Football schedules released for 2015, 2016

By Alex McCarthy | Football beat reporter

Posted at 11:30 am on May 21, 2012 | | | Comments (0)

The Big Ten released the conference schedule for the 2015 and 2016 seasons Monday. IU’s schedules are as follows:

2015
At Wisconsin — Oct. 3
Home vs. Illinois — Oct. 10
Open — Oct. 17
At Michigan State — Oct. 24
Home vs. Penn State — Oct. 31
Home vs. Northwestern — Nov. 7
At Nebraska — Nov. 14
At Ohio State — Nov. 21
Home vs. Purdue — Nov. 28

2016
Home vs. Wisconsin — Oct. 1
At Illinois — Oct. 8
At Penn State — Oct. 15
Home vs. Michigan State — Oct. 22
Open — Oct. 29
Home vs. Nebraska — Nov. 5
At Northwestern — Nov. 12
Home vs. Ohio State — Nov. 19
At Purdue — Nov. 26

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Buffalo Bills don’t have a spot for Thomas

By Alex McCarthy | Football beat reporter

Posted at 6:13 pm on May 16, 2012 | | | Comment (1)

After arriving at the Buffalo Bills’ rookie camp a little less than a week ago, former IU linebacker Jeff Thomas learned Tuesday that the team will not have a spot on its roster for him this season.

“They said that they like me a lot, but they don’t have space on their team,” Thomas said Wednesday. “They dropped a couple guys and they signed two more, so they filled their roster.”

Thomas flew out of San Francisco — he lives in nearby Milbrae — Thursday for the Friday rookie camp. There were four practices in all — one Friday, two Saturday and one Sunday morning — sandwiched between team meetings and positional meetings.

He returned to California on Sunday and awaited a call until it came Tuesday.

“It didn’t work out, but it’s alright,” Thomas said. “I feel like I did real well, it’s just a matter of trying to get on a team and they’re full, so that’s kind of how it goes.”

Thomas’ agent is making a more calls and Thomas continues to keep a busy workout schedule. He is, however, contemplating the possibility of no other teams showing interest.

“If nothing works out, then it’s just time to get real and go out and try and get a job,” Thomas said.

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Hoosiers excel in Olympic Trials lead-up events

By Jordan Littman | IDS swimming and diving and Little 500 beat writer

Posted at 12:49 pm on May 15, 2012 | | | Comments (0)

With Olympic Trials only about a month away, past and present IU swimmers and divers are starting to kick their training into high gear to prepare for their attempt at qualifying.

Over the weekend, they competed in international events taking place in the United States, including the Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix and the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix.

In their effort at Charlotte, the Hoosier contingent compiled eight top ten finishes, including a second place effort from former swimmer Ben Hesen in the 100-meter backstroke (54.19). Hesen also notched a fourth place finish in the 50m backstroke, racing a time of 26.05. Placing right behind Hesen in the 50m back was current Hoosier James Wells, a rising junior who raced a 26.19 in the finals. Wells also had a 12th place finish in the 200m backstroke (2:04.98) and finished 16th in the 100m back (57.91).

Also having a successful meet was former Hoosier Allysa Vavra, the 2012 Big Ten Swimmer of the Year. She finished sixth in the 400-meter Individual Medley in a time of 4:50.45, and then followed with an eighth place effort in the 200m IM with a time of 2:20.51.

The Charlotte Grand Prix was also a comeback event for two other Hoosiers. Former IU swimmer Kate Fesenko, who had recently had a baby, returned to her first meet in grand fashion, taking fourth in the 200-meter backstroke (2:11.90), eighth in the 50-meter butterfly (28.05), ninth in the 100-meter butterfly (1:00.11) and tenth in the 50-meter backstroke (29.83). Also making a return in her first event since major surgery to remove her colon was sophomore Sara Delay. In her first event back, she finished 32nd in the 50-meter freestyle (26.82), 50th in the 100-meter free (58.82) and 68th in the 200-meter free (2:07.89).

Other top ten finishes for the Hoosiers in the Charlotte UltraSwim included sophomore Steve Schmuhl taking seventh in the 200-meter butterfly (2:01.36) and junior Lindsay Vrooman placing sixth in the 1,500-meter freestyle (17:05.04). Continue reading »

Sections: Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving | | | Comments (0)

Miami signs McDonald

By Alex McCarthy | Football beat reporter

Posted at 11:56 am on May 8, 2012 | | | Comments (0)

Last Saturday, former IU left tackle Andrew McDonald was invited to rookie camps for two NFL teams — the Miami Dolphins and the Green Bay Packers.

It turns out that he didn’t even need to go to the second camp to get signed.

McDonald’s agent Josh Marks called him at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday to inform him of Miami’s interest after a weekend with four practices in Miami and multiple meetings.

“It was a big relief,” McDonald said. “I felt like I was pretty calm and collected throughout the process, but when I finally got called this morning, I realized that I was almost just holding my breath the entire time. I just got a big weight off my shoulders.”

“Practices were pretty fun,” McDonald said. “I’m not used to the weather, but it was pretty fun. I felt like I did pretty well, showed them what I had.”

McDonald said he meshed well with the offensive line coach Jim Turner and head coach Joe Philbin. McDonald also said the weather was welcoming.

“It was crazy seeing palm trees right next to the field,” McDonald said. “It was really nice. It was really hot, too, but they took care of us. It’s something I’ll have to get used to, but I’d rather be warm than freezing.”

McDonald heads to Miami on Sunday to take part in the Dolphins’ camp that ends June 22. He said although he is about to get signed (the Dolphins are still drawing up the details of his contract), there is a long way to go until he plays on Sundays.

“I still have to earn a spot, pretty much,” McDonald said. “We’ve still got to do practice. I might get cut and get put on the practice squad, something like that. Nothing is really guaranteed.”

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Kaila Hulls to join IU women’s basketball

By Trent Stutzman | IDS women's basketball beat writer

Posted at 6:44 pm on April 30, 2012 | | | Comments (0)

IU is welcoming another member of the Hulls family into its program, only this time it’s on the women’s side.

IU Coach Curt Miller announced Kaila Hulls, the younger sister of men’s basketball guard Jordan, is transferring to IU and will begin taking classes this summer.

“We are excited about Kaila’s decision to return home and become a member of the Indiana Hoosier family,” Miller said in a press release. “She is an outstanding player but more importantly an amazing person that will represent the University on and off the court. Kaila will be an outstanding building block for the next chapter of IU women’s basketball. She is a tireless worker, a fierce competitor and has great 3-point shooting ability. She is also a former Indiana All-Star, showing our continued commitment to recruit the best in the state of Indiana.”

Hulls, a graduate of Bloomington South, is following Miller from Bowling Green State University, where she had to sit out her entire freshman year after an ACL injury and where Miller coached for 11 years before being hired by IU.
Before the injury, Hulls displayed her family’s shooting genes by winning Bowling Green’s 3-point shooting contest in the school’s midnight madness last fall.

In her days at South, Hulls earned multiple honors. After averaging 20 points and 11.7 rebounds per game in her senior season, she was a McDonald’s All-American candidate. In addition to her Indiana All-Star honors, Hulls was an all-area and all-conference selection in each of her four high school years and also earned all-state first team honors from Hoosier Basketball Magazine.

Hulls led the Panthers to two conference titles and two sectional championships while they put up a 67-17 overall record.

Hulls left South as the school’s all-time leader in steals, and she ranked second all-time in school history for points and rebounds.

Hulls’ grandfather, John, also has ties to IU. He was a member of Bob Knight’s coaching staff in the early 1970s.

Sections: General, Women's Basketball | | | Comments (0)

Honors Continue for Hoosiers

By Micah McVicker | IDS Baseball Reporter

Posted at 5:49 pm on April 30, 2012 | | | Comments (0)

Indiana baseball players continue to clean up on weekly awards handed out by the Big Ten. In recognition of the Hoosiers’ sweep of the University of Michigan  to place themselves in a tie for second in the conference, junior center fielder Justin Cureton and freshman catcher Kyle Schwarber won Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week, respectively.

Cureton batted .583 against Wolverines’ pitching, raising his batting average by .22 points to .251. He got on base at a .593 clip. Once he got on, he was four-for-four on stolen base attempts.

He converted all 12 of his putout attempts as he posted an immaculate fielding percentage.

The Hoosiers’ freshman catcher continued to mash. You can read about the Hoosiers’ precocious backstop’s accomplishment by clicking here.

A little perspective: Freshman first baseman Sam Travis, the team-leader with four individual honors, has more weekly awards than eight Big Ten teams. The Hoosiers 10 winners are more than five Big Ten teams combined.

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Kenny Johnson joins IU basketball staff

By Kevin Bowen | IDS men's basketball beat writer

Posted at 12:33 pm on April 30, 2012 | | | Comments (2)

As has been speculated for the past week or so, former Towson assistant coach Kenny Johnson has moved onto the same role with the Indiana basketball staff.

Towson head coach Pat Skeery tweeted on Monday afternoon that his former assistant is heading to Bloomington.

Johnson fills the void on the staff that opened up when Bennie Seltzer took the head coaching position at Samford University on April 4.

Even though Johnson doesn’t bring a ton of college coaching experience with him to Bloomington he does have a connection to a popular AAU program in the Washington D.C. area. Johnson used to coach Team Takeover which produced current Hoosiers Maurice Creek and Victor Oladipo. Team Takeover also has 2013 prospects Beejay Anya and Stanford Robinson on its roster.

An injury cut short Johnson’s basketball career as he graduated from the University of Maryland in 1999.

The assistant coaching position seemed to be headed toward Calbert Cheaney (current Director of Basketball Operations), if he wanted it. However, Cheaney is content with his role and didn’t feel ready to commit to an assistant position.

Sections: Men's Basketball | | | Comments (2)

Max’s Musings: Best players left 2.0

By Max McCombs | IDS National Sports Columnist

Posted at 11:02 pm on April 27, 2012 | | | Comments (8)

Over the course of Friday’s two rounds, just about every notable omission from the first round was selected, but not neccesarily in the order I would have thought. For me, rounds 2 and 3 were defined by some curious reaches particularly on the offensive line and at wide reciever. What that means, of course, is that there is still some considerable talent on the board. The sure things are gone, but this is where the bulk of the team is put together. Teams still have the opportunity to take some second or round talent in the fourth, maybe even fifth round.

Here are a few players who might provide terrific value to their future teams:

Bobby Massie, T, Ole Miss- Note that I said “just about” above. That was because of this guy, who could have easily gone on the back end of the first round. He could possibly play left tackle at the next level, but I see him as a very solid starter on the right side.

Lamar Miller, RB, Miami- Miller was rumored to go in the late first. That would have been too high, but I do think he is better than some backs who were picked there as well as a number who were picked since then. With good size and low mileage, this guy could be an everydown back.

Continue reading »

Sections: Football | | | Comments (8)

Max’s Musings: Best players left

By Max McCombs | IDS National Sports Columnist

Posted at 5:59 pm on April 27, 2012 | | | Comments (0)

Granted, I don’t think anyone could have seen the flurry of picks in the early first round of the draft last night coming, but nonetheless, my attempt at a mock draft in Thursday’s IDS was far from perfect. Several names went in the first round that I never even considered, while a couple players who I thought were sure things went undrafted. What that means, of course, is that there are still a number of damn good players available in the draft tonight.

In no particular order, here are a few of the players still around that I think are deserving of going fast tonight:

Courtney Upshaw, OLB/DE, Alabama- I had Upshaw going ahead of his teammate Dont’a Hightower and attribute his wait to simply not matching up well with some teams’ defensive schemes. He would be best as a 3-4 linebacker, maybe with the Ravens at pick 35.

Janoris Jenkins, CB, North Alabama- Easily the most talented player on the board, it was clearly character issues that kept Jenkins from being picked. The Rams have three picks in the round and can afford to take a chance on a talent like Jenkins, including as early as the first pick tonight.

Continue reading »

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Sam Travis talks about the Hoosiers’ 8-7 loss to Miami (Ohio)

By Michael Norman | IDS Baseball beat writer

Posted at 11:19 pm on April 24, 2012 | | | Comments (0)

After a four-game slump that saw IU first baseman Sam Travis go 0-for-16 with eight strikeouts, Travis has found his groove again and has blasted two homers in the last four games.

Travis’s latest home run—his sixth of the season—was a two-run, two-out blast on a full count off of Miami (Ohio’s) Brandon Adkins in the bottom of the ninth inning. The homer drew IU within one, but designated hitter Dillon Dooney would fly out to  right to end the game.

In this video, Travis talks about his home run, what the Hoosiers need to do to improve on defense and tomorrow’s matchup at Miami (Ohio).

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