretty basic, but I'd give it some time for Coach Sampson to add more stuff.

Gordon Shirt

2007-04-30T17:55:00.000-05:00

Seen this before? Yes, it's the Got Gordon? shirt. Hmmmm, I hear something. Oh, it must be Bruce Weber crying in a corner.

Incoming Recruits

2007-04-29T08:06:00.000-05:00

Just thought I'd list some of the players from our deep recruiting class for next year. Although Eric Gordon is a major highlight of the class, we're also getting some premium players from around the country. Our incoming class is rated 6th by Scout.com.

Eric Gordon- Shooting Guard, 6'3''
Jordan Crawford- Small Forward, 6'4''
Eli Holman- Center, 6'9''
Jamarcus Ellis- Small Forward, 6'5''
Brandon McGee- Power Forward, 6'7''
DeAndre Thomas- Center, 6'8''

DJ White Staying

2007-04-28T19:15:00.000-05:00

It's a good thing DJ is staying for his senior year. Who wouldn't want to play with Eric Gordon?...and especially with Eric playing against Illinois. Gordon averaged 29 points a game this season, not to mention destroying Michael Jordan's boys from Loyola.

http://blogs.heraldtimesonline.com/iusp/?p=512

Eric Gordon

2007-04-28T18:43:00.001-05:00

Watch this.....Gordon is ridiculous. Kelvin definitely scored on this recruit.

2007-08 Football Schedule

2007-04-26T18:26:00.000-05:00

vs. Indiana State.............September 1, 2007
at Western Michigan.........September 8, 2007
vs. Akron....................... September 15, 2007
vs. Illinois....................... September 22, 2007
at Iowa........................... September 29, 2007
vs. Minnesota ..................October 6, 2007
at Michigan State .............October 13, 2007
vs. Penn State .................October 20, 2007
at Wisconsin.....................October 27,2007
vs. Ball State....................November 3, 2007
at Northwestern................November 10,2007
vs. Purdue........................November 17, 2007

Seems to me like a bowl game will be within reach this year. Indiana State, Western Michigan, Akron and Illinois should be pretty beatable. Michigan State, Ball State and Northwestern should be beatable, too.

That makes seven winnable games (who knows...maybe even 8 or 9) for this season. If we don't make a bowl game, I won't feel all that bitter about it because I know Illinois won't make it.