Hoosier Hysteria set for Oct. 4
IU's annual Hoosier Hysteria will take place Friday, Oct. 4, this year, two weeks earlier than last season's event, held on Oct. 20.
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IU's annual Hoosier Hysteria will take place Friday, Oct. 4, this year, two weeks earlier than last season's event, held on Oct. 20.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU has sold its 10th highest annual total of student season tickets for football and basketball with 14,369 purchases as of Thursday morning, according to assistant athletic director for ticket operations Michael Roberts.As a result, students who have purchased the plan will have access to only eight home men's basketball games this season.Because IU designates only approximately 8,000 seats in Assembly Hall for students each game — and more than 8,000 individual packages have been sold — the athletic department chose to limit the amount of games students will have tickets to. Those who bought the package via bursar for $320 will only be charged $200.“Since the early ’70s, it has been the procedure that all students should have an opportunity to experience and enjoy Indiana basketball,” Roberts said. “And by following this directive, we have tried to distribute the tickets as evenly as possible with the available seats to the students within Assembly Hall.”IU chose to give students an eight-game package because of Roberts’ idea for even distribution, and he said its current estimate for sales falls short of 15,600. Should sales top 15,600 — Roberts said IU has no plans to shut down student season ticket sales this year as it did last year when it capped sales at 12,400 so students would get tickets to 10 games — students might have even fewer games in their ticket package.“Should the sales surpass 15,600, some students by lottery may receive fewer games in order to accommodate the additional sales unless the department should determine at some point to cut off sales once it has surpassed 15,600,” Roberts said. As of right now, it is unclear how such a lottery would work. It is also unclear how many premiere games against high-profile opponents students will have access to, given the fact that so many tickets have been sold. Last season, students had access to 10 games and the season before, 16 games.A source within the IU athletic department said before the season begins, it will rank the home games in order of prominence, and in turn reward students and groups based on Crimson Club points with tickets to the top home games. It will also institute a lottery so students with fewer points will get to go to important games as well. Students who purchased the season ticket plan will still be able to attend all eight home IU football games this season.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU added its first wide receiver of the 2014 class this past week, bolstering future depth at the position.J-Shun Harris, a receiver from Fishers High School, committed to the Hoosiers July 10. According to rivals.com, Harris is 5 feet 8 inches tall, 165 pounds and runs a 4.4-second 40-yard dash.The Fishers, Ind., native was formerly a Ball State commit and is the eighth recruit for IU Coach Kevin Wilson’s 2014 recruiting class.Harris is the third skill position commit for the Hoosiers’ 2014 class, joining quarterback Alexander Diamont and cornerback Donovan Clark.“He is excited and looking forward to being part of Coach Wilson’s program,” Fishers Coach Rick Wimmer said, “and hopes to play a significant role in the future as IU continues their progress toward winning a Big Ten championship.”— Evan Hoopfer and Jordan Littman
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU’s men’s basketball team will play at Syracuse on Tuesday, Dec. 3 in the 2013 Big Ten/ACC Challenge, ESPN announced Wednesday afternoon.The matchup will be a rematch of the 2013 NCAA Tournament game in which the 4-seed Orange eliminated the 1-seed Hoosiers in the Sweet 16 by a 61-50 margin. Though Syracuse has been in the Big East since 1979, the 2013-14 season will mark its first in the ACC.In the all-time series between the two schools, IU has only won one of five matchups — the lone victory being the 1987 National Championship Game. The Hoosiers have never played the Orange at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, however.Heading into the 2013 season, the Orange will be losing three of their top four scorers but will return their leading point-scorer senior forward C.J. Fair. Syracuse will also be adding five recruits to its roster, including former IU signee Ron Patterson and five-star guard Tyler Ennis.The game’s tip-off time and broadcast channel have yet to be announced.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU’s men’s basketball team will play at Syracuse on Tuesday, Dec. 3 in the 2013 Big Ten/ACC Challenge, ESPN announced Wednesday afternoon.The matchup will be a rematch of the 2013 NCAA Tournament game in which the 4-seed Orange eliminated the 1-seed Hoosiers in the Sweet 16 by a 61-50 margin. Though Syracuse has been in the Big East since 1979, the 2013-14 season will mark its first in the ACC.In the all-time series between the two schools, IU has only won one of five matchups – the lone victory being the 1987 National Championship Game. The Hoosiers have never played the Orange at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, however.Heading into the 2013 season, the Orange will be losing three of their top four scorers but will return their leading point-scorer senior forward C.J. Fair. Syracuse will also be adding five recruits to its roster, including former IU signee Ron Patterson and five-star guard Tyler Ennis.The game’s tip-off time and broadcast channel have yet to be announced.
IU's men's basketball team will play at Syracuse on Tuesday, Dec. 3 in the 2013 Big Ten/ACC Challenge, ESPN announced Wednesday afternoon.
When IU Diving Coach Jeff Huber announced his retirement after 24 seasons leading the program, vice president and director of athletics Fred Glass was assigned the task of finding an equally impressive replacement.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU football will play in the Big Ten’s East Division as part of the conference’s realignment starting in 2014, the Big Ten announced Sunday.Joining the Hoosiers in the East will be Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers. IU will play Purdue, a West Division school, every year in the only protected cross-division game.“For me, it was a deal breaker. If we weren’t playing Purdue every year, I would’ve opposed the realignment,” IU Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Fred Glass said. “And as a fan, I’m thrilled. Being able to have those traditional, upper-tier teams in our rotation every year is something I’m embracing and looking forward to.”The West Division includes Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin.In 2014 and 2015, each school will play the other six schools in its division and two teams from the opposite division. The Big Ten will move to a nine-game conference schedule in 2016, when each school will play three teams from the opposite division in addition to its division foes. The Purdue game will remain a protected cross-division matchup.“Big Ten directors of athletics concluded four months of study and deliberation with unanimous approval of a future football structure that preserved rivalries and created divisions based on their primary principle of East/West geography,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said in a press release. “The directors of athletics also relied on the results of a fan survey commissioned by BTN last December to arrive at their recommendation, which is consistent with the public sentiment expressed in the poll.”When the nine-game conference schedule starts in 2016, teams in the East Division will play host to five conference home games during even-numbered years, while West Division teams will do so during odd-numbered years.The realignment plan was unanimously recommended by conference athletic directors and was supported by the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors.“Hopefully this is going to be the configuration for a long, long time,” Glass said. “From my view, I think we belong in the East. We’re in the Eastern time zone, and we in Indiana tend to look more to the East than we do the West.“Sure, we’re playing those tough teams, but the flip side of that is those are the teams our fans want to see and our recruits want to play against.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Starting in 2014, IU football will play in the Big Ten’s East Division as part of the conference’s realignment, the Big Ten announced Sunday.Joining the Hoosiers in the East will be Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers. IU will play Purdue, a West Division school, every year in the only protected cross-division game.“For me, it was a deal breaker; if we weren’t playing Purdue every year, I would’ve opposed the realignment,” IU Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Fred Glass said. “And as a fan, I’m thrilled. Being able to have those traditional, upper-tier teams in our rotation every year is something I’m embracing and looking forward to.”The West Division includes Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin.In 2014 and 2015, each school will play the other six schools in its division and two teams from the opposite division. The Big Ten will move to a nine-game conference schedule in 2016, when each school will play three teams from the opposite division in addition to its division foes. The Purdue game will remain a protected cross-division matchup.“Big Ten directors of athletics concluded four months of study and deliberation with unanimous approval of a future football structure that preserved rivalries and created divisions based on their primary principle of East/West geography,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said in a press release. “The directors of athletics also relied on the results of a fan survey commissioned by BTN last December to arrive at their recommendation, which is consistent with the public sentiment expressed in the poll.”When the nine-game conference schedule starts in 2016, teams in the East Division will play host to five conference home games during even-numbered years, while West Division teams will do so during odd-numbered years.The realignment plan was unanimously recommended by conference athletic directors and was supported by the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors.“Hopefully this is going to be the configuration for a long, long time,” Glass said. “From my view, I think we belong in the East. We’re in the eastern time zone, and we in Indiana tend to look more to the East than we do the West.“Sure, we’re playing those tough teams, but the flip side of that is those are the teams our fans want to see and our recruits want to play against.”
Despite not being picked in the 2013 NFL Draft, former IU defensive tackle Larry Black Jr. said he has signed a contract with the Cincinnati Bengals.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Then-IU junior Jeremy Levin glued his eyes to his computer screen from la Universidad de Sevilla library in Sevilla, Spain on April 21, 2012.It was Little 500 Race Day, and though he wasn’t competing, he couldn’t take his eyes off the live blog that was continuously unfolding, detailing the day’s events. Such is the life of a Little 500 rider who is studying abroad, as he anxiously followed his former teammates from Emanon now on Alpha Tau Omega.So when Levin returned to Bloomington to find Emanon no longer exist, it became time for him to pursue an idea he had long hoped to achieve: create his own Little 500 team.From there, Hillel Cycling was born.“I had this goal in mind for three years,” Levin said. “I’ve had alumni or people working with me think it would be a cool idea, so it was just a matter of getting it all together from there.”Levin, now a senior, is a student from Highland Park, Ill. When he first got to IU, he immediately was drawn to Hillel, a “Jewish home away from home” for students that provides a venue for services, Shabbat dinners and other events. He was heavily involved as a freshman and sophomore, but during his second year on campus, he also gained an interest in cycling. At the time, he joined Emanon, only in its second year of existence, and raced in the 2011 Little 500.The team qualified 23rd for the 61st running of the annual race, and Levin competed in both the Individual Time Trials and Little 500. Levin said he did not want to give up on his cycling career and after his study-abroad experience he began to pursue riders for a Hillel team. After putting so much into the organization during his first two years on campus, Levin wanted to find a way to give back and give Hillel something more to be proud of.“It’s one of the best Hillels in the nation, and I definitely feel like it needed a name on campus,” Levin said. “All these Christian, Catholic and non-cultural groups have teams, so I didn’t see why we couldn’t have a team. We just needed someone to spearhead it.”In what he called a grassroots effort, Levin began asking students if they would be interested in riding for a Hillel team. Most responded half-heartedly, Levin noted, but a few names — all of them seniors at IU — stuck out. There was Brad Koszuta, who rode for Gray Goat in 2011 and had shown interest in joining a Hillel Cycling team. Tyler Hagan was a mountain biker who had never even thought of racing in the Little 500 until Levin approached him during a road ride the two took together. Moyshe Kerler was a part of the men’s Rainbow Cycling team in 2011 that failed to qualify for the race.And then there was Adam Kouba, a resident assistant who had never even considered riding a bike competitively until Levin talked him into it.Though they all came from different backgrounds and had no experience working together in a cohesive group, it was enough of a start for Levin to begin the formation of Hillel cycling.“I didn’t really know what to think at first, and I don’t think Jeremy thought I was serious about it either,” Kouba said. “I’m glad it ended up happening because it’s a really good community and a great place to be on campus.”During the fall months, the team would take road rides together to build stamina and friendships. They soon turned the basement of the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center on Third Street into a training room.They began fundraising so they could pay for the $100 team fee and $400 bicycle fee the IU Student Foundation imposes to register for the race.Even Levin had to put in his own money to make it happen, but in late January he paid the fees and Hillel Cycling became registered for the 63rd running of the Little 500.They still had to qualify for the race, however, and when Levin injured his leg in a practice the Thursday before Qualifications, their planned routine had shattered. Levin could only ride one lap instead of two on Qualifications day, meaning Koszuta had to step into the role of riding two laps out of four. Levin and Hagan would each race one lap.“We ran a Quals team that we had never run before,” Levin said. “Luckily we all had exchanged together before so we knew how it worked, but we had never done it in that order.”“The biggest fear was that it could slow us down or cause some kind of an issue,” Kouba said. Though the Hillel team wanted to achieve a time of 2:27 at Qualifications on March 23, it finished with a mark of 2:31.51 in its second attempt in front of more than 40 of its own fans. Knowing, however, that in 2012 their time would have been within 1.4 seconds of not qualifying for the race, both Levin and Kouba stayed throughout the afternoon until it was certain they would qualify.When there were too few teams remaining that could jump them in the standings and drop them out of the top 33, Hillel had qualified for its first Little 500 in its first year of existence.After a determined effort to even get a team together, Levin had found a way to race in the Little 500 once more.“We just started celebrating and calling everyone up,” Levin said. “It was so exciting for us and for everyone who has supported us.”On Saturday, Hillel will start in the 25th overall position in the ninth row, which it will share with Sigma Alpha Mu and Delta Sigma Pi.Though Levin and Kouba said the team’s goal was to actually just qualify for the race, they hope to win the Dixie Highway Award, given to the team that finishes the highest compared to its starting position. Moving forward though, Saturday’s result really doesn’t mean much, Levin said. He wants Hillel Cycling to stay around for more than just one year, and what that means is doing more recruiting. He has already found two freshmen, including one with prior cycling experience, to help continue the Hillel legacy. Though Saturday will be Levin’s final Little 500, it will be the first race and a significant occasion for the organization he has put so much energy into.And for those organizations that might not yet have a Little 500 team, both said Hillel’s rise is proof that anything is possible.“Any organization can start a team if they have the goal in mind,” Levin said. “Some fraternities have 10,000-plus dollar budgets for their bike teams. We had zero.”“Even if you have all rookie riders, it’s possible,” Kouba added. “As long as you have the dedication and you put the time in, it can happen.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Friday and Saturday, the spotlight will be on 66 teams as they race for the Little 500 men’s and women’s titles.Months of training will come down to a span of more than one hour for the women and two hours for the men. One mistake can mean failure, and one right move can prove to be the championship decision.But for teams to be in this position, it takes more than just an effective race strategy. Riders train from the start of the school year to prepare for the Little 500 and the potential successes that come with it.“Fall is a good time to build the team, to bond with the rookies and build one’s base,” sophomore Alpha Epsilon Pi rider Sam Erlanger said. “We also do the Fall Series to get some experience on the track.”During the fall season, riders typically train four to five hours each weekend. Mileage-wise, riders bike 30 to 40 miles on weekdays and anywhere from 45 to 100 miles each weekend. Though bikers ride long distances in the fall, they usually remain at slow speeds, typically around 15 miles per hour.This builds endurance, a key factor come race day. The biggest goal of fall training is to build a cardiovascular base for more intense workouts as the spring nears.“The base becomes important later during the race because after doing a few 10 to 20 lap sets, you need that base to keep you going,” Erlanger said. “There is no time for base in the spring because all the time is spent on leg speed, power in the legs and track time.”Once a cardiovascular foundation is built, riders can improve on speed. Throughout the winter, teams do more intense workouts indoors, typically through interval training. When it’s feasible, teams will go on outdoor rides, but the main goal is to be as well-rounded as possible come race day.By the time March and April roll around, bikers hope to be peaking, when their cardiovascular base and additional training combine to produce ideal physical conditions.When riders take to the track, unforeseen circumstances will alter teams’ races — it is just a facet of the annual competition that makes it so unpredictable.However, each team’s individual training will put it into contention for the BorgWarner Trophy.“For contending in the race, learning how to ride in the pack and how to deal with surges all depends on your training,” Erlanger said. “There’s so much physical work to be put in. Without it, we would not be in contention at all.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It is an annual tradition that marks the start of one of the most anticipated races in all of college sports. Before the 2013 Little 500 begins Friday and Saturday and riders line up in their assigned row positions, the following words will blare from the intercom:“Riders, mount your Schwinn bicycles.”It is a saying that has stuck with the IU Student Foundation since the first Little 500 in 1951. However, Schwinn has not always been the bike of choice.When Howdy Wilcox Jr. founded the race more than 62 years ago, one of his main priorities was to ensure everyone would be on the same playing field. To do so, he made sure each team and each rider would use the same bike.In 1951, Wilcox contracted with Schwinn, then a Chicago-based manufacturer, and for the first few years of the Little 500’s history, Schwinn provided the bicycles.In 1956, IUSF moved away from Schwinn in favor of Roadmaster AMF bicycles until 2000. The movie “Breaking Away” that portrays the Little 500 actually included Roadmaster bikes. “It actually became a staple of ‘Gentlemen, mount your Roadmaster bicycles,’” Race Director Jordan Bailey said. “Then, stuff had happened in the bicycling industry and things started to get consolidated.”In 2000, a company called Pacific Cycle bought Roadmaster and another smaller bike company called Mongoose. IUSF made the decision to change from its Roadmaster tradition to a Mongoose off-road bike because it would fit better with the cinder track at Bill Armstrong Stadium.News came in 2001, however, that Pacific Cycle would buy out Schwinn, and in 2002, Pacific introduced Schwinn bikes to the public.By 2006, IUSF had decided to renew its partnership with Schwinn.“I like the tradition because that’s what they rode in the very first year,” Bailey said. “In truth, for the most part, the bikes haven’t changed much in the last 60 years. It’s the great equalizer so it really evens out the playing field.”Each year, IU calls Schwinn to produce a custom order of Little 500 bikes. The organization orders approximately 200 bicycles per year branded with the “Little 500” name.Though it has not always been that way, the phrase, “Riders, mount your Schwinn bicycles,” now provides historical context and will be of special significance this weekend.“Just because it’s been a healthy relationship for so many years, it’d be foolish on our part to look somewhere else,” Bailey said. “It’s a great tradition to have.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU’s football team completed its spring practice schedule Saturday afternoon in front of an estimated crowd of 6,500 during the annual Cream and Crimson Spring Game at Memorial Stadium. In a game that signified the return of sophomore quarterback Tre Roberson and the emergence of several players, the Cream team defeated the Crimson team by a 21-7 margin.Now that the spring season is finished, coaches will be unable to lead practices until fall practice begins in August.“It’s been a grind, and for them to have energy and enthusiasm and to wrap it up until fall was good,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said. “We’ve made some strides, and it’s a long way to go, but it was a nice conclusion to what’s been a good spring.”In Saturday’s game, IU had its three scholarship quarterbacks available for the first time since Sept. 10, 2012, when Roberson broke his leg in the second quarter against Massachusetts.Roberson went 7-for-18 on pass attempts Saturday afternoon, throwing for a total of 63 yards. Though he ran for a total of -1 yards on three attempts, he did convert an 11-yard scramble in the game.“I just wanted to come out and make some plays and get into my mode,” Roberson said. “I felt a little overwhelmed a bit, but I feel like I got better as the game went on.”Junior Cam Coffman completed 17-of-23 passes on the day for 174 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw an interception in the second quarter that was picked off by junior Forisse “Flo” Hardin.In sophomore quarterback Nate Sudfeld’s first career spring game, the Modesto, Calif. native went 14-for-16 on pass attempts for 187 yards and a 36-yard touchdown completion to junior wide receiver Cody Latimer.Sudfeld said the work he has put in this spring has paid off in that he feels like the game has slowed significantly for him.“I think in the fall I wasn’t understanding the plays as much and this spring I’ve really understood the plays a lot more and mentally taken a big leap,” Sudfeld said. “I think I’ve really improved in every aspect of my game.”On the defensive side of the ball, senior linebacker Jacarri Alexander led the Cream team with 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. On one possession in the second quarter, he recorded a tackle, an assisted tackle and a sack on three consecutive plays.His teammate on Saturday, freshman linebacker T.J. Simmons, also had two tackles of his own, and postgame, Wilson called Simmons’ performance “dominant.”Simmons, still technically a high school senior, is an early enrollee and has been with the team since the spring semester started in January.“He’s very physical and very assertive, helping getting guys lined up out there,” Wilson said. “He has the chance to be a very quality player, and that will help the competition.”Though IU’s spring may be finished, the next time the team holds an official practice its entire 2013 recruiting class will be members of the squad.With the group ranked in the top third in the nation, Wilson said he looks forward to having the incoming group on the field to provide depth and help take his team to the next level.“We’ll be building some depth and it’s exciting to work with,” Wilson said. “But the real deal will be having good weeks off the field as a winning football team.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For more than a month, IU’s football team has participated in spring practice as its players adjust to new coaches and newfound leadership opportunities.On Saturday, the work put in during its 15-practice schedule since March 2 will be put on display at the Hoosiers’ annual Cream and Crimson Spring Game.Teams were selected in a draft by Cream team captains senior safety Greg Heban and senior wide receiver Kofi Hughes and Crimson team captains senior running back Stephen Houston and senior tight end Ted Bolser.Kickoff from Memorial Stadium will be at 4 p.m., and will be the highlight of multiple events held throughout the day.“We have come to work consistently and have gotten after it,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said. “There hasn’t been one day that’s been bad.“We’ve got a good vibe that’s coming from the locker room. We’ll have a bit of fun heading into the Cream and Crimson game.”For IU’s players, Saturday’s spring game is the final NCAA-sanctioned event until the summer begins. After six weeks of build-up practices, the game is the final opportunity to show coaches their abilities until fall practice starts in August.Senior wide receiver Isaiah Roundtree knows how much a spring game can have an impact on one’s playing career. In last year’s game, Roundtree, then a running back, ran for two touchdowns, one of which was nearly a 60-yard rush. He had previously never played a game in the cream and crimson. After his performance in last year’s spring game, Roundtree appeared in 11 regular-season games, starting in the Hoosiers’ Big Ten opener at Northwestern. Heading into the 2013 Cream and Crimson Game, Roundtree said he is aiming for consistency himself, but is instead more focused on the offense’s overall production.“We want to put up points,” Roundtree said. “We want to see multiple receivers and running backs scoring. Our objective is to get into the endzone and have multiple guys score points.”Though players will be focused on the game, coaches and much of the IU athletic department has its sights on the lead-up events to the game.IU decided it will open the tailgate lots for the game at noon Saturday and will open the gates to Memorial Stadium at 1:30 p.m. At 2 p.m., IU will begin its spring game tailgate party, Memorial Stadium tours and its Hoosier Kids Zone in Knot Hole Park.In addition, IU football alumni and NFL players Tandon Doss, Courtney Roby, Andrew McDonald and James Brewer will be back and leading a Youth Football Clinic at 2 p.m. IU’s current players and coaches will also be signing autographs after the game.A zipline at Knot Hole Park will open at 3 p.m. and last through 5:30 p.m.“I’ve been really pleased with the way our administrative staff has been working with the football staff to put together what I think will be a really fun event,” IU vice president and director of athletics Fred Glass said. “The football will be great and the experience surrounding it will be great.”With past and current IU football generations joining forces on Saturday, Glass said he hopes this will provide the program with more momentum as it prepares for its 2013 season.“I’m really excited about some of the players that are coming back,” Glass said. “Not only because I think it will be fun for the spring game, but because I think it is a real endorsement for what Coach Wilson is doing.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A half-hour before Bob Knight was set to appear for a signing of his new book, “The Power of Negative Thinking”, hundreds of fans — young and old and students and Bloomington natives alike — waited in anticipation of his appearance.And for the first time since 2002, Knight appeared at a public event in Bloomington at Walmart with co-author Bob Hammel. The former IU men’s basketball coach greeted an estimated 900 fans during a three-hour span Thursday afternoon.“It’s always a reaffirmation of his popularity around here,” Hammel said. “He draws people like I’ve never seen. He has a remarkable connection with Indiana fans.”Fans started lining up around 8 a.m. Thursday near a table set up amidst cargo shorts and discount shoes, with IU national championship banners draped overhead.The tables were covered in crimson cloth, and fans were clad in like colors. There was little left to the imagination of whether Knight was still tied to IU.The first two people in line, sisters Laura Conrad and Kristi Hudelson, waited all morning for the opportunity to meet him. Conrad, an IU student from 1985-87, and Hudelson, whose son is a sophomore at IU, drove an hour-and-a-half from Paoli, Ind., at 6:30 a.m. to get to Bloomington early enough.For Conrad, it was her first opportunity to reunite with Knight after she knew him when she was a front desk manager at the Ramada Inn, the same hotel Knight’s players would stay at before home games. Hudelson said she felt like meeting him would be an opportunity she could not miss out on.“You don’t get over Bobby Knight,” Conrad said. “It’s awesome. It’s wonderful that he’d come back to Bloomington.”At 12:33 p.m., 27 minutes before they were supposed to begin signing, Knight and Hammel walked through the main doors of Walmart and made their way over to the table.Fans stood starstruck. Some could not help themselves from smiling, while others took photographs in disbelief. For Hudelson and Conrad, seeing Knight in person meant more than getting to meet the man who brought three national championships back to IU.Less than a year ago, their mother — an avid IU fan — passed away. They said it would have been her dream to have the chance to meet him, but it never came. Instead, they were in her place as Knight called them over to greet them.Hudelson and Conrad conversed with him for a span of three minutes and Knight seemed eager and happy to talk. They spoke about Conrad and Knight’s experiences at the Ramada Inn, in which Knight said they “didn’t break any rules, it was OK.” The ladies told him how excited they were that he was finally back in Bloomington.Before they were ushered out of line, the conversation shifted to how they wished their mother was there.“He said he really appreciated our stories, it was such an honor,” Hudelson said, tearing up while she spoke. “This is great, it was one of the most exciting days of my life.”Fan after fan went up to a maroon-clad Knight, thanking him for what he has done for IU; telling him stories about how they met decades ago, about how great of an honor it was to finally meet him.Knight responded and conversed back. Fans took photos of him and with him, and soon he decided to start signing materials other than just his new book. He autographed items ranging from an IU jersey and a framed photograph to a 2012-13 IU program that featured a Cody Zeller cover.Ninth-year IU student Tyler Nolting, currently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in health behavior, had the opportunity to meet Knight nearly an hour into the event. Knight signed eight copies of “The Power of Negative Thinking” and also signed another two books, including one signed by former IU president Herman B Wells.For Nolting, who has been at every IU home game since 2004, encountering a more-than-willing Knight came as a pleasant surprise.“He was very generous, and it seemed like he was in a good mood and that he really appreciated (my educational background),” Nolting said. “It’s something I never thought would happen with Coach Knight coming back to Bloomington, so it’s a great surprise.”Right after Nolting left, 10-year-old Brigit Emerick walked up to Knight. She had waited all morning to meet him, and had to make it back to school by 2:30 p.m. in time to present a project on Knight himself.Carrying a basketball in hand, Emerick sat down in front of him and was unable to wipe a smile off her face. Much like he had done during his 25-plus years at IU, Knight challenged his fan and asked her why she wanted his autograph.“We had to do our project on a historical figure,” Emerick said. “Everyone was doing Abraham Lincoln but I wanted to choose you.”“Good answer,” a smiling Knight responded.Emerick handed Knight a still-boxed basketball, and when she was asked where she got it from, she said was from K-Mart.“It was my mom’s fault,” Emerick said to him.Knight laughed and signed his autograph, as Emerick left with a moment she said she will never forget.Though the event was designed to last only until 3 p.m., Knight and Hammel continued to sign books for an additional 45 minutes. Walmart organizers had to cut off the line after a certain point.When all was said and done, Knight stood and walked to the employee’s lounge. He then signed books and took photos with the Walmart representatives before leaving with Hammel.Despite the rainy weather, what was clear Thursday afternoon was that fans could find comfort in Knight's return to the town that built him into an icon.“Well for one thing, he wanted to sell books,” Hammel said. “But it’s a two-way connection and he’s said he’s happy for Indiana fans. They’re the greatest fans in college basketball.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On March 6, IU’s football team hired William Inge away from the Buffalo Bills to serve as its co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Though spring practice had already started, the Hoosiers brought Inge to Bloomington after then-co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Mike Ekeler bolted for a position at USC only two weeks earlier.Now situated with the team and with only one practice remaining until the 2013 Cream and Crimson Spring Game on Saturday, IU Coach Kevin Wilson said he is pleased with how Inge has fit in thus far.“He knows how to interact and talk to (players), and I feel they know what he’s talking about,” Wilson said. “Being a player, having been in the league and having been a (defensive) coordinator, I think he commands a little respect without asking for it, and I think the kids listen to him.”Before his time at IU, Inge was the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Buffalo from 2010-12. Last season, he was a member of the Buffalo Bills staff as its assistant defensive line coach. He also played college football as a defensive end at Iowa from 1993-96 and received honorable mention all-Big Ten honors during his time in Iowa City.Senior linebacker Jacarri Alexander said Inge’s past experiences have helped IU’s linebackers become better players as well.“He has an NFL mind for the game. The way he coaches, he slows the game down,” Alexander said. “Instead of just thinking, thinking, thinking, he just makes us slow down. He makes it easier for us to fly around, play fast and just incorporate what we do best, which is play physical.”Since two of last year’s starters, juniors Chase Hoobler and David Cooper, have been sidelined with injuries this spring, less-experienced players such as redshirt freshman Jordan Wallace, junior transfer Steven Funderburk and freshman T.J. Simmons have all had more playing opportunities.Because of this, Inge said he believes they have all gained enough playing and leadership skills to gain confidence on the field. He told them he plans on using a “next man in” system this upcoming season, one that incorporates all members of the IU linebackers corps.“Seeing us being able to have a pads-first attitude playing with good, fundamental structure, we’ll know we’ll make it hard for us to beat ourselves,” Inge said. “That’s where we really want to start. Let’s not beat our self, and it will be tough for another team to beat us.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When former high school football star Greg Heban arrived in Bloomington for his freshman year in college, he only had one goal in mind: make the IU baseball team as a walk-on.But three years later, Heban found himself back on the Astroturf, named Academic All-Big Ten and honorable mention All-Big Ten — in football. And this fall, Heban will be one of 12 seniors on the team, helping to mold the members of IU’s highest-rated recruiting class into quality college football players.So when the incoming freshmen arrive, they will look to Heban for leadership.The irony in it all, is that when Heban first got to IU, football was the “furthest thing from his mind.”***As a student at Delta High School in Muncie, Ind., Heban played three sports.He was a wingback and cornerback for the football team, a point guard and shooting guard for the basketball team and a pitcher and center fielder for the baseball team.For Heban, playing all three sports allowed him to stay in shape year-round without getting “burnt out” in any one. When his senior year of high school came around, he was still playing on each team. He received scholarship offers to play football from a few Division III schools; however, he says his true focus was actually on baseball.As a left-handed pitcher, Heban says he threw 87 to 88 miles per hour. That was enough to gain some college interest, and that, he thought, was where his true passion lay.Though he had offers from smaller schools, nothing compared to the program where he wanted to walk-on: the school where both of his sisters went, and the school he “wanted to come to for his whole life.”That college was IU, and though he received no athletic scholarship, he was accepted and chose to attend school in Bloomington. The summer before his freshman year, there was a reason why football was at the back of Heban’s mind.“I was too focused on trying to impress the baseball coaches,” Heban says. “I did miss it at times, but I was trying to get better at just one sport.”It paid off. In the fall of 2009, Heban was added to IU’s 2010 baseball roster as a walk-on.***Heban played on an intramural football team with his teammates and coaches as a way to bond before the baseball season began. He played his traditional positions from high school, and IU Coach Tracy Smith served as the team’s quarterback. Yes, they did go on to win the intramural championship, and yes, Heban, once an all-state football player, was the star. That experience, he says, rekindled his interest in football. During baseball season, he says playing football was always in the back of his mind, especially because moments on the field were infrequent. Heban only played in two games his freshman year, pitching one-and-a-third innings and allowing an earned run. Because he knew that his future in baseball was doubtful, he approached then-IU football coach Bill Lynch about how to walk onto the team.After earning Smith’s approval, Heban joined the Hoosiers football team during their preseason camp in the fall of 2010. The transition, he says, was not easy.“People always talk about being in shape, but baseball shape and football shape are two totally different things,” Heban says. “For me, being a pitcher here, it was a lot of long conditioning and campus runs. Coming to football, it was a lot of strength training and agility and quick movements.”***As a walk-on, Heban says he didn’t know anyone on the team. None of the coaches knew him, either. Because of this, he realized he had to work harder than anyone else to try to catch the coaches’ collective attention. In his first year with the team and his second on IU’s campus, Heban played in all 12 games as cornerback and on special teams. He shared the team lead with five pass break-ups and also recorded 40 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and one interception. He was selected for ESPN’s Big Ten All-Freshman Team and was IU’s Special Teams Player of the Year. However, on Nov. 28, 2010, only a day after an overtime victory over Purdue, in which Heban led all IU cornerbacks with five tackles, Lynch was fired. Once again, with an entirely new coaching staff starting, Heban was faced with the challenge of proving himself worthy of earning playing time.One of the new members of that staff was co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Doug Mallory, who says he was instantly impressed with Heban’s work ethic.“Greg has a great feel for what we’re doing back there,” Mallory says. “He’s a guy that understands everyone’s responsibilities and is an extremely hard worker.“He’s someone that we see as a leader out there for us.”It came as no surprise then, that during the summer before his sophomore season, new IU Coach Kevin Wilson decided to offer Heban a scholarship.During the 2011 season, Heban started all 12 games for the Hoosiers, led the team with two interceptions, and shared the lead for pass break-ups with six. He also finished the season with 60 tackles, third-best on the team.With that experience gained during the first two seasons, Heban says that he feels he gained an instinct toward making plays.“You have more confidence in yourself,” Heban says.***That confidence paid off in finishing as IU’s top defender in its 2012 season, one in which the team improved its record by three wins.Heban led the team with 91 tackles, three interceptions and eight pass break-ups. Overlooked in that success; however, was a midseason position change from his traditional role as a cornerback. Before the Hoosiers’ game against Ohio State on Oct. 13, 2012, IU’s coaching staff decided to move Heban from the nickelback position to safety. The move, Mallory insisted, would be so that Heban could be most effective on the field.“It’s been a pretty smooth transition,” Mallory says. “I think he’s athletic enough that he could play any spot in the secondary, but I think he’s physical enough to play safety.”Though the transition is still ongoing — Mallory would still like Heban to become more physical even though he has gained 15 pounds since his freshman year — he admitted he has been pleased with the progress made. He also says he thinks Heban will do just fine in adjusting to a leadership role next season, one that he hopes to see marked improvements team-wide. “When other kids watch the time and effort that he puts into practice and the way he prepares, it shows some pretty good leadership qualities,” Mallory says. “And I think he’s a guy that won’t have a problem with speaking up too.“If someone isn’t doing something right, he’ll step up and make sure they’ll get it corrected.”Sure, Heban might have started his college career playing the “wrong sport,” but at this point, it has all come together for the rising senior. He says he has no regrets from his experience and that if anything, it has prepared him more for what could come in the future: an NFL opportunity.“You can’t go in there with the mindset thinking that you’re not going to make it,” Heban says. “You have to have faith and spirit that you can make it.”
On March 6, IU's football team hired William Inge away from the Buffalo Bills to serve as its co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Though spring practice had already started, the Hoosiers brought Inge to Bloomington after then co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Mike Ekeler bolted for a position at USC only two weeks earlier.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Junior Eric Ress said he will never forget what happened on March 23, 2012.It was a life-altering moment — something that fundamentally challenged his life-long dedication to the sport of swimming.On that day, Ress swam in the 200-meter backstroke finals at the Elite French Championships, the qualifying meet for the 2012 Olympics. He was swimming in lane five next to Benjamin Stasiulis, a medalist at the 2010 European Aquatics Championships in the same event.The two were expected to finish atop the standings and earn a fast enough time to clinch a spot on the French Olympic team. After Ress had spent months of training with his teammates at IU for this exact moment, it was his time to shine.The result went according to plan for Stasiulis — he swam a 1:56.39 to break the national record. When Ress touched the wall, he was the second to do so. All he needed to see when he looked up at the scoreboard was a time of 1:58.48, and he had qualified for the Olympics. He had done it plenty of times before.It read 1:58.78.From that moment, Ress’ entire swimming career had changed.***For those who may not know him, Ress is a fifth-year junior on IU’s swimming and diving team. He redshirted the 2009-10 season after tearing his ACL in September 2009 and then was granted an Olympic redshirt in the 2011-12 season.In the April after his first redshirt — what would have been his sophomore year of eligibility — Ress won the 2010 French national championship in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 1:58.54. He finished eighth in the 2010 European Aquatic Championships.Only one year later at the 2011 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, he ended his sophomore season as the runner-up in both the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke events.Then came a decision that Ress dreaded. As it turned out, the 2012 NCAA Championships coincided with the 2012 Elite French Championships, the qualifying event for the Olympics. Ress would have to choose to participate in either one or the other. Upon deciding to come to IU in the fall of 2008, Ress had made an agreement with his coaches that, no matter what, the ultimate goal would be for him to end up in the Olympics. However, Ress did not want to miss out on the collegiate season. He said he felt like he would be letting the entire team down had he chosen to take the season off to focus on long-course training instead of the collegiate short-course model.“But it was the opposite,” Ress said. “I’ve never seen a group of guys so supportive. They wanted to see me be at the best level of swimming I can be at.”With the help of his coaches, Ress made the decision to take the 2011-12 season off as he trained for his Olympics opportunity. He trained alongside his teammates, but he was not going to meets with them anymore. When Ress competed in France, his teammates were halfway across the globe in Federal Way, Wash., helping IU to its best finish at the NCAA Championships since 2008.“Seeing that kind of thing really justified my decision,” Ress said. “I didn’t get to swim, but at the same time, it’s helped me because the level of competition is so much better this year.”***After Ress finished his swim in the 200-meter backstroke at the Elite French Championships, his first reaction was to look up at the scoreboard. He had broken the required time in practice and twice in similar events.That day in March wasn’t one of them. All that time. All that effort. And Ress was .3 seconds short.“My biggest thing was that I was going to keep my composure,” Ress said. “I was going to not let everyone see how upset I was.”When he got out of the pool, the media had already focused in on Stasiulis, the new French record-holder. When Ress passed by, one journalist managed to ask him how he was feeling. He responded in the only way he said was possible: “I’m sorry, I really don’t have anything to say right now. I need to go have time to myself.”By the time Ress had finally reached his family, his mother was in tears and his father and sister were both visibly shaken. Then-IU teammate Margaux Farrell, who was also swimming in the meet, and her mother were also by his side. The two families had been close since both Ress and Farrell were in middle school.“It was really devastating, and it was sad for all of us,” Farrell said. “I remember crying, his sister cried, our parents cried. You come so close to something like that, and it was a weird position to be in.”In the days and weeks following the result, Ress said he didn’t have that burning desire to swim. He had qualified for the 2012 European Aquatics Championships, but instead he wanted to take the rest of the spring to focus on school and go from there step-by-step.However, after talking with his father, Colin, a former IU swimmer and Olympian himself, he said he came to an understanding that this result was not the “be all, end all.” He had seen other swimmers at the Elite French Championships fall short, and he had seen them get really upset. He realized that how he would bounce back from this disappointment would be the ultimate test as to what kind of swimmer he really was.“In life, you’re dealt a hand, and you have to play it regardless,” Ress said. “It’s not like I could have asked for a do-over. It’s all about facing adversity.“This is going to sound really cliché, but it’s like the phoenix rising from the ashes. You have to come back hungry.”Ress did just that. Though he did not make it out of the semi-finals at the European Championships in May, he finished third at the 2012 U.S. Open at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis in August. His time of 1:58.42 in the finals would have qualified him for the 2012 Olympics had he raced that in France.“It validated that what I was doing here was working,” Ress said. “If I focus less on what everyone else is doing around me and worry about my own race and getting to the wall faster, good things will happen.”***Ress returned to the collegiate swimming ranks on Oct. 19, 2012, in a dual meet against Kentucky and Tennessee. He won three of the four events in which he swam, including both the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes.But at the Big Ten Championships only a month ago, Ress lost the 100-yard backstroke final to teammate junior James Wells and then fell .24 seconds short to Wisconsin’s Andrew Teduits in the 200-yard backstroke. He did not win a single event.Starting today, Ress will swim in the 2013 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. They will be held in the same facility in which he finished third at the U.S. Open — the IU Natatorium.Though Ress said he feels more physically and mentally ready for this meet than he has been in the past two years, IU Coach Ray Looze said he hopes Ress is “flying under the radar” to the rest of the competition. “Maybe these people are writing him off, and I hope they do,” Looze said. “Because if they do, he’s a lion waiting in the weeds. And that’s a dangerous thing to be.” There is no doubt that Ress is a different swimmer than what he used to be. No longer is he aiming for a certain time, but instead he is shooting for a title. This season and next season will not be the last for Ress, either. Call it a dream deferred, but he said he has already made it clear that swimming in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro is his goal. He has Looze’s full support. Though so much has happened in his life over the past two years, one thing is known: The complete story of Ress’ swimming career has yet to be told.“Not making the team makes me hungry for it,” Ress said. “It also gave me a reality check, though, because if I had put all of my eggs into one basket, then if you have failure, it’s going to be tough. “But if you prepare for other venues and other goals of yours, if you fall short in one aspect, you’re still going to achieve something down the line.”