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(11/27/12 5:18am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With the help of a lights out shooting performance from beyond the arc from freshman guard Nicole Bell, the IU women’s basketball team (5-1) defeated the IPFW Mastadons (2-3) Monday night 64-47 at Assembly Hall, giving the team its best start since the 2006-07 season, when they also began 5-1.Bell scored 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting with all four of her threes coming in the first half. Junior guard Andrea Newbauer got the start, but after Bell caught fire, IU Coach Curt Miller decided to leave her in. Bell said she hadn’t been in a zone like this since high school. “Not at Indiana but in high school, so it just kinda felt good to finally get my shot going because it’s been off for the rest of the games of the season so far. It felt good,” she said.It was a tough shooting night for the Mastodons, who finished 33.3 percent (18-of-54) from the field and just 19 percent (4-of-21) on threes. “We mucked it up tonight in stretches,” Miller said. “IPFW - when they get their three going and they get flying around with all that weave action…they can make the game look pretty in a hurry, draining threes. We did a pretty good job guarding the arc.” IU’s intense ball pressure was evident from the start. IPFW worked it around on its first possession but had to settle for a last second heave from guard Amanda Hyde. With 11:28 left in the half, IU forced another deep three from Hyde that resulted in an airball and shot clock violation. The Hoosiers entered the locker room up 38-20. The Mastodons did not go quietly, putting together an 11-2 run between the 16:50 and 11:23 minute marks in the second half, cutting the lead to single digits, 47-36. Senior forward Linda Rubene stopped the bleeding with 10:53 left in the game when she converted an and-one with a reverse layup and free throw to make it 48-36.“A couple of those baskets were big to stem the tide,” Miller said. “An 18-point lead gets down to single digits in a hurry then it’s anyone game.”Senior forward Aulani Sinclair led all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting (4-of-9 from three), but was either dead on or way off, chucking up a couple of airballs from beyond the arc. “Overall it was a kind of crazy shooting night for me shooting-wise, but my teammates did a great job whenever I did miss it long to get the rebounds and put it back up for it,” Sinclair said.IPFW would only get as close as 12 points the rest of the way and just couldn’t make up for its lackluster shooting performance early. Hyde led the team with 11 points but struggled with her shot, finishing 5-of-15 from the field. For the fourth straight game, Miller went with a smaller lineup that featured junior forward Milikia Taufa (6-foot-0) and Rubene (6-foot-3). Taufa scored four and grabbed eight rebounds while Rubene chipped in nine points.McGhee put a late exclamation point on the win by cutting baseline and converting an and-one layup on the assist from Sinclair that made it 58-42 to go with just less than four minutes left. McGhee finished with a double-double with 12 points (6-of-10 shooting) and 10 rebounds. “I just tried to stay focused,” she said. “I wasn’t just really focusing on shooting, but just all-around playing defense, and yeah, my shot’s off been off a little bit, but like I said just staying focused.”
(11/12/12 5:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Forward Gina Lange hit a jumper and guard Laura Richards nailed a three during an 8-0 second half Valparaiso run that put away the IU women’s basketball team for good, outscoring the Hoosiers 33-23 in the second half en route to a 64-52 victory Friday at the Athletics-Recreation Center in Valparaiso.“Our team, we do not have great talent, we don’t have great depth, but you hate when you feel like you’ve gotten outworked,” IU Coach Curt Miller said. “And teams play their system more efficiently than we play ours.”It was the season opener for both teams, and the Crusaders shot efficiently throughout in Miller’s IU regular season coaching debut.Guard Shaquira Scott paced the Crusaders with 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Lange (12 points, 5-of-8 shooting) and forward Tabitha Gerardot (11 points, 3-of-7 shooting) rounded out the trio of double-figure scorers for Valparaiso, who shot 45.1 percent (23-of-51) for the game. Senior forward Aulani Sinclair led the Hoosiers with a game-high 20 points (9-of-17) shooting in 36 minutes, but was just 1-of-4 from three-point range, a trend her teammates followed. IU finished 2-of-15 (13.3 percent) on threes and 37.7 percent (23-of-61) from the floor. “This team has to find more competitiveness and find ways not to get outworked,” Miller said. “Tonight, one of the things you saw tonight despite a big conference school playing a little conference school is a lot of nights teams are gonna have more talent than us and that’s just where the program is right now. “When you combine more talent by the smaller school, and then they work harder, and they’re more passionate throughout the game, it creates a long-night opportunity for them.”IU fell behind 6-0 early on before senior center Sasha Chaplin converted a layup for the Hoosiers’ first points of the game. A little more than two minutes later, a Sinclair jumper tied the game at six. It was the closest IU would get to having a lead. Still, the Hoosiers were well within striking distance heading into halftime down just two, 31-29. A layup from senior forward Linda Rubene and a Sinclair jumper made it 39-37 with 15:27 left in the game before Valparaiso rattled off its 8-0 run. The Hoosiers twice got within six before the Crusaders pulled away.IU had some success in the post, winning the points in the paint battle 26-18 behind 8 points (4-of-9 shooting) from junior forward Milika Taufa, but struggled to control the boards. Valpo won the rebounding battle handily, 41-29. The Hoosiers also found some success on defense, forcing 24 Crusader turnovers and 13 steals. It was the first time IU forced at least 20 turnovers and 10 steals in a game since Feb. 12 against Illinois. But the team’s poor shooting performance negated any advantage it gained by forcing turnovers as players continue to adjust to a brand new offense and coaching staff. “Everything’s a learning lesson,” Miller said. “We’re never gonna judge this season by wins and losses. Frankly we’re just not gonna have very many wins. We’re gonna have to judge this season on where we come from and the culture that we’re creating along the way.”After a weekend off to make adjustments, the Hoosiers travel to Murray, Ky., to take on the Murray State Racers at 8 p.m. today. Both teams will be searching for their first win of the season after the Racers lost Friday to Western Kentucky.Junior guard Erica Burgess leads Murray State with 22 points (9-of-20 shooting) while playing all 40 minutes against the Hilltoppers. Sinclair is coming off her 33rd career game scoring in double figures and seventh career 20-plus point game.
(10/30/12 5:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>They had plenty of homework this offseason. Now it’s time for their first test. When the IU women’s basketball team takes the floor 7 p.m. today against Kentucky State in Assembly Hall, it will the mark the debut of IU Coach Curt Miller and his detailed ball-screen offense, albeit in an exhibition.“I think it’s just being in a whole system and having 15 new people — it’s kind of test time,” senior center Sasha Chaplin said. “Just knowing that we’ve learned a lot of stuff, it’s time to see how we put it all together in a game-like setting.” Miller has said the team will operate from an abbreviated playbook, and the team will take time to completely install the offense. Either way, it won’t be a challenge to keep the team focused on playing Kentucky State and not looking ahead to the regular season opener Nov. 9 at Valparaiso. “I think they’re scared to death that we have games coming up because we have so much more to do,” Miller said. “It’s not so much of trying to get them not to look ahead. I get them to calm down and not panic.”Of course, the players aren’t the only ones who get pre-game nerves. “For a team that I’ve never coached before, it’s a scary proposition that you’ve gotta make so many adjustments on the fly,” Miller said. “I’m excited at the fact that we don’t know exactly how this team is gonna play with only six returners in the first game of the year. “It’d be fun to watch this team try to adjust as we learn more and more of Kentucky State throughout the game.”The Hoosiers will lean on their two leading returning scorers in seniors Jasmine McGhee, at 12.6 points per game, and Aulani Sinclair, at 12.4 points per game, to help the team make those adjustments and stay collected. They will also need a considerable contribution from freshman guard Nicole Bell, who is likely to make her first collegiate start Tuesday in place of sophomore guard Andrea Newbauer. Newbauer is still recovering from ankle surgery she had during the summer.“It means a lot,” Bell said. “But I’m really just focused on the team and just going out and doing what we do and executing.”Sophomore guard Candyce Ussery backed Newbauer last season but was hampered early in the preseason by several injuries. She has practiced regularly only for the past couple of weeks, making Bell’s progress that much more important.“I’m pleased with the progress of Nicole,” Miller said. “But it’s hard being a freshman point guard and not having someone to learn from out there, but she’s doing the best she can. I’m not sure where we would be without her because of the injuries to our point guard position.”Ussery is available to play but expects to see limited minutes as she works to get back in game shape.Bell will look to create looks for open teammates, particularly in the low post. Kentucky State’s tallest player is 6-foot-1-inch sophomore center Brielle Newton, who averaged 4.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game last season. She will be matched up against the 6-foot-4-inch Chaplin.The Hoosier frontcourt rotation also features centers 6-foot-3-inch junior Simone Deloach and 6-foot-6-inch sophomore Quaneisha McCurty and junior 6-foot-3-inch forward Linda Rubene.While the Hoosiers have a distinct size advantage in the paint, Kentucky State boasts a veteran backcourt of senior guards Jasmine Davis (team-high 14.7 points per game) and Sharnita Lloyd (9.1 points per game off the bench).“They have two legitimate small veteran guards that are both very, very talented,” Miller said. “They shoot it, they score, they know how to play.”No matter the outcome of Tuesday’s exhibition, Miller will get the first opportunity to see how his team performs against someone other than itself.“I go into tomorrow really not knowing who our top five are, so we’re gonna use this as a great teaching tool,” he said. “I’m not concerned about necessarily the score. I’m looking to see how we execute what we do and really using it as a teaching tool when it’s all done.“It’d be fun to play somebody else. And it’d be fun to really evaluate the highs and lows of the scrimmage.”
(10/26/12 4:03am)
The IU women's basketball team met with media Thursday as part of the Big Ten media day.
(10/18/12 4:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Right foot forward. Bounce at the knees, stop and blow out. Three dribbles, then set the elbow. Bend at the knees until the elbow touches the right knee, come back up and release. One year, that pre-shot routine led to a 69.6 free-throw percentage. The next, a 71.4 mark. For IU women’s basketball senior forward Aulani Sinclair, the free-throw mechanics have long been locked in. But as a junior last season, Sinclair shot 90.7 percent from the line, a nearly 20 percent increase from the year before. The physical mechanics haven’t really changed since she came to IU, Sinclair said. Her mental approach, on the other hand, has and was the main contributor to her drastic improvement at the line. “I’ve always stayed with the same routine, but the difference between last year to this year is I focus completely on what I’m doing,” Sinclair said. “When I’m up there, I don’t focus on anything else besides making the free-throw.” Sinclair’s minutes also increased considerably between her sophomore and junior years. As a sophomore, Sinclair averaged 21.6 minutes per game and attempted just 35 free-throws. Last season, those numbers spiked to 31.4 and 75, respectively “A big difference from last year is that I played more minutes, so I would be tired when I would get to the free-throw line,” she said. “So, I would have to tell myself to bend my knees more. That’s where that focus came in. A lot of it is bending your legs because when you’re tired, it’ll be short every time.” To maintain her virtually automatic shot, Sinclair said when she does her own shooting drills, she shoots a string of free-throws in between sets of threes and midrange jumpers and has to make 10 free-throws in a row. If she misses, she starts again. Sinclair said she has also learned to take her time shooting free-throws, even in practice. One thing that can get Sinclair is when she rushes her pre-shot routine, rather than taking the full 10 seconds allotted during a game.“We do joke around that she does have a very long free-throw routine,” said Drew Stanich, manager of the women’s team. “So she almost has two. In practice, she’ll shoot a quicker one, then she’ll miss a few, and she’ll go back to her one where she goes the full 10 seconds.”The 6-foot-1-inch forward’s improvement at the line represents, in a way, her increasing dedication to improving her overall game. Stanich has worked with Sinclair since her sophomore year and has acted as her personal rebounder during shooting drills.Stanich said Sinclair put in extra work during the summer, including driving to Indianapolis three times a week to work with a personal trainer. Those training sessions were sandwiched between 7 a.m. team workouts and afternoon team scrimmages and were in addition to Sinclair’s personal shooting sessions.On top of that, Stanich said, last year was a major building block to her success moving forward. “I think she grew a lot in the summer,” Stanich said. “I think as ugly as last year was and how tough it was, she did have some pretty good games throughout the year. I think that just gives her confidence even through those struggles. “The sky’s the limit, honestly, for what we could see — putting together her offseason work, confidence from last year and this final maturation process right now becoming a senior from a freshman.” Sinclair said her next step is to work on driving the ball to complement her outside shooting abilities.“This year I’m trying to work on my driving abilities and getting to the basket more because everyone knows that I’m a good shooter on the outside, so they pressure me,” Sinclair said. “I don’t know any school in the Big Ten that’s not, ‘Play up on Aulani, make her drive.’ So driving is definitely gonna have to be an important part of my role this year because I’ll have open shots, but I can also drive.” Driving through the lane generally leads to more contact and, consequently, more trips to the line. Sinclair’s 75 free-throw attempts ranked third on the team last season, but she said she wants to get to the line even more this season.“Not only does it represent that we’re in attack mode and going at the other team, but it also gets the other team in foul trouble,” Sinclair said. “So, if we can capitalize on easy, free shots, that’s the best way.” Senior center Sasha Chaplin has played alongside Sinclair the past three seasons and said she sees the increased versatility in Sinclair’s game.“I’ve watched her work out over the summertime, and she’s become a more prolific ‘get it to the inside’ scorer, and that balances out how people guard you,” Chaplin said. “She’s a bigger guard, so she gets to the basket pretty heavily and easily on shorter people, so they have to foul her. And at the free-throw line, she’s just a rhythmatic shooter.”A 6-foot-4-inch center, Chaplin said she has developed a good chemistry with Sinclair, who plays both guard and forward.“It’s amazing because playing with her during the summer and just being with her throughout her whole career, we kind of have that connection that — we kind of look at each other, and I’m like, ‘OK, she’s about to do this, and I need to be here,’” Chaplin said. “Just like our screen and rolls — we have that on pinpoint, so it’s a pretty good dynamic.”Like Stanich, Chaplin said she was able to experience firsthand just how high of a work ethic Sinclair has, particularly during summer workouts.“When it’s summertime, no one wants to get up at 7 a.m., 8 a.m. in the morning, but we all made sure we were all there, and Aulani was there just showing us energy,” Chaplin said. “She’s carried that over to right now during the season because we have early morning practice, and a lot of people don’t want to be up early in the morning. “But she’s always in there with energy, energy, energy, making sure everyone’s up, and bringing them up to the tempo and getting us ready for practice.” Sinclair uses that energy to hold younger players accountable and set the tone for practice and, come Nov. 9 at Vanderbilt, the season. “Being a leader, I feel like more my freshman year and sophomore year I always had players like Jori Davis and Whitney Lindsay to look up to,” she said. “Last year and this year, especially, I’m now the player that has to show and demand the young players how to play so they know what’s expected, they know what that standard is.”
(09/26/12 2:13am)
IU women's basketball beat writer Joe Popely previews the team's matchups against Big Ten foes Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota.
(09/19/12 3:03am)
IDS women's basketball beat writer Joe Popely previews Big Ten opponents Michigan State, Purdue, Penn State and Wisconsin.
(09/12/12 3:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Hoosiers won only one game against Big Ten competition last season but will look to bounce back with first-year IU Coach Curt Miller. This is the first of a three-part series to preview Indiana’s conference schedule, starting with its first four opponents. Part two will analyze the next four opponents, and part three the final three as well as a prediction of how IU will fare in the conference this season.JAN. 3 AT MICHIGAN/JAN. 24 V. MICHIGAN2011-12 Head-to-Head ResultsMichigan 66, IU 48 (Jan. 22, Ann Arbor, Mich.)Michigan 61, IU 48 (Feb. 19, Bloomington)Last Year’s Record20-12 (8-8 Big Ten), 7th in Big TenBiggest StrengthDefense. The Wolverines boasted the Big Ten’s best scoring defense a year ago, limiting opponents to a 58.9 points per game average. Michigan senior Rachel Sheffer must continue to be a rock underneath the basket for Big Blue after leading the team in points per game (12.8) and blocks (34) while grabbing 4.6 rebounds per game, which was second highest on the team a year ago. If Michigan senior Jenny Ryan can continue to set up her teammates — she posted a team-high 132 assists to just 53 turnovers — the offense might improve, as well.Biggest WeaknessInexperience could plague the Wolverines, who lost second-leading scorer Courtney Boylan (12.7 points per game, 47 percent field-goal shooting and 82 percent free throw shooting) and Carmen Reynolds (8.6 points per game, team-leading 35 percent on three-pointers and 82.5 percent on free throws) to graduation. The Wolverines will try do a better job of rebounding and scoring. They finished with a conference-worst -3.8 rebounding margin and ranked tenth in points per game with 63.4 last season.JAN. 6 V. NORTHWESTERN (CONFERENCE HOME OPENER)/JAN. 28 AT NORTHWESTERN2011-12 Head-to-Head ResultsNorthwestern 69, IU 61 (Jan. 8, Bloomington)Northwestern 68, IU 61 (Jan. 29; Evanston, Ill.)Last Year’s Record14-16 (4-12 Big Ten), 11th in Big TenBiggest StrengthSharing the ball. Northwestern worked hard to get good shots last year, ranking second in the league in assists per game with 16 without forcing passes. Their assist-to-turnover ratio was fourth in the conference. Northwestern sophomore Karly Roser looks to build upon a freshman season in which she averaged a team-high 4.79 assists per game. Roser will have the benefit of passing to familiar targets. Northwestern returns two of its three leading scorers in senior forward Kendall Hackney (a team-high 15.2 points per game) and senior forward Diamant Dannielle.Biggest WeaknessPerimeter play. Only Indiana shot a worse percentage from beyond the arc last season than the Wildcats’ 30.2 To compound matters, Northwestern also struggled to defend outside shooters, allowing a league-worst 34.9 percent on opponents’ three-point attempts.JAN. 10 V. NEBRASKA2011-12 Head-to-Head ResultsNebraska 62, IU 48 (Jan. 5; Lincoln, Neb.)Last Year’s Record24-9 (10-6 Big Ten), 6th in Big TenBiggest StrengthRebounding, defense and taking care of the basketball. The Huskers used solid fundamentals to finish with a 10-6 conference record in their first season in the Big Ten. Nebraska finished in the top half of the conference in turnovers a year ago, fourth in scoring defense (61.8) and turnover margin (+2.21), first in rebounds per game (42.3) and third in rebounding margin (+3.4). Leading the Huskers’ rebounding dominance was a pair of 6’2” forwards, then-sophomore Jordan Hooper, who grabbed a Big Ten-best 9.3 rebounds per game, and then-freshman Emily Cady, who was second on the team with 6.5 boards per game.Biggest WeaknessLack of scoring balance. The Huskers return their three leading scorers in Hooper (18.9 points per game), senior guard Lindsey Moore (15.7 points per game) and Cady (9.9 points per game), but no other returning player averaged more than five points per game. A major injury to one of those players could derail the Huskers’ offense and, perhaps, their season.JAN. 17 AT OHIO STATE/FEB. 3 V. OHIO STATE2011-12 Head-to-Head ResultsOhio State 73, IU 55 (Jan. 26, Bloomington)Ohio State 75, IU 54 (Feb. 16; Columbus, Ohio)Last Year’s Record25-7 (11-5 Big Ten), 2nd in Big TenBiggest StrengthExperience, continuity and scoring. Ohio State returns four of its five starters from last year, three of which are upperclassmen. Perhaps none of the returning starters mean more to the Buckeyes’ success than senior guard Tayler Hill, who led the conference in scoring (20.4 points per game) last season, and junior center Ashley Adams, who used her 6-foot-5-inch frame to grab a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game and block a league-high 96 shots. The Buckeyes finished second in the Big Ten in scoring (75.7 points per game) and three-point percentage (.359) and first in field goal percentage (.462) and blocks per game (5.7).Biggest WeaknessLosing their top scorer. Ohio State must cope without the graduated Samantha Prahalis, a 5-foot-7-inch guard who finished just behind Hill for the Big Ten scoring title with 19.8 points per game. Prahalis also dished out a whopping 194 assists, a conference high. Hill and Prahalis were the only two Buckeyes to finish the season with double-digit scoring averages. Players like Adams (7.1 points per game last season), senior guard Amber Stokes (7.5 points per game) and sophomore forward Kalpana Beach (5.1 points per game) must step up in more pronounced roles in the offense to fill the void left by Prahalis’ departure.
(07/23/12 12:59am)
Here is analysis of Indiana football's 2012 opponents and how we think they will fare against the Hoosiers.
(07/23/12 12:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With the removal of the Joe Paterno statue from its pedestal outside Beaver Stadium Sunday morning, the tarnished legacy of the once-revered coach absorbed perhaps its final blow.But it’s not the pedestal that supported the statue we should be concerned with. We should be concerned with the pedestal Paterno The Man stood on. Paterno became such a powerful figure that when former President Graham Spanier, Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley — all of whom held a position superior to Paterno’s — proposed a plan to report former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky’s alleged child sex abuse to the Pennsylvania Department of Child Welfare, Paterno persuaded them not to.When the football coach of a university has more sway than the president, we have a problem. A big problem. Americans seem obsessed with finding heroes in sports and turning them into superhuman figures incapable of wrongdoing. Fire a shot against that coach’s character and a cult of blindly loyal followers will find you and assassinate your character. I have a suggestion for people who refuse to accept that coaches are like any other person and have flaws: STOP. The sooner we start treating coaches — and, for that matter, sports stars in general — as ordinary people with extraordinary abilities and nothing more, the sooner we can prevent the kingmaking of coaches and scandals that often follow. To be fair, no one, save Paterno and the inner circle of former Penn State administrators, could have seen the Penn State scandal coming. Paterno had long been hailed as a coach of high moral standing, a coach who did things “the right way,” a coach who cared about more than just winning. I hate the fact that we were wrong. But in the grand scheme of things, I’m not too surprised. Supply any man with the kind of power Paterno had as Supreme Ruler of the Nittany Lions, and something is bound to go wrong. We all share responsibility for turning these ordinary men into gods. When there is a good story, fans and the media latch on and milk it like there is no tomorrow. Paterno was that good story and a beacon of light in a sport rampant with coaches who will do anything to win. My only question for those who look at coaches through rose-colored lenses and build them up as moral zealots is, Why?We have to realize that a coach’s primary goal is to win. No matter how much good they do off the field, which Paterno did quite a bit of, they are people just like you and me. They have a job to do, and sometimes they let the desire to win guide their decision making. Winning is fun for everyone involved. No one can question the legacy of Joe Paterno The Coach, who won more games than any coach in history. We can, however, question Joe Paterno The Man. Joe Paterno The Coach and Joe Paterno The Man are two different beings. That goes for every coach and every athlete. If you’re looking for a hero, try a firefighter. Or a soldier. Or maybe a surgeon. But not a coach. Was anybody really surprised when former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel was fired for turning a blind eye to his Buckeye players receiving improper benefits? He did the same thing at his previous job, when he was head coach at Youngstown State.This is the same Jim Tressel who was admired for his “integrity” by former Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy. Tressel built the perfect image — a highly religious, sweater vest-wearing, crime-fighting, puppy-adopting saint — to appear incorruptible in the eyes of fans, boosters and his superiors. Like anything, though, we can’t accept the surface image of a coach at face value. They have an agenda and enormous pressure to accomplish everything on it. Take a coach that is sure to stir up passionate emotions among Hoosier fans: Bob Knight. When Knight was fired in September 2000, students marched in anger, some displaying banners reading, “Bob Knight is God.” If he’s God, then he’s not a benevolent one. He won three national championships with Indiana, but that does not make it okay to choke a player in practice, grab and lecture a student for greeting him the wrong way or stuff a fan in a garbage can out of anger. I challenge you to find any industry in which that sort of behavior would not lead to a firing. Knight was a tremendous coach but was out of control. He had to go. No one is immune from following the rules and acting professionally, least of all coaches. If they make a mistake, so be it. They are human and will suffer consequences for their wrongdoings like everybody else. We always want our coaches to win, and we can only hope they do it the right way. Still, they’re not to be idolized. Doing so is a massive disservice to the real heroes in our lives.
(07/15/12 11:02pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>From aluminum bats to wood bats, Indiana to Montana, and college ball to professional ball, Micah Johnson is making his transition to the minor leagues look easy. The former IU second baseman was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the ninth round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft June 5 and has flourished with his new organization.On draft night, though, it wasn’t clear if he would have the immediate opportunity to prove himself to a major league organization.Prior to the draft, Johnson had said he would return to IU for his senior season if he was not picked within the first 10 rounds. He got the call from Chicago’s south-side team just in time. “It was awesome,” Johnson said of being picked. “I think everyone around me was more excited than I was. It didn’t really set in until probably a day or two afterwards, and I was just ready to go and play again. I missed so many games this year that I just want to play, so I was just excited to get out here in Montana as soon as possible.”Johnson said several teams called him and expressed interest in selecting him prior to the ninth round, but the contracts they offered him were not the best fit. In the end, he is happy the White Sox selected him. “I kind of figured it would happen at some point later in the first round maybe, if the situation was right,” he said. “Luckily the White Sox called me and everything, and it worked out pretty good.”On June 12, Johnson signed a contract with the White Sox worth $127,600. Shortly thereafter, he was assigned to the organization’s rookie ball affiliate, the Great Falls Voyagers in Great Falls, Mont.Johnson has picked up where he left off before having elbow surgery March 7 that limited him to 24 games this past season with IU. He hit just .212 during the injury-shortened season but has regained the hitting stroke that earned him 2012 preseason All-American recognition. Through 24 games with the Voyagers, Johnson is hitting .313 with a home run and 11 RBI. He leads the team with 22 runs scored and nine stolen bases. “When we first signed him and he came down to minicamp, they said he had elbow surgery,” Voyagers Hitting Coach Charles Poe said. “I saw him on a different field, how he was hitting — nothing really stood out to me until I got him in the cage one-on-one. I got to see how he controls the bat. He was coming through the ball a lot better than some of the guys I saw early on.” Along with a fundamentally sound swing, Johnson said confidence is the biggest factor contributing to his early success in the minor leagues. “I think that what it really comes down to out here is that you have to know that you belong here, and you can’t just come in here and be scared and look around you,” he said. “Once you start doing that and start doubting yourself, that’s when you start having issues.” As for adjusting to life in the minors, Johnson’s manager, Ryan Newman, said he is impressed with his second baseman so far. “It’s a grind. This is the first time these guys ever come to BP (batting practice) every day, and we expect them to play every day,” Newman said. “It’s tough to mentally and physically get adjusted to pro ball. So far, he’s made that adjustment really well.” The adjustment has paid off, allowing Johnson to show off his all-around game. “He is a tremendous athlete,” Newman said. “He’s got lots of skills. He’s a good defender. His range is outstanding at second base. He can run. He’s right in the middle of the lineup and is handling the bat well.”Athleticism can be a huge asset on defense. Johnson’s, for instance, allows him to make highlight-reel plays. “He’s really working hard on his defense,” Poe said. “He’s making extraordinary plays already and he’s got a little highlight reel working already. But he’s still working with some instructors on routine plays, staying down more, using his legs.”As Poe alluded to, Johnson’s athleticism sometimes betrays him. He leads the team in errors with seven and has a fielding percentage of .941.“He plays at one speed,” Newman said. “There are routine balls he doesn’t have to attack so hard. He needs to slow down on those routine plays.” While his defense needs refining, Johnson’s ability to hit has been his strong suit since he first put on a Hoosier uniform. As a freshman in 2010, Johnson hit .312 with career highs in home runs (11) and RBI (42). He hit .335 the following season, but his power numbers dipped to three homers and 34 RBI. Johnson’s one homer run with the Voyagers would further suggest he has yet to truly realize his power. Poe, for one, doesn’t see that as a negative. “He’s gonna develop power,” Poe said. “He has a lot of power right now. I’m glad he’s a gap-to-gap guy right now; I don’t wanna see him try to hit home runs at this point in the game. And he puts on an absolute show in BP. If he wants to juice the ball, he absolutely can. He has the power to leave to all fields if he really wants to... The home runs will come.” While Poe is confident Johnson will develop more power, he wants Johnson to more frequently use another element of his game: speed. When Johnson steps to the plate, infielders respect his line-drive power and usually play back. He could easily make those infielders pay for their positioning with some well-placed bunts. “He has that (bunt) and he did it a couple of times since we’ve had him,” Poe said. “I know he can run very well, and that needs to be in his arsenal. He takes a healthy hack and those guys are playing back.” From a baseball standpoint, Johnson has made the transition from college to the minors well. Though he is miles away from Bloomington and his hometown of Indianapolis, he seems unfazed by the geographic change as well. “Honestly, it’s not anything different,” he said. “The town I’m in right now, there’s no mountains around here. It kind of looks like Anderson, Ind.”It also helps that Johnson went from a college team to a team full of college-aged players.“The team is awesome,” Johnson said. “I like them a lot. Everyone is really focused on doing well, and it’s been working out.” Johnson has made sure to stay as focused as his teammates and coaches. He generally takes early hitting for one-on-one instruction with Poe around 2:15 p.m. every game day. After that, he takes team batting practice and sets his own game day schedule. “Basically everything is on your own, whatever you’re comfortable with doing,” Johnson said. “I’ve been doing the same routine since I’ve been out here, just trying to stay active all day so I don’t get tired or stiff.” And while some players in rookie ball might struggle to maintain a routine after having it set by their coaches for so many years, the independence seems to suit Johnson well. “Everybody wants to keep it going and kind of treat you like it’s a job,” Johnson said. “It’s on you. They don’t really get on you at all. If you make an error, they never say anything to you. It’s kind of like they treat you like a professional now. "I like it a lot better this way.” Johnson is treated like a professional because, well, he is one. His potential and upside are off the charts. As long as he continues to dedicate himself to the game, many believe he can one day make it to “The Show.” “The hitting will come,” Poe said. “If he concentrates on his defense and takes that seriously, he will play in the big leagues.”
(07/12/12 12:32am)
Check out the top 10 IU sports moments of Summer 2012.
(07/05/12 12:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>While Americans across the country took the day off to celebrate our nation’s independence Wednesday, 24 current IU baseball players suited up for a summer league team hoping to make some fireworks of their own.Below is a list of 2012 starters who are competing this summer while they refine their skills for the 2013 season.For a full list of current IU ballplayers competing for a summer league team, visit http://www.iuhoosiers.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/summer-league-baseball.html.Cape Cod LeagueDustin DeMuth, third baseYear: JuniorTeam: Wareham Gateman2012 IU Stats (59 games): .263 BA, 60 H, 25 R, 11 2B, 1 HR, 18 RBI, .934 FLD%Cape Cod Stats (5 games): .333 BA, 5 H, 2 R, 1 2B, 0 HR, 3 RBI, .938 FLD%News and Notes:News and Notes: DeMuth is being worked out at shortstop this summer after starting at third base his first two seasons at IU. He must work on his hitting more than anything though, as his batting average in 2012 was nearly 100 points lower than in 2011, when he hit .360 in 55 games. DeMuth tends to chase balls out of the zone when he is down in the count, and struck out approximately once every six at-bats in 2012. As a player with only one home run in two seasons, DeMuth has established himself as a contact hitter. To return to form, he must improve his ability to work the count and make contact more consistently, reducing his strikeout rate in the process. Kyle Schwarber, catcherYear: SophomoreTeam: Wareham Gateman2012 IU Stats (60 games): .300 BA, 51 R, 15 2B, 8 HR, 47 RBI, .973 FLD%Cape Cod Stats (16 games): .365 BA, 11 R, 5 2B, 2 HR, 14 RBI, .957 FLD%News and Notes: News and Notes: Schwarber’s 23 hits through 16 games for the Gateman puts him on pace for 63 hits over the 44-game schedule. The 63 hits would be just six shy of his 2012 total with IU (69), which he amassed over 60 games and helped him earn Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American honors. Schwarber’s current torrid hitting pace projects to a whopping 86 hits over 60 games. Like DeMuth, Schwarber is experimenting with a different position as an outfielder for the Gateman. Joey DeNato, starting pitcherYear: JuniorTeam: Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox2012 IU Stats (15 APP): 7-3, 15 GS, 92.1 IP, 96 H, 3.22 ERA, 76 SO, 31 BB, .275 BAACape Cod Stats (2 APP): 0-1, 0 GS, 3.2 IP, 2.46 ERA, 5 SO, 2 BBNews and Notes: DeNato, the undisputed staff ace, is also an accomplished outfielder. IU Head Coach Tracy Smith’s used DeNato as a defensive replacement several times during the 2012 season, and DeNat's final appearance in the outfield in 2012 was a big one. DeNato was inserted in the bottom of the ninth inning during IU’s Big Ten Tournament semifinal game against Michigan State to play left field, and promptly made a diving, game-saving catch of a Joel Fisher blooper with the winning run on third. The catch preserved a 3-3 tie and sent the game to extras. IU eventually prevailed 4-3 in 11 innings. Jonny Hoffman, relief pitcherYear: SeniorTeam: Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox2012 IU Stats (29 APP): 8-2, 63.1 IP, 57 H, 2.27 ERA, 35 SO, 17 BB, .243 BAACape Cod Stats (6 APP): 1-1, 7.2 IP, 9 H, 8.22 ERA, 5 SO, 3 BBNews and Notes: Hoffman retooled his delivery between his sophomore and junior seasons after struggling mighty in his first two seasons. After posting an ERA of 8.80 in 2010 and a 6.23 ERA in 2011, Hoffman changed his delivery to a sidewinder, “submarine”-style delivery for his junior season. The change paid off as Hoffman’s new delivery confused hitters all season, leading to his sparkling 2.27 ERA in 2012 and All-Big Ten First Team selection. Sam Travis, first baseYear: SophomoreTeam: Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox2012 IU Stats (60 games): .319 BA, 41 R, 17 2B, 9 HR, 50 RBI, .975 FLD%Cape Cod Stats (16 games): .339 BA, 12 R, 6 2B, 1 HR, 13 RBI, .978 FLD%News and Notes: Fitting the trend of IU baseball players playing a different position this summer than their primary position for the 2012 season, Travis is playing third for the Y-D Red Sox. Travis started the 2012 season at third but struggled. He made a smooth transition to first and did most of his damage with the bat, earning him Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American honors. Florida Collegiate LeagueMichael Basil, shortstopYear: SeniorTeam: Winter Park Diamond Dogs2012 IU stats (60 games): .286 BA, 32 R, 11 2B, 4 HR, 38 RBI, .932 FLD%Cape Cod Stats (18 games) .269 BA, 8 R, 4 2B, 0 HR, 7 RBI, .888 FLD%News and Notes: Basil is only one of two seniors that figure to be in next season’s starting lineup (not including pitchers). He and center fielder Justin Cureton are the only senior position players who saw regular playing time last season. New England Collegiate Baseball LeagueMatt Dearden, relief pitcherYear: JuniorTeam: Vermont Mountaineers 2012 IU stats (24 APP): 1-6, 2 GS, 42 IP, 42 H, 4.29 ERA, 33 SO, 16 BB, .294 BAAMountaineers Stats (6 APP) 0-1, 6.2 IP, 9 H, 13.50 ERA, 8 SO, 6 BBNews and Notes: Dearden significantly improved his strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2012, after posting a ratio of 1.04 (24 SO, 23 BB) in 2011. For the 2012 season at IU, Dearden finished with a ratio of 2.065. Control has been Dearden’s biggest issue in his collegiate career, and in limited work with the Mountaineers, Dearden is allowing nearly one walk per inning. He will have to buck that trend if he wants to make regular appearances out of the Hoosier bullpen in 2013.Ryan Hallstead, relief pitcherYear: JuniorTeam: Newport Gulls2012 IU Stats (22 APP): 4-2, 4 GS, 46.2 IP, 47 H, 5.01 ERA, 28 SO, 17 BB, .258 BAAMountaineers Stats (5 APP): 1-1, 9.2 IP, 8 H, 2.79 ERA, 9 SO, 3 BB News and Notes: Hallstead was hit hard in 2012, especially considering he posted a much better ERA (3.16) in 2011. He is off to a nice start with the Mountaineers this summer and hopes to rediscover what made him successful his freshman season. If Hallstead can return to form in 2013, it will take some of the load off of Jonny Hoffman, who pitched 63.1 innings in 2012, by far the most of any IU reliever. Great Lakes LeagueKyle Hart, starting pitcherYear: SophomoreTeam: Cincinnati Steam2012 IU Stats (15 APP) 5-5, 15 GS, 84 IP, 91 H, 3.21 ERA, 53 SO, 30 BB, .281 BAAGreat Lakes Stats (2 APP) 1-0, 2 GS, 10 IP, 11 H, 4.50 ERA, 10 SO, 7 BBNews and Notes: Hart helped IU have one of the best 1-2 punches amongst starting rotations in the Big Ten, as the freshman consistently got up for big games and followed the lead of staff ace Joey DeNato. Like Hallstead, Hart needs to work on his control. He must walk less batters and control his breaking ball as he surrendered six wild pitches in 2012. Nonetheless, Hart’s strong freshman season earned him Big Ten All-Freshman honors. Northwoods LeagueChris Sujka, outfielderYear: SophomoreTeam: Battle Creek Bombers2012 IU Stats (56 games): .269 BA, 28 R, 8 2B, 5 HR, 35 RBI, .928 FLD%Battle Creek Stats (8 games): .242 BA, 7 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .955 FLD%News and Notes: Sujka’s fielding percentage through eight games is an encouraging signs given his struggles in right during the 2012 season. Head Coach Tracy Smith described backup outfielder Tim O’Connor as the team’s best defensive outfielder, but Smith likes the way Sujka and Will Nolden hit. Nolden also struggled in the field at times, but posted a much better fielding percentage than Sujka, at .974. Nolden appeared in 50 games, 38 of them starts. It Sujka cannot shore up his defense next year, Nolden may overtake him in the lineup. Nolden can also break up a string of right-handed hitters in the lineup because he is a lefty, while Sujka bats from the right side. Nolden’s energy and left-handed bat may eventually give him the edge over Sujka.
(06/26/12 6:39pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In a unanimous endorsement, the 11 FBS conference commissioners and Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick have recommended a four-team, seeded playoff to determine the college football National Champion. It’s about time. Proponents of a college football playoff can start to exhale. Or, if you’re a perfectionist like me, you’ll let out a quick sigh of relief and then gulp in a deep breath so you can explain ways the proposal can be improved. A four-team, seeded playoff is a step in the right direction. A four-team, seeded playoff sure beats the current system. A four-team, seeded playoff is not enough.The commissioners and Swarbrick send their proposal to the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, which is comprised of presidential representatives from the 11 conferences and Notre Dame, for a potential decision Tuesday. The committee will try to find a model that pleases all reps. The Presidential Oversight Committee won’t vote on the proposal but still has the final say in how a National Champion is crowned. Members of the committee will debate and discuss all possible playoff systems, including the “plus-one” playoff system (choose two teams to play in the title game after bowl season) favored by Big Ten representative Harvey Perlman of Nebraska.If some of the conferences don’t like it, they can opt out of the system, an unlikely scenario given the revenue, exposure and publicity that comes with playing for a National Championship. I am sorry Mr. Perlman, but a plus-one system is lame. A plus-one system feels like a cop-out. The current BCS bowls are usually exciting, well-played games (Err ... save this past year’s national championship). But really, most fans still don’t feel like they mean anything.Having teams play in bowls and then selecting two teams to play in a national championship? Now that truly makes the other bowls look useless. A major goal of the proposed four-team, seed playoff is to make selecting the teams worthy of competing for a national title an objective and transparent process. A plus-one system, on the other hand, would only lead to more squabbling because it would likely use an arbitrary selection process. How do you determine, for example, that the winner of the Sugar and Fiesta bowls are more worthy of playing in the national title game than the winners of the Rose and Orange bowls? I’ll tell you how: with the same shadowy, confusing BCS rankings system that’s used today. The four-team, seed playoff proposal would charge a selection committee, similar to the type used in determining what teams make the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, with selecting four teams to compete in the playoffs. In particular, the committee would give more weight to teams that won their conference and have a strong strength-of-schedule. As in that selection process, the selection process for the BCS playoff system will include snubs and selection committee flubs. It will never be perfect but can continually be improved. At least we will know how those teams are picked. But four teams is not enough because it will likely lead to the same contenders year-in and year-out. Coaches and administrators from the Big 12 and SEC in particular wanted the selection committee to ensure that the “four best teams” play for the national title, rather than give automatic bids to conference champions. Fair enough. Nobody wants to see, let’s say, UConn get destroyed by Texas. It’s likely, though, that at least two of the four teams would come out of the Big 12 and SEC on an overly regular basis given the strength of those conferences. Meanwhile, someone from the Pac-12 or Big Ten is left out, or Boise State and TCU will run the table and cry fowl once again. The four-team proposal is solid, but it’s not enough. An eight-team playoff is better because it ensures more teams with a legitimate shot at a national title will get their chance. An eight-team playoff makes it more likely we’ll get diverse geographical representation in the playoff bracket and won’t feel like we’re crowning the National Champion of the South every year. Keep the selection committee and give more weight to teams with a strong schedule and teams that win their conference. Some worry that an eight-team playoff would stretch the season too long.Then eliminate one of the “cupcake” games all FBS teams plays and trim the regular season schedule to 11. Force programs to schedule real opponents. True, power conference teams will always have an advantage in scheduling marquee, out-of-conference matchups. But at least all teams with national title hopes will be motivated to play a legitimate out-of-conference schedule. I mean, why is defending National Champion Alabama playing Western Carolina, an FCS team that finished 1-10 in 2011, in week 11 of the 2012 season? I guess it helps them go undefeated.
(06/10/12 4:13am)
2012 IU Commit Jeremy Hollowell scored nine points and finished with nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 16 minutes during the finale of the 2012 Indiana-Kentucky All-Star Series at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. He energized the crowd with his defensive effort and transition baskets
during a 30-5 Indiana run in the second half that put away Kentucky for
an 83-73 victory.
(06/09/12 4:28am)
The Kentucky All-Stars gave the Indiana All-Stars all they could handle before Indiana pulled away late for a 90-85 victory.
(06/07/12 1:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Tom Morris has always taken care of his body. The IU Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach has competed in countless triathlons in his lifetime and would routinely wake up before the sun to start his workouts. A regular mountain biker, Morris was wearing a helmet the day he suffered an accident -- a C6 spinal cord injury -- that has him unsure if he will ever walk again. On May 17, Morris flipped over his mountain bike’s handlebars and cracked his helmet while landing on his head at Wapehani Mountain Bike Park. He laid in the woods, unable to move, for three hours before anyone came to his aid. With remarkable quickness, though, friends, family and other well-wishers — more than 900 of them — have rallied behind him. Morris first saw the Tom’s Team Facebook page June 2, more than two weeks after his cousin, Kathy Beaulieu, established it to keep supporters updated on Morris’ status and opportunities to donate toward his expensive recovery. “It’s absolutely unbelievable,” Morris said. “I don’t know what’s more overwhelming — the actual injury or the outpouring of support. It made me realize what the Hoosier Nation is all about and what friends and family are all about.”As of 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Tom’s Team had raised $15,190 toward its goal of $20,000 with a multitude of fundraising events and merchandise lined up. “I still don’t know how it happened” Morris described the accident — the cause of which is still unclear to him — and the following recovery days in his Facebook post on the Tom’s Team page June 2. “My goal was to do four laps. However, on the fourth and final lap I went over my handle bars,” he said. “During this time I landed right on my head and cracked my helmet almost in half. I could remember falling and seeing my bike being over my head and landing.”Morris said he could not feel his legs and felt a burning sensation in his arms, which worsened after he unsuccessfully attempted to get his cell phone out of his back pocket for the first hour. So, he spent the first two hours listening to music and monitoring his heart rate, which he said never went above 120 beats per minute. By the third hour, he was able to stabilize his head by adjusting his helmet. “With the students being gone, it wasn’t surprising that it took so long to actually be found out there,” Morris said. “I was really hoping in the first half an hour, 45 minutes someone would come by.” Nonetheless, he never panicked.“I had no fear,” Morris said. “It was a strangely eerie type of thing, just laying there in the woods. I don’t know why I stayed so calm. I diagnosed the situation: ‘You can’t move right now, can’t feel your legs.’ If anything, it was weird not to have panicked.”Eventually, two riders found Morris and alerted a local police officer. He was then transported to the IU Health Bloomington Hospital for initial treatment and later that night was flown to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis for emergency surgery that stabilized his neck by fusing together his C6 and C7 vertebrae with a titanium plate. Morris spent four days in Methodist’s Intensive Care Unit before being transferred to Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana.When she first learned of her husband’s accident, Christa Morris said she found it difficult to handle.“I was a nervous wreck,” she said. “I was heartbroken. He’s my life. He’s my world. To hear anything that happened to him, it crushed me, destroyed me.” Staying optimistic with progressNow, things are looking better.Post-surgery, Morris regained motion in his arms, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands, and he was able to eat meals using utensils on his own. He could also hold a sandwich with both hands and sit upright in his bed for a few hours per day. Since then, his upper body mobility has improved. “Strength-wise, I’m a lot weaker,” Morris said. “Since then, I’ve had a lot more mobility in my arms, in all directions. My hand coordination has improved a lot. I’m still trying to build coordination but work on overall strength for my upper body.” Still, it is impossible at this point for doctors to know if Morris will ever be able to walk again. “The outcomes are really individualized. It’s really just a big guessing game right now,” Morris said. “Will I ever have leg mobility again? They don’t know, and they’ve been really open and honest about that. They are very optimistic about the fact that I have so many good things going on, but there are no pure answers.”At the very least, Morris has been experiencing involuntary twitches in his legs and toes, he said. As for his rehab routine, Morris said he generally wakes up at 6:30 a.m. and has his first rehab session from 8:30 to 11 a.m. After a lunch break, he engages in more occupational and physical therapy from 1 to 4 p.m. But like he had always done before the accident, Morris is putting in extra work. In addition to his normal rehab routine, Morris recently added a voluntary, hour-long exercise session at the RHI gym every day at 5 p.m. so he could gain strength and do some of his own exercises. “It’s what I always did,” Morris said. “I always try to go above and beyond everything and maximize stuff. With the extra downtime, I figure, ‘What the heck? Get in there.’ With the right amount of sleep and eating right, it allows me to have the energy to get in there and push more and more.” An outpouring of supportBeaulieu, Morris’ cousin, is the administrator of the Tom’s Team Facebook page and writes posts for it. She was concerned about the high cost of Morris’ recovery and created a Tom’s Team fundraising website, www.gofundme.com/toms-team for supporters to donate funds that will help subsidize Morris’ expensive recovery. “The financial support has been incredible, amazing,” Beaulieu said. “Everyone from family friends to total strangers, people that have never met him, just heard his story and they wanted to help.” Men’s soccer standout Harrison Petts, a junior, has worked closely with Morris to train for his first triathlon. Morris has participated in many triathlons before and planned to race in the Hoosierman Triathlon along with his understudy, Petts. Petts said his original goal was to beat Morris in the race. Now, he wants to win it for the sidelined trainer. Like her husband, Christa was touched by the support she and her husband have received. “From the bottom of our hearts, we have no idea how we can thank everybody for everything that they’ve done,” she said. “To have so many people behind your back, it’s unbelievable.” Morris said Christa has been by his side ever since the accident and returned to work for a few hours Monday. “I never had to help Tom with anything,” Christa said. “Tom was always helping me. He was always my rock. Being on the other side knowing I had to be his rock, that’s the difficult part. But just being around him and being around his energy and his positive spirits makes you feel good. He shows you he’s gonna be OK.”The true meaning of teamworkWhile Morris is putting extra work into his rehab, he is getting a direct boost from athletes he has mentored, particularly IU soccer’s Petts and Konstanski. The two, like so many other supporters, want to help Morris back on his feet as quickly as possible. And the soccer standouts are interacting with Morris the way they’re used to — by pumping him up to push harder and harder through his rehab. “The soccer players have been amazing,” Christa said. “They came up
during rehab, pumping him up and making him work harder, so that’s been
great. There’s always someone from IU in Tom’s room, everyday. The
Hoosier family has been outstanding.”Morris was hired as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in 2010 and works directly with the men’s soccer and women’s basketball programs, according to Assistant Athletic Director for Broadcast Services Jeremy Gray. Morris has also worked with track and field.--HOW TO HELPVisit www.toms-team.com to pledge a donation to men’s soccer standout Harrison Petts as he competes on Morris' behalf in the Hoosierman Triathlon, 8 a.m. June 10.IU athletes Jordan Hulls and Caleb Konstanski are organizing a fundraiser at the Village Deli. T-shirts and wrist bands will be on sale. WHEN June 13, all day WHERE Village Deli, 409 E. Kirkwood Ave.
(06/07/12 12:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Collegiate Baseball newspaper named IU catcher Kyle Schwarber and first baseman Sam Travis to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American team Wednesday. The two were an important part of an IU offense that scored 326 runs, fifth most in the Big Ten. Both players ranked in the top 10 of the conference for several major offensive categories. In conference games only, Schwarber ranked first in runs scored (26), second in doubles (9) and RBI (23), and sixth in batting average (.376). Travis’ 50 RBI for the entire season rank second in the conference, and he ranks fourth in doubles (17) and ties for third in homeruns (9). Travis’ nine homeruns and 50 RBI also led the team, while Schwarber was right behind him in both categories, hitting eight homeruns and driving in 47. The duo were also numbers two and three in hitting, as Travis posted a .319 clip and Schwarber a .300 clip. Schwarber and Travis were regularly placed back-to-back in a potent Hoosier lineup, with Schwarber in the two-hole and Travis hitting third. Schwarbers’ running and bunting ability — skills not often associated with catchers — made him an excellent fit in the two-hole, an unusual spot for a catcher. The tandem’s ability to work together in the lineup was evident in a dramatic, 10-8 comeback victory against Ohio State on May 17. With IU down 8-7 entering the bottom of the eighth, a Chris Sujka walk and error by Buckeyes third baseman Brad Hallberg on a Justin Cureton bunt allowed Schwarber to sacrifice both runners into scoring position. Schwarber’s execution on the bunt paid off the next at-bat, when Travis delivered a go-ahead, two-run double to left, sending the home crowd into a frenzy.“Big Kyle (Schwarber) is actually one of our best bunters,” IU Head Coach Tracy Smith said. “It was a little tough, but there’s probably only one or two times per year you ask that big donkey to bunt, and that was one of them.”The recognitions mark the fifth consecutive season Indiana baseball has had a freshman earn the national award and the second straight season with multiple Freshman All-Americans in the same year. Schwarber and Travis became the eighth and ninth Hoosiers honored for the award all-time, and sixth and seventh in the last five seasons. Jerrud Sabourin was recognized in 2008, Alex Dickerson in 2009, recent ninth-round MLB draft pick Micah Johnson in 2010 and Dustin DeMuth and Joey DeNato in 2011. — Joe Popely
(06/05/12 8:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For 17 minutes, basketball fans in southern Indiana caught a glimpse of what 2012 Indiana University basketball commit Ron Patterson can do.“(Patterson) plays great defense,” fellow 2012 IU commit Yogi Ferrell said. “He’s got those long arms, he knocked some big threes for us, so when he came in ... that’s when things got turned up.”Patterson scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-4 on threes, to help the Indiana Senior All-Star team fend off an energetic Junior All-Star team 104-97 Monday at the Lloyd Scott Gymnasium in Seymour, Ind.“I try to play hard any time I’m on the court and give it my all defensively and offensively,” Patterson said.Patterson added three assists, four rebounds and two steals to lead the trio of 2012 IU commits on the senior team. Jeremy Hollowell struggled from the field, scoring just 5 points on 1-for-7 shooting. Ferrell scored 11 and grabbed seven rebounds but struggled running the point, committing six turnovers to only one assist.“I felt like I was trying to force a lot, so I’m gonna have to do a lot of different things on Wednesday,” Ferrell said.Indiana Mr. Basketball and Michigan State commit Gary Harris scored 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting and had three assists, none more impressive than when he found Ferrell during a 3-on-1 fast break.With about 6:20 left in the game, Harris streaked down the middle of the floor to draw the lone defender and then dished a behind-the-back pass to Ferrell for the finish.Glenn Robinson III, a 2012 Michigan commit, scored a game-high 21 on near-perfect 9-of-10 shooting.For the junior All-Stars, 2013 IU commit Devin Davis had a double with 14 points (6-of-14 shooting) and 13 rebounds in 23 minutes. Fellow 2013 IU commit Collin Hartman scored five points with an inefficient 2-of-8 shooting performance but did have an emphatic stuff of Iowa commit Patrick Ingram with eight minutes left in the game.Twenty senior team turnovers and a 30-12 juniors advantage in second chance points kept the juniors in the game. They rallied from a 19-point halftime deficit to get as close as 87-81 with a little more than 6:15 left.“They played hard,” Ferrell said. “They definitely hustled. At one point I felt like they were hustling even harder than us. Those guys had a really good showing tonight.”In a game that resembled a track meet — the seniors had 24 fast break points to 22 for the juniors — Ferrell was in constant attack mode. He regularly pushed the ball up the floor, looking to set up teammates with dump-off passes in the low post or kickouts to open perimeter shooters.“I told them, always be ready to catch the ball,” Ferrell said. “I just wanna drive and find other guys because I just wanna be a facilitator.”The up-tempo style of game figures to fit well in IU Head Coach Tom Crean’s offense, Ferrell said.“I feel like when we get down there, he’s gonna want to push most of the time because we’re gonna be very deep,” Ferrell said. Ferrell became the first of the trio to arrive for IU basketball summer workouts when he moved into his dorm Wednesday. And he knows he only scratched the surface at open gym workouts with the team earlier in the year.“Got a little taste,” Ferrell said. “It’s really physical. That’s one of the things I noticed. I’m definitely gonna have to get physically stronger, (work on) finishing.”Hollowell said he had been to several open gyms and does not expect the upcoming workouts to differ much. “I know it’s probably gonna be 10 times harder,” Hollowell said. “You just never stop running. They get up and down the floor. You find yourself winded, but they’re still running 100 miles per hour.”Patterson graduates from Broad Ripple High School (Indianapolis) June 12 and will head to Bloomington to move in the next day, along with Hollowell, his roommate.“It’s still too good to be true,” Hollowell said. “It still hasn’t hit me. It’ll probably hit me once I move into that dorm room and I get into a daily routine going to the gym.”The feeling seems to have sunk in for Ferrell, who is eager to start team workouts.“It definitely does feel real,” Ferrell said. “It will feel even more real when we get down there. We’re all gonna be workin’, especially with that preseason No.-1 (ranking). So, we’re not gonna take that lightly.“I just wanna get in the gym and start working out with those guys and get a feel for how our team plays, so our first game we go into, we’re just rockin’.”The two teams scrimmaged again last night at Pendleton Heights High School in Pendleton, Ind., following the Indiana Girls Junior-Senior All-Star scrimmage, which tips off at 6 p.m. Check idsnews.com Thursday for a recap of the scrimmage.The Indiana Senior All-Stars visit the Kentucky Senior All-Stars on Friday at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky., with the girls scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m. and the boys game to follow. The annual series then concludes Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The girls tip at 5 p.m., with the boys game to follow. For the first time, the Indiana and Kentucky Junior All-Stars will play a home-and-home series Friday, June 15, and Saturday, June 16.
(05/31/12 12:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>We’ve all been taught, one way or another, about the stereotype of a “dumb jock.”For college athletes, our minds flash to a caricature of a football player, one who sees himself as larger than life.We think of a player who frequently skips class, parties hard and signs up for theeasiest major.We think of someone with a full ride to a major university, yet makes a mockery of the educational system.In an attempt to shatter the stereotype, the NCAA has launched an ad campaign boasting that the number of NCAA student-athletes earning degrees is at an all-time high.At the end of one commercial, a female student-athlete asks, “Still think we’re a bunch of dumb jocks?”I have never subscribed to the blanket generalization that student-athletes are inherently dumber than the average student.The issue at hand has little to do with student-athletes’ intelligence and much more to do with the quality of education they receive. Yes, it’s a positive thing overall that more and more student-athletes are earning degrees. It’s undeniably better for students, athletes or otherwise, to leave school with a degree rather than without one.But far too many student-athletes exit college without an employable skill set or having learned much from class.Too many student-athletes are victims of a system that encourages an ever-increasing commitment to sports and discounts the value of an education.Too many student-athletes graduate ill prepared for life after college.Too many student-athletes go through college being pressured to take the easiest classes in order to maintain the minimum GPA for playing eligibility.I would like to think the the main objective of the NCAA’s ad campaign is in fact to shatter the “dumb jock” stereotype.It’s not.For college athletic programs, and the NCAA as a whole, the name of the game is maintaining eligibility and graduation rates to keep the revenue flowing.It doesn’t matter how those numbers improve, just as long as they do.But the numbers have to be put into context.The NCAA penalizes athletic departments that don’t graduate a certain number of student-athletes or keep a certain number of student-athletes academically eligible, usually by taking away scholarships or imposing a postseason ban.Sadly, these rules have backfired.Ken Armstrong is the co-author of “Scoreboard, Baby,” a book that chronicles the University of Washington football program’s gross prioritization of winning over academics and the character of its athletes.“The NCAA puts a lot of value on graduation rates, an easy stat to manipulate without making sure students get a meaningful education,” Armstrong said.Student-athletes, particularly those in the highest-profile sports of football and basketball, are encouraged to cluster into the same major with the easiest requirements, regardless of how it fits the individual.Athletic departments want to win. If that means steering student-athletes toward “easy” majors, then so be it.A USA Today survey found that 83 percent of the schools studied (118 of 142) had at least one team in which at least 25 percent of the juniors and seniors majored in the same thing. For example, seven of the 19 players on Stanford’s baseball team majored in sociology.Former Boise State University safety Marty Tadman was among the 48 percent of the football team’s juniors and seniors majoring in communications during the 2007-08 academic year.“You hear which majors, and which classes, are the easiest and you take them,” Tadman told USA Today. “You’re going to school so you can stay in sports. You’re not going for a degree. ... It’s a joke.”Student-athletes are not dumb jocks. They are exploited jocks.They are the victims of a deeply flawed system that worries about composite numbers more than the people that compose those numbers.It pains the sports fan in me to say this, but cut athletic schedules. Cut travel. Align conferences based on geography, not money. Figure out a way to give student-athletes more time in the classroom.It may sound idealistic, and admittedly, it is. But we owe it to these student-athletes to make sure they get a meaningful education.We will all be “going pro” in something after college. Just remember that the vast majority of student-athletes won’t go pro in their sport. — jpopely@indiana.edu