There are many sports to pay attention to during your time here at IU. We have everything from field hockey to water polo, not to mention the University’s well-known football and basketball programs.
Here are some of the sports we think will be important to watch in the coming year.
Mens Soccer
The quest for a ninth star. That is what IU will be starting this August after a season in which the Hoosiers entered the NCAA Tournament as the fifth overall seed, but exited in the second round.
IU’s nine national titles are the second most of any soccer program in the country, the most belonging to St. Louis, who haven’t won a title since the Hoosiers started playing the beautiful game.
Current IU Coach Todd Yeagley is the son of “The Godfather” of college soccer, Jerry Yeagley, who was the coach for six of IU’s eight national titles. Todd, who played as a Hoosier for four seasons, was the coach for IU’s last national title in 2012.
The Hoosiers return midfielders Tanner Thompson and Femi Hollinger-Janzen, the two best Hoosiers going towards the opponents goal last season.
IU also returns its man in goal, Colin Webb, who was one of the best goalkeepers in the Big Ten last season.
The Hoosiers figure to start the season in the top 10 nationally, making the already raucous Hoosiers Army even crazier at Bill Armstrong Stadium.
Baseball
In recent years, the one of the most successful IU teams has been baseball. After years of futility at the bottom of the Big Ten, the Hoosiers visited Omaha for the College World Series for the first time in program history in 2013.
In 2014, the Hoosiers entered the tournament as a national seed, but lost on a walk-off home run in the regional tournament at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington, the beautiful new home for the Hoosiers.
This spring, the Hoosiers reloaded after losing multiple player to the Major League Baseball Draft, and figure to make some noise again in 2015’s NCAA tournament.
Next season, the Hoosiers should once again be nationally prominent in IU Coach Chris Lemonis’ second season in Bloomington, with many talented players returning at both the plate and on the mound to couple with a strong incoming freshman class.
Women’s basketball
Less than a year ago, IU Coach Teri Moren was inheriting a young team without the benefit of time to get to know her players much before the season.
Four transfer departures later, Moren is attempting to put her own stamp on this program. She will bring in some much needed size with incoming freshmen Danielle Williams and Kym Royster, and already has three transfer players joining the team.
There is Marquette guard Tia Elbert, who will have to sit out a year due to transfer rules, and junior college transfers Victoria Kemokai and Tyshee Towner, who will be available right away.
With the return of IU’s young core players like rising sophomore guards Tyra Buss and Jess Walter and rising junior Alexis Gassion, the Hoosiers will have plenty of talent. The issue may be that last year’s lack of experience issue may ring true once again.
This year we will begin to see more of how Moren wants to run this team with a full offseason of preparation.
