In his mind, Jerome Hunter still isn’t the player he was 2 1/2 years ago, and he certainly isn’t anywhere near the player he expected to be in his third year at Indiana. Hunter arrived as the No. 59 player in the Class of 2018, and by now he expected to be an All-Big Ten caliber player if he was even still playing college basketball. The 6-foot-7, 215-pounder came in with advanced post moves and a gorgeous shooting stroke, and figured to be trouble for opponents to try to match up with. But as a redshirt sophomore, he’s still coming…
Author: Dustin Dopirak
Indiana managed to keep one of its two All-Big Ten wide receivers in the fold for the 2021 season, but another has declared for the NFL Draft. Whop Philyor posted on his Twitter account on Saturday afternoon that he has decided not to use the extra year of eligibility granted to all athletes and play professionally after four years with the Hoosiers. “My time here has changed me and taught me many things,” Philyor posted in a graphic on his account. “After long and thought-out discussions with family and friends, I decided that it is time for me to move…
Kyle Schwarber, the former All-American catcher who led Indiana to its first College World Series in 2013, has signed a one-year deal with the Washington Nationals pending a physical according to reporting from Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. Schwarber helped lead the Chicago Cubs to a World Series title in 2016, their first since 1908 and hit 121 home runs for them in six seasons playing mostly left field. However, Schwarber was not tendered a contract extension after the COVID-shortened 2020 season in which he hit just .188 with 11 home runs and 24 RBIs in 59 games. Schwarber,…
Now that he’s completed his responsibilities at Indiana and is devoting himself full-time to his new job as the head coach at South Alabama, Kane Wommack is making the media rounds in his new state trying to drum up attention for the Sun Belt program he’s trying to rebuild. Those interviews could also create some positive press for Indiana in the South, as Wommack takes questions about his former program and his former boss, Tom Allen. Wommack appeared on 3-Man Front Friday, a 10 PM to 2 PM sports talk show on WJOX FM in Birmingham, Ala. The hosts asked…
Trayce Jackson-Davis backed Nate Reuvers in from the right wing to the paint, faked right, went left, swished a left-handed hook and all in one motion turned to the Indiana bench and pounded his chest with his right hand. He was facing away from the FoxSports1 cameras at Wisconsin’s Kohl Center so it wasn’t possible to read his lips on the broadcast, but the message was obvious. The sophomore preseason All-American big man wanted his teammates to get him the ball, and for a while they did. From the time he made that hook with 10:49 to go in the…
By Dustin Dopirak In his heart, Zach Carpenter wanted to go to Indiana the first time around. Then a three-star Class of 2019 recruit at Cincinnati’s Archbishop Moeller High School, the 6-foot-5 interior offensive lineman was struck by the sincerity he noticed from Tom Allen and the Hoosiers’ coaching staff. They made him feel wanted without feeling pressured. That’s the biggest reason why when he decided he wanted to transfer from Michigan at the end of this season, the Hoosiers were one of the first teams he considered. The redshirt freshman started Michigan’s final two games at center before the…
By Dustin Dopirak Armaan Franklin rolled his left ankle with the ball in his hand, trying to crossover a Maryland defender in the lane and instead collapsing in a heap before he limped off the floor Monday night and never returned. It was on that offensive side of the floor where Indiana expected to miss their blossoming sophomore guard the most, considering that he came into the game averaging 18.8 points in his last five contests. However, it was also an extremely inopportune time to lose his defensive presence. The 6-foot-4, 195-pounder has matured as a defender this season almost…
By Dustin Dopirak Archie Miller was bothered by Indiana’s defensive performance against Penn State on Wednesday night, and the Hoosiers’ coach didn’t feel any better about it the more he watched it on video. Indiana escaped with an 87-85 victory in overtime, but the 80 points they allowed in regulation were the most in any game this season. The Nittany Lions shot 47.7 percent from the field and hit 12 3-pointers, a season-high by an Indiana opponent. They posted 1.13 points per possession, also an Indiana opponent season-high. Miller would like to believe it was simply a product of dealing…
Joey Brunk’s back surgery Wednesday was successful, Archie Miller said in a Zoom press conference Sunday, and the Indiana coach still holds out hope that his veteran center will return to play at some point this season. “Joe’s doing well,” Miller said. “Joe’s, right now, focused in on getting in his recovery and then Joe can get into his rehab and move forward in to his deal. We’ll see where his timeframe is. I don’t think it’s out of the question that (he could return) this year. Will he be out all year? I don’t know. In the month of January, he’s…
By Dustin Dopirak For a moment, Jack Tuttle and Indiana’s offense seemed like they had it all figured out. It took the greater part of three quarters but Tuttle found a rhythm and an understanding of what throws the Ole Miss defense and his ailing shoulder would allow him. And IU offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan figured out a run-pass balance that would relieve some of the burden from Indiana’s redshirt sophomore quarterback. After cobbling together just six points in the Outback Bowl’s first 38 minutes, the Hoosiers had scored back-to-back touchdowns and were on schedule for a third straight TD…