IU names in sports

David Neville (2006)
Neville won gold as a runner in the men’s 4-by-400-meter relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also won bronze in the men’s 400-meter dash after his famous dive across the finish line, securing a 1, 2, 3 sweep for the U.S. in the event.

Mark Spitz (1972)
Before Michael Phelps’ rise to fame, Mark “The Shark” Spitz was a U.S. Olympian wonder boy. Amid the political chaos of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, Spitz won seven gold medals in swimming, making him the most decorated Olympian in a single year. He held this record until Phelps won eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympics.

Richard “Dick” Enberg (1958, 1962)
With 13 Emmy Awards to his name, Dick Enberg has made his mark on the world of sports broadcasting in a career that spans more than four decades. Enberg received his master’s and doctoral degrees in health sciences from IU. While he was a student, Enberg was the voice of the first radio broadcast of the Little 500 bicycle race.

George Taliaferro (1949)
The first black football player to be drafted by the NFL in 1949 after leading the Hoosiers to their first Big Ten championship in 1945

Isiah Thomas (1987)
Thomas led the 1981 Hoosiers to the NCAA championship as a sophomore and later played for the Pistons. He went on to coach the Indiana Pacers and then the New York Knicks. Thomas entered the NBA draft in 1981 but returned to IU six years later to finish his degree in criminal justice.

Angelo Pizzo (1971)
Pizzo wrote the screenplays for the sports films “Hoosiers” (1986) and “Rudy” (1993).

Tracy Porter (2008)
An IU cornerback 2004-07, Porter intercepted a pass from the Indianapolis Colts’ Peyton Manning and scored the game-clinching touchdown for the New Orleans Saints during Super Bowl XLIV. Porter, who helped lead the Hoosiers to the Insight Bowl in 2007, was a four-year starter
at IU.

Tara VanDerveer (1975)
Coach of gold-medal U.S. women’s basketball team in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics

Lesley Bush (1970)
Olympic gold-medalist diver and the first woman to be inducted into the IU Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987.