Yesterday, Providence head coach Ed Cooley said he was “flabbergasted’ at his team’s effort in a big loss to Indiana. If that was Cooley’s reaction, then Archie Miller must have been similarly stunned after what the Texas Longhorns did to his team in a 66-44 drubbing — that didn’t feel even that close. Shaka Smart’s ‘Horns jumped on Indiana from the start, suffocating the Hoosiers’ backcourt and locking down their frontcourt. The score remained close early, in large part due to Texas beating itself; it had five turnovers through the first quarter of the game. But once the Longhorns began…
Author: Aidan Kunst
When Khristian Lander committed to IU last winter, he made clear the likelihood of Trayce Jackson-Davis leaving after the 2020-2021 season was a key factor in his decision to reclassify. “I feel like if I get ahold of Trayce, we can dominate the Big Ten,” Lander said in February. He may ultimately be proven right, but in Indiana’s commanding 79-58 victory over Providence on Monday afternoon, it was the more unheralded players on Archie Miller’s roster that got a chance to shine. While Jackson-Davis struggled with efficiency and battled foul trouble, and Lander was held scoreless in nine minutes of…
Dravyn Gibbs-Lawhorn has a lot going on right now. The ninth-ranked player in the class of 2023, the Lafayette, Indiana native Gibbs-Lawhorn already holds offers from the state’s two premier programs: Indiana and Purdue. Gibbs-Lawhorn is also dealing with a stress fracture in his ankle, an injury he’s played through for awhile but will keep him sidelined through January of 2021. He even starred in a Gatorade commercial alongside stars like Zion Williamson. Gibbs-Lawhorn averaged 21 points per game while adding 3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and .9 steals per contest as a freshman at McCutcheon High School. He made 49…
When Indiana made its 2020 recruiting class official, many were skeptical about how the group would contribute in the short term. After all, the class was made up of a then-17 year old, relatively skinny point guard, a freak athlete whose game needed refinement, and two players ranked outside the top-100 nationally. After Indiana’s 89-59 win over Tennessee Tech, any naysayers are silent. The mainstays of this Indiana roster produced like we knew they would. Trayce Jackson-Davis, the dominant big man whose name was included in a new preseason award watchlist seemingly every day, feasted on the lowly Golden Eagles…
Indiana deserves respect. That much is clear after Saturday’s 42-35 heartbreaking loss to No. 3 Ohio State in Columbus. The now No. 12 ranked Hoosiers proved they are a top 20 team, going toe-to-toe with one of college football’s blue bloods. Everyone from Parris Cambell to LeBron James gave IU their due on Twitter, as the star quarterback-receiver duo of Michael Penix Jr. and Ty Fryfogle became social media darlings. https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1330252654036066310?s=20 Penix was just a few yards from Indiana’s single-game passing record, going 27-for-51 with 491 yards and 5 touchdowns. Fryfogle beat his own single-game receiving yards record that he…
The recruiting services had it all wrong with Indiana junior linebacker Micah McFadden. A three-star recruit, McFadden was ranked No. 1,986 overall and No. 316 in the state of Florida in the class of 2018 according to the 247Sports Composite. Through four games McFadden is putting together an All-Big Ten caliber season, with a team leading 30 tackles along with 2 sacks and an interception. Linebackers are taught to read the play and react quickly. The quarterbacks of the defense, they have to be one of the most instinctive players on the field. Now in his third season, Micah McFadden…
When Trey Kaufman decided to commit to Purdue a few weeks ago, Indiana and its fans immediately turned their focus to Mason Miller, the talented stretch four who is the son of former NBA player Mike Miller. Now, it appears Miller, who has narrowed his choices down to Creighton and Indiana, is close to announcing a decision, according to multiple reports on Sunday. Miller is an important target for Indiana Coach Archie Miller and staff, because the team’s outlook in the frontcourt for the future is murky. Star forward Trayce Jackson-Davis could return next season, but he almost left after…
The Indiana offense has a the potential to establish the run and beat teams on the ground with the combination of Stevie Scott and Sampson James. But through three games, the team has relied on the arm of Michael Penix Jr. and the hands of receivers like Whop Philyor and Ty Fryfogle, and it’s worked, as the undefeated, tenth-ranked Hoosiers are averaging 37 points per game. On Saturday, Indiana came out guns blazing, with offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan almost completely abandoning the run and letting Penix Jr. chuck it around the yard to the tune of 254 first-half passing yards…
If you look at Saturday’s highly-anticipated Michigan at Indiana game on paper, it would be reasonable to expect a shootout. The two teams both average 36.5 points per game two weeks in, good for 21st and 22nd nationally. And it’s true, the two teams are loaded with offensive weapons. From an intriguing quarterback matchup with Michael Penix Jr. vs. Joe Milton to a running back room in Ann Arbor that is equally as deep as the pass-catchers in Bloomington, it is reasonable to expect fireworks at Noon on Saturday. But despite the likelihood of a high-scoring affair (over/under of 54.5),…
For the better part of Indiana’s thrilling 36-35 win over then eighth-ranked Penn State on Saturday, Hoosier quarterback Michael Penix Jr. looked out of sorts. He rushed throws, his footwork was all over the place, and he missed open receivers. But after Penn State running back Devyn Ford inexplicably scored a touchdown with just under two minutes to play, giving Indiana the ball back and a chance to tie the game, Penix Jr. flipped the switch. Suddenly, the pinpoint accuracy that we saw last season returned, and despite facing heavy pressure, Penix came through. From the 1:42-minute mark to the…