Author: Mike Schumann

IU football head coach Curt Cignetti has provided plenty of clues who his starting quarterback will be when the Hoosiers open the season on Aug. 31. But Monday morning, the first-year leader of the Indiana program shared his strongest signal yet that Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke will be behind center when IU hosts FIU in just under three weeks. Indiana had a scrimmage on Saturday, and coming out of the weekend, Cignetti says the gap has widened for the starting role. “I thought Rourke had a good day, really sort of separated himself pretty significantly in that scrimmage,” Cignetti told…

Since Indiana’s 2023-24 season came to an end, all of the focus turned to filling holes on the roster via the transfer portal. But the Hoosiers have six players returning from last year’s squad, so it’s time to look back at how they performed, and the outlook for 2024-25. Next up in the series is 6-foot-5 and 200-pound Anthony Leal, who is returning to IU for his fifth season with the program. WHAT WENT WELL After his minutes dropped to a career-low 2.1 per game in 2022-23, Anthony Leal was written off by most going into his fourth year at…

All three centers on Indiana’s 2024-25 roster will be utilizing their final season of eligibility this upcoming season. That means Mike Woodson and his staff will have a lot of heavy lifting ahead of them to add big men to the team by next summer. IU has been after Georgetown, Ky. 7-footer Malachi Moreno for well over two years. Ranked No. 25 overall and the No. 1 center in the 2025 class by the On3 Industry Average, Moreno named a top-eight and has visits set to Arkansas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio State in the weeks to come. But…

Former IU basketball star Randy Wittman has been a contract advisor to the program since Mike Woodson took over in 2021. Wittman doesn’t live in Bloomington full time, but he’s been around the team plenty since his friend Woodson was hired. You likely don’t need Wittman to tell you Indiana’s guard play has been inadequate of late. But you’d probably like to know the former NBA head coach left recent viewings of IU practices enthusiastic about the upgrades to the roster on the perimeter. “Talking to Randy Wittman, who was down there (Bloomington) a couple weeks ago and had a…

IU football tight end Zach Horton earned a spot on the John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List on Friday. The Friends of John Mackey annually award the John Mackey Award to college football’s outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, academics, and community values of Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end John Mackey. The winner is chosen by a selection committee comprising sportswriters and former players Horton enters his first season at Indiana after in 23 career games played…

Since Indiana’s 2023-24 season came to an end, all of the focus turned to filling holes on the roster via the transfer portal. But the Hoosiers have six players returning from last year’s squad, so it’s time to look back at how they performed, and the outlook for 2024-25. Next up in the series is 6-foot-5 and 205-pound Trey Galloway, who is returning to IU for his fifth season with the program. WHAT WENT WELL Galloway saw his biggest role as a Hoosier in 2023-24, and his production followed suit.  He averaged career bests in points (10.6), assists (4.6), steals…

Mr. June is scorching hot in August. Former IU baseball star Kyle Schwarber hit three home runs on Wednesday evening in Los Angeles. Overall he went 4-for-4 with seven RBIs in Wednesday night’s 9-4 Philadelphia victory over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. He hit his 42nd career leadoff home run in the first inning, a two-run double in the fifth, a three-run homer in the sixth and a solo homer in the ninth.  The home runs went out to left, right and centerfield, respectively. Schwarber’s three homers and seven RBIs on Wednesday both tied career highs. He is batting .261…

IU football coach Curt Cignetti said at Big Ten Media Day he sleeps better at night knowing he has a veteran quarterback like Kurtis Rourke. And with Rourke’s career resume, it’s easy to see why. The Canadian quarterback appeared in 36 games with 33 starts over five seasons at Ohio (2019-23).  He earned Mid-American Conference Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-MAC as a junior, and added second-team All-MAC as a senior. The 6-foot-5 Rourke has amassed 8,479 career all-purpose yards and accounted for 61 touchdowns (50 passing, 11 rushing).  He has completed 638-of-963 passes for 7,651 yards passing…

IU men’s soccer is expected to remain one of the nation’s best in 2024. Indiana is ranked No. 7 in the preseason NCAA United Soccer Coaches Top-25. The Hoosiers are just one of two teams from the 18-team Big Ten ranked in the top-25, or even receiving votes.  And the Hoosiers are the top team in the league by a meaningful margin.  UCLA is ranked No. 21. The program opened its 2024 preseason Wednesday morning with its first training session.  Head coach Todd Yeagley is kicking off his 15th season in that role. The Hoosiers are coming off an Elite…

A monster season at James Madison has IU wideout Elijah Sarratt on the preseason Biletnikoff Award watch list. Sarratt, who transferred to Indiana in January to follow head coach Curt Cignetti and his staff, was named first-team all-Sun Belt Conference after catching a team-high 82 passes for 1,191 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore in 2023.  Over the Dukes’ final six games, Sarratt had over 100 receiving yards in five contests. The 6-foot-2 and 209-pound Sarratt transferred to JMU after spending one season at Saint Francis (2022) where he had 42 receptions for 700 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. The…