The Hoosiers have had a lot of success when it comes to walk-ons. Before there was Errek Suhr, there was Ryan Tapak and Mark Johnson. Before them, the legendary Luke Jimenez. This fall, Kelvin Sampson will attempt to continue the walk-on tradition with the addition of Brett Finkelmeier.
Finkelmeier, an incoming sophomore, played high school basketball at Carmel where he played point guard. The 6-foot-1 guard is an exceptional shooter, but lacks the kind of quickness and ball-handling skills to be a scholarship player.
But there is at least one area where the Carmel native will contribute next season, Team GPA. Finkelmeier is a Biology/Pre-Med major.
* I have good news and bad news. I'll assume you are an optimist and you like your good news first. Here are the Hoosier Barnstorming Tour dates:
August 2: New Albany August 3: Batesville August 7: North Daviess August 8: North Central August 9: Muncie
The bad news: The times and venues for some of the games are still being hammered out. As soon as everything is finalized, I'll get the information to you. Special thanks to Criss Beyers for the dates. Beyers is the assistant athletic director at Bloomington South and organizes the barnstorming tour and the adidas May Classic along with several other tedious tasks.
***Update: According to the Indy Star, all of the games will start at 7, with the exception of the North Daviess game which will start at 6:30. Also according to the Star, there is a chance a sixth game will be added in the Fort Wayne area.
* There is one less Hoosier in the NBA. On Monday, Bracey Wright signed with Aris Thessaloniki and will play overseas in Greece next season. Wright had been playing on Denver's summer league team after parting ways with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Playing in only 19 games last season for the T-Wolves, Wright averaged 3.5 points a game.
* Finally, I'd like to wish former IU recruiting target and quasi-Bloomington native Beas Hamga a Happy Birthday. (Thanks, Facebook).
