Author: Mike Schumann

Curt Cignetti can generate enthusiasm.  Google it.  Or rather, just read about it. A healthy football program is mission critical to a Division I athletic department, and for the first time in this new NIL/transfer portal era of the sport, Indiana appears to be headed in the right direction. The energy surrounding the IU football program since the hiring of Cignetti is undeniable, and an interview with Pete Thamel of ESPN helped highlight just how far the program has come in just a few months. Cignetti told Thamel the NIL investment for IU football spiked considerably since the end of…

Indiana offered class of 2026 in-state guard Steven Reynolds III while he was in Bloomington for the Michigan State game over the weekend. Reynolds announced the IU offer on his X account. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard attends Washington H.S. in South Bend, Ind.  He plays spring and summer basketball for Phenom United on the Adidas 3SSB Circuit. According to MaxPreps, Reynolds averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 3.2 blocks and 1.2 steals per game as a sophomore.  He shot 42 percent overall, and 30 percent from three. Reynolds described his skill set to On3’s Jamie Shaw, and said he…

The Big Esports Conference, a league comprised of all Big10 schools, came together this year to form its own esports conference. Within this conference, schools competed in multiple games, including the ever-popular tactical shooter game, Valorant. Valorant is a competitive team-based tactical shooter game developed by Riot Games. Each team assumes the role of attacker or defender on maps set in various locations around the world. Players choose from a diverse roster of characters, each with unique abilities that are strategically used to outmaneuver opponents. The first team to win 13 rounds wins the map; the overall winner of the…

For the second straight season, an IU basketball player is the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Mackenzie Mgbako shares the honor with Iowa’s Owen Freeman, the league announced on Tuesday. The 6-foot-8 Mgbako is averaging 12.2 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 34.3 percent from three. B1G-Mack 😤 ➡️ @MackenzieMgbako pic.twitter.com/0G7NldDxWu — Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) March 12, 2024 Mgbako paced the Hoosiers with 49 made 3-pointers and averaged 12.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest. He led all freshman across the Big Ten in total points (377), points per game (12.2), 20-point games (3), and made free throws (82),…

Freshman forward Mackenzie Mgbako, sophomore forward Malik Reneau, and sophomore center Kel’el Ware were honored by the Big Ten Conference, and the league’s coaches and media as All-Big Ten selections and specialty teams were announced on Tuesday afternoon. Mgbako was selected to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team and was awarded Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Year by the conference coaches. He is the 14th Hoosier since the inception of the team in 2003 to be placed on the All-Freshman Team. The Hoosiers are the first Big Ten program to win consecutive Freshman of the Year accolades (Jalen Hood-Schifino, 2023) since…

Mike Woodson’s former head coach at Indiana used the Senior Day microphone as an opportunity to get some things off his chest from time to time. In March of 1994 he delivered one of his more famous lines as seniors Damon Bailey, Todd Leary and Pat Graham awaited their moment to address the fans. “When my time on Earth is gone and my activities here are past, I want they bury me upside down and my critics can kiss my ass,” Bob Knight famously said to an adoring crowd.  Many rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation at…

Tom Izzo’s first Big Ten game came against Bob Knight’s Hoosiers in 1996, and after upsetting Indiana, he was prepared for the worst. “You know my first game was Indiana at home, they were good, we weren’t, and we upset them. Everybody told me boy if that happens you’ll see the other side of him (Knight),” Izzo said in November after Knight passed. “I never saw that other side of him, he was nothing but an incredible human being to me, to my program. Helped me in a lot of ways and I think that’s the hardest thing as I…

They were saving their best for last?  After a 14-13 start to the regular season, Indiana finished 4-0, closing with a Senior Day win over Michigan State. The Hoosiers were dominant early, and jumped out to a 24-7 lead with 8:50 left in the first half.  The Spartans closed the first half on an 8-0 run, and they continued that momentum in the second half with a 14-2 start that gave MSU a 43-36 lead.  Back and forth they went as Indiana rallied from multiple seven point deficits.  But IU closed the game with a 17-9 run over the final…

The 2024 men’s Big Ten Tournament bracket is set. Indiana is the No. 6 seed and will play Thursday at around 9 p.m. ET (BTN) against either Penn State or Michigan.  If the Hoosiers win they will advance to face Nebraska on Friday, again around 9 p.m.  Combined, Penn State and Nebraska handed IU four of their ten Big Ten losses.  The Hoosiers likely need to win at least three games, if not the entire tournament, to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The full bracket is below.  The full release from the Big Ten Conference is further…

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana defeated Michigan State Sunday afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall by a final score of 65-64. The Hoosiers led at halftime 34-29 and were led in the game by Kel’el Ware with 28 points. The three keys to the game are below along with the final box score and highlights. Indiana finished the regular season with an 18-13 overall record and a 10-10 mark in the Big Ten.  They’ll play on Thursday at the Big Ten Tournament in Minneapolis. See also:  Woodson, Ware and Johnson postgame THREE KEYS TO THE GAME 1. Ware and Reneau save the…