Author: Dustin Dopirak

Not long after Mike Woodson’s hire as Indiana’s head coach, it was reported that Woodson was in constant talks with Larry Brown, one of his mentors and the coach with whom he won an NBA title with the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons. It was reported that there was a strong possibility Brown would join Woodson’s staff in an off-court advisory or administrative role. However, Woodson told Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports on Rothstein’s College Hoops Today podcast Monday that half of that reporting was true. He constantly talks with Brown but will not be bringing him to Indiana. “Larry and I,…

Indiana formally announced the acceptance of transfer point guard Xavier Johnson from Pittsburgh with a release on Monday morning. That release, which includes bio information and comments from coach Mike Woodson, follows: Hoosiers Add Transfer Xavier Johnson To Men’s Basketball Program Indiana University men’s basketball coach Mike Woodson has announced that Xavier Johnson, a 6-3 guard who played his first three seasons at Pitt, will transfer and join the program beginning next season.  He will have two seasons of eligibility. “Xavier will be an important addition to our team and should have an immediate impact,” said Woodson.  “He is a…

Mike Woodson didn’t come to Indiana with a ready-made assistant coaching staff or even a group of fellow travelers looking to make the same NBA-to-college transition he was. No one else on Tom Thibodeau’s staff with the New York Knicks was looking to make the jump from a storied franchise that is showing a pulse for the first time in several years, currently sitting in the eighth playoff spot in the wide-open Eastern Conference and therefore in position to make the playoffs for the first time since Woodson was head coach in 2012-13. So far the hires he has made…

Mike Woodson made it his first mission as Indiana’s head basketball coach to try to bring everyone on Indiana’s 2020-21 roster back for 2021-22, and he almost pulled it off. Of the six players who entered the transfer portal, four returned and one of the two who left was expected to leave. Senior guard Aljami Durham played the entire 2020-21 season as if it was his final year at IU and decided to play at Providence for the extra year each player was allowed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The only surprising loss was that of sophomore guard Armaan Franklin,…

Indiana kept almost all of its players that entered the transfer portal, but the Hoosiers arguably lost the most important one. Sophomore guard Armaan Franklin, who finished second on the Hoosiers with 11.4 points per game last season and led the team with a 42.4 percent 3-point shooting percentage, announced on his Twitter account on Thursday evening that he is transferring to Virginia. “Excited about the next chapter in my hoops life,” Franklin posted on his account. “Still, have to say a big thanks to the IU community, fans and my teammates for all their support. Know that I appreciate…

One of the biggest holes Indiana has to fill on its entire roster on either side of the ball is at safety, where the Hoosiers lost one of the best in the Big Ten. Of all the Indiana players who declared their entry into the NFL Draft, Jamar Johnson might be taken the highest. He was named first-team All-Big Ten by the media and second team by the coaches in 2020 when he recorded 43 tackles, four interceptions and four pass break-ups in just eight games. But the Hoosiers are still solid with veterans at both safety spots to go…

Indiana athletics and the IU football program announced a football scholarship and team award in honor of Chris Beaty, the former IU player who was killed in Indianapolis last summer. The release from IU follows: BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana University Athletics and IU Football announced on Thursday the establishment of a new endowed football scholarship and a new annual team award in honor of the late Chris Beaty. Beaty, who played football at IU from 2000-03, was tragically killed May 30, 2020, during the protests that gripped Indianapolis in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. Beaty died a hero…

Indiana first got involved with Xavier Johnson before the Hoosiers even made a coaching change. He left Pittsburgh on Feb. 24 before the season was over and entered the transfer portal immediately. Indiana assistant Kenya Hunter, who like Johnson is a native of the northern Virginia suburbs around Washington D.C., made the contact because the two go way back. “Kenya is like family to me,” Johnson told The Daily Hoosier. “That’s my guy. He recruited me out of high school.” In between that initial contact and Wednesday, when Johnson announced his commitment to the Hoosiers on his Instagram page, a…

Indiana doesn’t know the fate of all of its players in the transfer portal yet, but the Hoosiers learned they will gain at least one highly regarded player out of it. Pittsburgh junior point guard Xavier Johnson announced on his Instagram account Wednesday that he will transfer to Indiana after averaging double figure scoring in each of his three seasons with the Panthers. He becomes the first player recruited by new Indiana head coach Mike Woodson from outside the program. Johnson was also considering national champions Baylor, Houston and St. Joseph’s. Johnson averaged a combined 13.7 points and 4.9 assists…

Tom Allen said repeatedly during the course of the 2020 season that of the players on his roster, the ones who were having the toughest time with pandemic life were his linemen on both sides of the ball. Carrying close to or above 300 pounds on one’s body and maintaining good conditioning means walking a series of fine lines when it comes to food consumption, nutrition and exercise. When campus cleared out last spring due to the onset of the pandemic, spring practice ended and players couldn’t have direct, in-person contact with strength and conditioning coaches and nutritionists for a…