Author: Dustin Dopirak

By Dustin Dopirak — The first week of February could go a long way in determining whether Indiana reaches the NCAA Tournament — due to be played entirely in its home state and partially in its own gym. The Hoosiers, currently ranked No. 47 in the NET rankings, are 9-7 overall and 4-5 in the Big Ten and get home games against Illinois (No. 5 in the NET) and Iowa (No. 6) on Tuesday and Sunday respectively. Winning even one of those games bolsters their standing considerably. Losing both is a significant opportunity lost and would put them at .500…

By Dustin Dopirak — (Monday evening update:  Archie Miller updated Galloway’s status after Monday practice on his radio show on Monday night) “Trey has started to kind of move back into starting to do a little bit more,” Miller said. “Did the most he’s done today (Monday) since we actually played in the Purdue game, when he got injured, and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow. But if he has a decent feel tomorrow, and goes through shootaround — he’s starting to work his way back into the team routine, which is good.” The original story from Monday afternoon follows.…

By Dustin Dopirak — Through its recruitment of Victor Oladipo back in the 2010 class, Indiana established a connection with DeMatha Catholic High School that transcends coaching staffs. The Hoosiers haven’t landed a DeMatha player since, but they have been in on a few and have maintained credibility with the Hyattsville, Md., program and that could help them with a couple of players they’re recruiting in the 2022 class. The Hoosiers have already offered one DeMatha junior in Rodney Rice Jr., a 6-foot-4 combo guard who can score from all three levels. They might be close to offering another. DeMatha…

By Dustin Dopirak —  The sudden departure of former Indiana class of 2020 target Matt Cross from the Miami (Fla.) basketball program raised a lot of questions. Reporters in Miami have started to put together some of the answers. Michelle Kaufman of the Miami Herald connected with Cross on Friday, and he told her he wishes his teammates well, that he will stay enrolled at Miami through the rest of the semester and that he is considering playing football as well as basketball. Kaufman reported that she was told by sources that Cross’s departure did not come about because of any…

Former Indiana target Matt Cross will no longer be with the Miami (Fla.) basketball program, effective immediately, Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga announced through the program’s Twitter account on Thursday. Cross, a 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward from Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, started nine of the 14 games he appeared in and averaged 26.4 minutes per game. He was averaging 6.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He made 45 percent of his field goals (35 of 78) including 40 percent of his 3-point shots (20 of 50). He also posted 20 assists against 21 turnovers and 11 steals. However, Cross was…

Trayce Jackson-Davis is listed as a second-team pick on The Sporting News’ Mid-Season All-America team, compiled by Mike DeCourcy and published Thursday morning. The sophomore big man is averaging 20.1 points and 8.7 rebounds through 16 games for the Hoosiers. He also leads the team with 29 blocks and has recorded 23 assists and 10 steals. He is shooting 53.6 percent from the field and ranks fourth nationally with 96 made free throws. Jackson-Davis is one of five Big Ten players among DeCourcy’s three teams. Iowa center Luka Garza and Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu are on the first team with Baylor’s…

By Dustin Dopirak — One Fourth of July when Charlton Warren was still on his staff at Air Force, Troy Calhoun invited all of his coaches and their families over to his house for a cookout. He had a basketball court in his backyard, so he set up a 2-on-2 tournament among the members of the staff. “That didn’t go over very well,” Calhoun said. “Because the coaches didn’t get along very well during that tournament.” And one of the guys that was the most aggressive and the most competitive and took it just a touch too seriously was Warren,…

By Dustin Dopirak —  Newly hired Indiana defensive coordinator Charlton Warren will sign a two-year contract worth $700,000 in the first year and $725,000 in the second, according to an IU spokesman. This will make him the highest-paid defensive coordinator in Indiana history. The previous defensive coordinator Kane Wommack made $460,000 per year before leaving to be head coach at South Alabama, where he also makes $700,000. According to the spokesman, there is not yet a signed contract or memorandum of understanding, but the contract is expected to be structured similarly to Wommack’s in terms and bonuses. Wommack received a…

By Dustin Dopirak — There wasn’t much of a theme for Indiana to take out of its past week other than that life in the Big Ten is rough and includes wild swings between victory and defeat. The Hoosiers won their most important game of the season on Thursday night, knocking off No. 4 Iowa, then came home to lose to a Rutgers team that hadn’t won in three weeks. Archie Miller said Sunday afternoon and again on his radio show Monday evening that the Hoosiers maintained their intensity after the win, practiced exactly how he wanted them to practice,…

By Dustin Dopirak — The 2021 NCAA Tournament is going to be a wild bracket to put together considering the truncated schedule and the limited amount of non-conference games played in November and December, so anyone who does that sort of thing this season is engaging in a fair bit of guesswork. That being said, the consensus is that if the bracket were released today, Indiana would just barely get a berth to the event that will be held entirely in its state with two games being played at its home gym. The Hoosiers road upset over Iowa on Thursday…