Author: Seth Tow

One of the biggest items on Curt Cignetti’s early to-do list as he gets going at IU is assembling his staff. Reports surfaced Friday of his intention to bring several coaches from his James Madison staff along with him to Bloomington. The other side of this equation is determining which existing Indiana staff members, if any, will stay around, and which won’t. Per reports on Saturday, that’s also coming into focus. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach Kasey Teegardin will not be retained. Then, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg expanded to say “most of Indiana’s previous coaching staff…

BLOOMINGTON — Kel’el Ware has answered a lot of questions through his first month playing for Indiana men’s basketball. The biggest storyline entering IU’s season was how the Hoosiers would adapt with a new-look roster and program stalwart Trayce Jackson-Davis gone. Ware was one of the biggest keys, stepping into Jackson-Davis’ center spot. But they’re different players, and there was a level of uncertainty over his true fit with Indiana and whether he could hang with some of the difficult big men in the Big Ten. Since the season began, Ware has been IU’s best player. And on Friday, the…

Indiana women’s basketball’s game against Maine on Thursday may have felt like a dream for Gorham, Maine native Mackenzie Holmes and her family going in. But it quickly started to feel like a nightmare for the 17th-ranked Hoosiers. They put on an extremely poor display in the first half, one of their worst performances in a long time. IU trailed Maine 37-29 at halftime. The Hoosiers struggled defensively, got out-rebounded by the Black Bears, and shot just 34 percent as a team on the other end. But IU regrouped enough in the second half to get the job done, thanks…

There may not be any white smoke emerging from Memorial Stadium, but Indiana football has its new leader. The Hoosiers are finalizing a deal with James Madison’s Curt Cignetti as their new head coach, wrapping up a relatively quick coaching search. IU announced Tom Allen’s firing on Sunday, and found his successor in less than a week. Cignetti, 62, owns a 119-35 career record as a head coach, across three stops. He spent five years with JMU, where he went 52-9. The Dukes competed in the FCS during his first three years, and they won CAA titles in all three seasons.…

Mackenzie Holmes has never been shy about where she’s from. Whether subtly or loudly, she wears her Gorham, Maine roots on her sleeve every time she takes the floor for Indiana women’s basketball. The graduate student is a small-town product — Gorham’s population is a little over 18,000, more than four times smaller than Bloomington’s. She’s enjoyed a standout IU career, with a strong chance of becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer, but she was already a star back in Maine. On Thursday, her worlds will collide. The Hoosiers are taking on Maine at Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, around…

This is the third in a series of profiles of potential candidates for Indiana’s vacant football head coaching position.  Candidate: Tom Herman Age: 48 Current Position/Tenure: Head coach at Florida Atlantic, former Texas and Houston head coach Record as Head Coach: 58-30 Previous Jobs Year Program Position Record Conference Standing Bowls National Rank Coaches/AP 1998 Texas Lutheran Wide Receivers 4-6 1999 Texas Graduate Assistant 9-5 2000 Texas Graduate Assistant 8-4 2001 Sam Houston Wide Receivers/Special Teams 10-3 Playoffs FCS Quarterfinalist 2002 Sam Houston Wide Receivers/Special Teams 4-7 2003 Sam Houston Wide Receivers/Special Teams 2-9 2004 Sam Houston Wide Receivers/Special Teams 11-3…

Mackenzie Mgbako came to Indiana men’s basketball this year as one of the highest-rated commits in program history. But the start to his freshman season had been difficult, in several ways. He was arrested at a Taco Bell in Bloomington in late October, which didn’t lead to any suspension from IU head coach Mike Woodson. And on the court, he just didn’t quite settle in through the first five games. Mgbako particularly struggled defensively, and wasn’t producing enough offensively to make up for it. He’d scored in double-figures just once, against Wright State — and that was the only game…

Indiana starting quarterback Brendan Sorsby is entering the transfer portal, he announced on social media. The redshirt freshman battled for the starting job throughout the last offseason with fellow redshirt freshman Tayven Jackson, who transferred in from Tennessee in January. The duo split reps during the first two games of the season before Jackson was named the starter ahead of IU’s third game against Louisville. But Jackson was pulled from the Maryland game a few weeks later, with the score out of hand, and Sorsby put himself back in contention. They once again split the reps in the next game…

IU Athletics has announced Tom Allen’s dismissal as head football coach. The news matriculated around social media this morning, and this makes it official. IU’s press release included some notable information regarding Allen’s widely-discussed buyout. The university and Allen settled on two $7.75 million payments, which will come from the athletic department’s donor funds. The original buyout, as stated in the extension Allen signed after the 2020 season, would’ve been four installments of $5.2 million. So this gives Allen larger payments, but drops the overall buyout from $20.8 million to $15.5 million. “After continued evaluation of our entire football program,…

Indiana’s football season came to another unceremonious end in the Old Oaken Bucket game, and it’s now decision time. IU blew a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter against Purdue to lose the rivalry game for the third straight time, and the fifth time in the last six meetings. That dates back to the start of Tom Allen’s tenure as IU head coach. And now, vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics Scott Dolson has to determine what course the IU football program will chart going forward. Allen has four years remaining on the seven-year extension he signed after the…