Karoline Striplin remembers watching “Hoosiers” many times growing up.
The Hartford, Ala. native is a movie buff. She doesn’t have a lot of free time, given her academic and basketball demands. But she works movies into her schedule as much as possible, whether at home or at a movie theater. Her favorites are “About Time,” “Good Will Hunting,” and “The Dark Knight.”
She’s a Regal Unlimited member, giving her unlimited movie tickets for a monthly subscription fee. Striplin said she tries to see movies in the theater at least twice a month — even during basketball season.
“When I go home, I’m probably getting back at like 6:30 (p.m.), and then I try to go at like 7,” Striplin told The Daily Hoosier in a phone interview. “You just carve it in. You’ve got to make time for the important things.”
“Hoosiers” was one of the first sports movies Striplin ever watched, during her pre-teen years. Her father, Jim Bob, is a former Auburn quarterback and now coaches high school football, so she grew up around sports. He appreciated the history of basketball in Indiana and liked Indiana State legend Larry Bird, and passed that on to Karoline.
She remembered watching the movie again with her high school basketball team during a team sleepover. She even sported a “Hickory” sweatshirt regularly.
And now, Striplin is a Hoosier, herself. She committed to Indiana women’s basketball out of the transfer portal from Tennessee on Thursday. She called it a “full circle” moment, given her fondness for the movie.
Recruiting then and now
IU initially recruited Striplin as a high school prospect out of Geneva County High School for the class of 2021. And she seriously considered the Hoosiers, as associate head coach Rhet Wierzba made a strong recruiting pitch. She ultimately opted to stay in SEC territory and go to Tennessee, but she didn’t forget about the Hoosiers.
The existing relationships played a role in Striplin’s commitment this time.
“This is 6 years of recruiting coming full circle,” Wierzba posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I was down in Hartford, Alabama watching (Striplin) at Geneva County High School. So excited to get to finally coach here here at Indiana!”
After three years in Knoxville, the 6-foot-3 forward entered the transfer portal on April 19 — 12 days after UT hired Kim Caldwell as head coach to replace Kellie Harper. Striplin wasn’t certain what her role would be on next year’s Lady Vols team under Caldwell. And as she completes her degree this spring in just three years, she knew she could enter the portal with minimal restrictions on a potential new destination.
Indiana was one of the first schools to contact Striplin once she entered the portal. The rising senior described her first few days after entering the portal as chaotic, with many different schools reaching out. But she wanted to narrow her options quickly to reduce stress, and she whittled her list down to IU, NC State, and Georgia Tech.
She visited Bloomington on April 23-24, and committed to IU shortly afterward. That was her only visit during her transfer recruitment.
“What stuck out to me was just how important the basketball was. Just walking around with the coaches, just them being recognized every step of the way,” Striplin said. “The size of the campus surprised me. It’s actually a lot bigger than Knoxville. And it just really felt right, right when I stepped on campus.”
Striplin said her conversation with head coach Teri Moren during the visit about how she fit into future plans for the program was influential in her decision. She also talked to Sydney Parrish and Lenée Beaumont while she was in Bloomington, and she watched Yarden Garzon doing a shooting workout.
And even though they won’t be teammates, Mackenzie Holmes talked to Striplin both during and after the visit. Striplin was grateful for Holmes’ involvement.
“She really encouraged me and let me know they’re going to push me to be the best I can be. I know that coach Rhet is a great coach, and she reiterated that to me and really eased my mind and helped me decide what I really wanted for myself out of this year,” Striplin said. “I really appreciated her taking the time to talk with me. She definitely did not have to do that, she’s got a million other things to do. But it was really special that they put her in the space to speak with me, and I appreciated that from the coaching staff and her.”
Striplin played against Indiana twice with the Lady Vols. IU won both matchups, in Knoxville in Nov. 2022 and in Fort Myers, Fla. in Nov. 2023. She remembered Harper preaching during UT’s preparations for those games that IU played hard and together. She recalled Garzon having a big performance in the second game, and Holmes being tough to stop in both contests.
And although she didn’t like looking back on losses, Striplin said she thought back to those games as she made her decision to transfer to IU now.
What IU is getting
Striplin gives IU versatility, one of the most highly-valued traits with this coaching staff.
With Holmes graduating, the Hoosiers needed another veteran in the frontcourt. IU has rising junior Lilly Meister returning with potential, but largely unproven in an expanded role. And the team has very little experience behind her in rising redshirt sophomore Sharnecce Currie-Jelks, along with incoming freshmen Faith Wiseman and Sydney Fenn.
But Striplin is more than just a depth addition. She should be in line for a big role at IU, whether as a starter or as a sixth player.
“Karoline is a tough post player who can score inside and out while also establishing herself as a great post defender,” Moren said in IU’s press release announcing the addition. “She is a player who we’ve faced a couple of times and have been familiar with since high school, so we know her skill set and work ethic will be the perfect fit for us. We are excited for Karoline and her family to be Hoosiers.”
Striplin played in all 33 of Tennessee’s games this past season, with 14.4 minutes per game. She averaged 7.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game while shooting 49.1 percent from the field. She played in 33 games as a sophomore, as well, missing just four contests while starting in 28. In 13.8 minutes per game that season, she posted 4.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, with a 50 percent clip on field goals.
The forward described herself as a physical player, but she’s worked hard to grow her game beyond that of a traditional post. And that’s reflected through her 3-point numbers. She attempted just seven threes as a freshman, just 13 percent of her total field-goal attempts that year. That steadily increased over her next two seasons in Knoxville. Striplin went 12 for 31 from 3-point range as a sophomore, with those shots accounting for 23 percent of her shot diet. As a junior, she went 18 for 58 from beyond the arc, with 33 percent of her field-goal attempts coming from 3-point range.
Striplin attributed extra work in the gym for her increased confidence on outside shots.
“My post coach last year worked with me a lot. I’m more of a set shooter, so we worked on stuff with pick-and-pops and trail threes, stuff like that. Just getting up as many shot attempts as I could within the weeks leading up to the season, and then just staying consistent throughout the season at that, as well. And it paid off,” Striplin said. “You get more confident with the more practice that you put in.”
The Hoosiers rarely played Holmes and Meister on the court at the same time because it limited their outside threat. Both were at their best posting up, even if those looks were created through their off-ball movement outside the lane. But Striplin can pose enough of a threat beyond the arc to play the 4 with Meister at the 5, similarly to how IU utilized Holmes and Aleksa Gulbe simultaneously.
Striplin might have to change her preferred movie theater to adapt to life at Indiana, with no Regal locations in town. But IU thinks her experience and skill set won’t need much adapting. She played with three WNBA first-round picks during her time at Tennessee, and faced off against several others in the SEC, so she’s seen — up close — what it takes to play the game at the highest level. She thinks that will help her coming to the Big Ten and IU.
“I think the post play is a big thing in the SEC, and that’s what I knew I wanted to be a part of out of high school, just challenging myself at the highest level. And there’s no doubt that I’m going to get the same amount of challenge in the Big Ten,” Striplin said. “I think this experience (playing in the SEC) is going to help tremendously, for sure. But I’m excited to get to work and just be the best I can be.”
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