Author: Mike Schumann

The 2018 NBA Draft is on Thursday.  While there won’t be any Hoosiers taken in this year’s draft, IU has a long history of its top players being selected in the annual event. Indiana has had more than one first round pick on five different occasions, with three picks in 1976, and two picks in 1981, 1993, 2008 and 2013. As our trusted IU athletics historian Bill Murphy reminded us, what it means to be a first round pick has changed over time as the number of teams in the NBA has grown.  For example, in the 1965 NBA Draft,…

Multiple outlets have reported that another in-state Indiana basketball class of 2019 recruiting target is visiting the Hoosiers today.  The last time this happened, Indianapolis native Armaan Franklin left Bloomington with an offer. New Castle, Indiana’s Mason Gillis is a 6-foot-7, 220 pound small forward.  He is a top 150 player nationally according to the 24/7 Sports composite, good for 4-star status. He has offers from several good programs, including Purdue, Butler, and Xavier.  Many believe that Gillis is likely to end up at Purdue, but he is continuing to keep his recruitment open, as indicated by a recent unofficial…

-(Updated to include the commitment of Alabama defensive lineman C.J. Person on Monday morning)- The Crossroads of America is the official motto of the state of Indiana.  While it wasn’t the inspiration for the state’s motto, the balance of college football power in  Indiana may itself be at a crossroads. History has shown that there may not be room for two good in-state public school programs at the same time.  With Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State in the area and known to take their share of Indiana and midwestern talent, there just may not be enough left to support…

Two class of 2019 Indiana basketball targets won gold medals on Saturday night at the 2018 FIBA Americas Men’s U18 Championship in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The USA (6-0), which had won most of its game in dominant fashion, withstood an early run from host Canada (5-1) before taking over in the game’s final 36 minutes to claim a 113-74 victory. IU target and Rochester, Minnesota native Matthew Hurt scored 17 points and added 4 blocks and 3 rebounds in 25 minutes of action.  Greenwood, Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis added 2 blocks and a rebound in 5 minutes of play. Team USA fell…

After their closest game this week, Team USA’s U18 men’s basketball team will play for a Gold Medal on Saturday. Team USA defeated Argentina in the semifinal round of the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship on Friday, 104-92. The 12 point win is Team USA’s closest margin of victory in five games at the FIBA Americas this week.  Coming into Friday, they had won their previous four contests by an average margin of 61 points per game. Rochester, Minnesota native Matthew Hurt registered another double-digit scoring performance, scoring 16 points.  He added eight rebounds and blocked three shots in 27…

Several IU class of 2019 recruiting targets gave interviews this week at the NBA Top 100 camp.  We summarize below what they had to say about Indiana. Kira Lewis, Jr. “I’m still trying to take a visit there. With all of these camps and everything it’s hard to schedule. You can’t take visits in July, so I’m trying to get all I can in during June. If I don’t go in June then I’ll definitely go when I can go (on visits) again. People love basketball at Indiana, the tradition they have it’s just a great school. A great basketball…

More than anything else, the one thing that has us the most enthusiastic about Indiana’s 2018-19 basketball season is the depth on the roster.  We see 13 to 14 guys that are legitimate Big Ten players.  IU hasn’t had a top to bottom roster like this in a long, long time. Last time we checked, only five guys can be on the floor at a time, although we are all for trying to sneak a couple more out there.  You don’t see many coaches using 13 to 14 player rotations either.  In fact, no one does. Archie Miller had a…

Periodically over the summer we will check in with a quick look at former Hoosier basketball players to find out what they are up to now.  Last week was Nick Zeisloft.  Today we look at Jordan Hulls, who played for IU from 2009 to 2013. Just a local kid living out his dream.  That was Jordan Hulls back in 2008 when the Bloomington High School South product committed to play at Indiana prior to his senior season. It was more than just a dream — it was a risk at the time.  The Hoosier program was still reeling on the…

Alabama five-star forward Trendon Watford announced via Twitter that he has cut his list down to a group of eight schools: https://twitter.com/Trendon_2/status/1006990809172987906 According to the 24/7 Sports composite, the Birmingham, Alabama native is the 12th ranked player in the country and the 3rd best power forward in the class of 2019. Most observers believe that Indiana is legitimately in the hunt here.  In a somewhat unusual turn of events, IU’s coaches took two in-home visits in the spring. There are other factors helping Indiana’s cause.  First of course is Christian Watford’s positive experience at IU and Trendon’s own experience watching…

During the 2015 Indiana football season, it got to the point of being unbearable.  47 points to Southern Illinois, 52 points to Michigan State, 48 points to Michigan, 44 points to Duke.  The resistance was futile. The tipping point was probably on October 17 at home against Rutgers.  Indiana led that game 52-28 midway through the 3rd quarter.  They lost 55-52. That 2015 Hoosiers team could have easily won nine games with even an average to slightly bad defense.  Despite having a high powered offense led by NFL caliber players such as Nate Sudfeld, Dan Feeney, Jason Spriggs and Jordan…