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(11/13/10 2:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s basketball team picked up Friday where it left off from beyond the arc.After using 3-pointers to pull away Ferris State on Monday, the Hoosiers finished 14-of-28 from deep in a 88-60 victory against Florida Gulf State in the regular season opener at Assembly Hall.Sophomore guard Jordan Hulls led the charge, hitting six 3-pointers, accounting for all 18 of his points. Sophomore guard Maurice Creek was 3-of-7 from the 3-point line, finishing with 13 points.IU coach Tom Crean said the Hoosiers’ 14-of-28 effort from the 3-point line was a result of fluid ball movement, and he hopes his team learns that lesson.“To go 50 percent from the 3 and have so many different guys get a 3-point shot, that’s good for them, but it’s great for us to remind them that ball movement wins,” Crean said. “When it sits on one side, and when we’re taking challenged shots, and we’re not shot faking and we’re not driving the ball into gaps and creating open shots, we’re not good. But I don’t know anybody that is.” Hulls, who hit four of his long balls in the first half alone, said the team is confident when teams impose a zone defense as FCGU did because of their deep threat.“We’re a good 3-point shooting team, and we get a lot of 3-point shots even driving the zone, getting in those gaps, making two guys guard you,” Hulls said. “That’s how we were getting open shots tonight, so we’re very comfortable with that.”Sophomore forward Christian Watford had another dominating effort, scoring 24 points while grabbing 5 rebounds. Junior guard Verdell Jones got his first playing time of the season after suffering an ankle sprain before the start of the exhibition slate. He played 22 minutes, finishing with 7 points on 3-of-10 shooting.But it wasn’t all roses for the Hoosiers, as they committed 24 turnovers and 27 fouls. Sophomore forward Derek Elston, who finished with 7 points, fouled out of the game midway through the second half. “One of the biggest reasons we bring referees in (to practice) so much more this year is to help us not use our hands on defense and to help us get our feet right on catches and drives,” Crean said. “We took a little bit of a step back with that tonight.”The lapses didn’t cost IU, though, as the defense forced 22 turnovers out of FCGU. The Hoosiers scored 29 points off those turnovers, while the Eagles scored 16. IU gets little rest before getting back into action, as Wright State visits Bloomington on Sunday.
(11/12/10 4:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Sometimes, it’s not about if you win but how you win.That was the case for IU coach Tom Crean following his team’s overtime victory against Ferris State in its exhibition finale.“It was far more will than it was skill at the end,” Crean said. “That’s a big deal. For a team that hasn’t had success, that’s a big deal. It couldn’t have been drawn up any better.”Now, as the IU men’s basketball team opens its 111th regular season when it plays Florida Gulf Coast at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Assembly Hall, the thinking shifts to starting a new year right, and history is on its side.The Hoosiers have not lost a regular season home opener in 25 years, and they last lost a regular season opener in 1997 at Temple. FGCU finished last season 8-21, 5-15 in the Atlantic Sun conference. Sophomore Anthony Banks, who was named to the A-Sun Preseason All-Conference Team, leads the Eagles into this season. The 6-foot-6-inch, 210-pound forward averaged 12.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game last season, both team-highs. He is fully recovered from a surgically repaired foot, and assistant coach Tim Buckley, who scouted FGCU, said the team is preparing for him as if he was any other player. But Buckley said Banks poses some difficult problems.“He’s a lot different than a Big Ten center would be because he’s a little bit thinner, but he’s a lot quicker,” Buckley said. “He does a terrific job of catching it and making a quick play to a basket, and he’s very relentless on the offensive boards, so you’ve really got to try to do a good job of keeping him off and not allowing him to get the ball.”In their two exhibition games, the Hoosiers dominated nearly every statistical category, including rebounds (82-61), field goals made (61-35) and 3-point field goals made (14-5). Sophomore forward Christian Watford led the way, averaging 25 points and six rebounds in those contests. Junior guard Verdell Jones, who missed both exhibition games due to an ankle sprain, is expected to play. Crean said he doesn’t have a set starting lineup going into Friday, but if freshman guard Victor Oladipo gets to start — as he did in the exhibition games — it will be the fourth consecutive year IU has had a freshman in the starting lineup to begin the season. “What I’m trying to get across to these guys is we’re going with the guys that are going to get it done,” Crean said. “I think they’ll learn. I think they’ll grow from it.”
(11/12/10 2:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Derek Elston can remember being pushed around last year.The then-freshman forward battled with big men on teams such as Maryland and Ole Miss early in the IU basketball team’s 2009 season, but that was nothing compared to what he ran into Dec. 12. The Hoosiers, sitting at 4-4 and fresh off a convincing victory against Pittsburgh in New York City, played host to rival Kentucky, an undefeated team early in its run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Elston was matched up with forwards such as NBA lottery pick-to-be DeMarcus Cousins and a 6-foot-9, 235-pound Patrick Patterson. They muscled and bullied their way to 44 points in the paint with 28 coming as the Hoosiers wore down in the second half for a 90-73 loss at Assembly Hall. Kentucky finished the game with 30 second-chance points to IU’s six.“Those dudes were just massive, and I really didn’t compare to them at all,” Elston said. “This year, we’ll just see what happens when I get put on a big guy.”Bulking upIU coach Tom Crean had a much gloomier assessment of the physical dominance last season. He said sheer strength was the issue for “well over half” of the Hoosiers’ games last season, and the numbers agree with him. In Big Ten games alone, IU was outscored in the paint in 12 of 18 contests. “There were games we just got physically beat up,” Crean said. “You’re never quite sure how much of it is physical and how much of it is mental, and I looked back at it and watched some films, and it was both.”A large part of that was out of his control. The Hoosiers had six freshmen suiting up last season, four of whom played in the front court. A year later and one big man down after the transfer of Bawa Muniru, the Hoosiers are maturing physically after an offseason working with new strength and conditioning coach Je’Ney Jackson. Jackson, most recently a secondary coach with the Southern Mississippi football program, brought his gridiron regime to Cook Hall and is seeing the results come to the forefront.Elston said he has added 10 to 15 pounds of “legit” weight. Sophomore forward Christian Watford, who added about 10 pounds himself, said junior guard Verdell Jones has “done a remarkable job” getting stronger. Some players, Elston said, even lost weight while adding muscle. “These guys aren’t going up against anybody they shouldn’t be going up against,” he said. “Everybody’s going up against strong people, and we’re making it look good.” The added bulk will certainly help in a physical Big Ten, something Watford said he learned in a trial by fire last season. “Some of those guys in the Big Ten, I thought, ‘Man, there’s just no way we are going to get it,’ when I saw those guys,” he said. “But sometimes we did it. It seemed like everybody fought through it, and I’m ready and prepared this year.”While the conference has its brawn, it works with quite a bit of brain. Elston said compared to exhibition or early non-conference games, scouts get down to the minutest details of every Hoosier’s skill set.“You go out there, and you kind of toss the ball around — you just want to run some plays and hopefully come up with a win,” he said of the early season games. “But in the Big Ten, everybody knows which shoulder they go over down to which hand they use to shoot with five seconds on the clock.“When you have just sheer strength, then all that stuff just gets put off to the side, and you just go out there and you finish.”Before Hoosier Hysteria, Crean said he had a scout from the NBA’s Miami Heat tell him IU has so many more pieces than last year, which Crean tagged to the physical maturation of his team. He cautioned that, while as his guys grow older, they invariably get bigger, but they still might not be up to par physically with the rest of the conference.“We’re stronger for us. Relative to everyone else, I’m not so sure,” he said. “We have to do what’s relevant for us right now.” It’s all mentalElston can also remember a time when the team’s downtrodden mind won over matter.Coming off a rough 58-43 loss to Iowa at home, IU was locked in a tie at Illinois with five seconds remaining in regulation. Fighting Illini guard Demetri McCamey floated an arching shot over the Hoosier defenders and into the basket as time expired. That’s where it all went downhill.“We thought that even when we give it our all and we can’t win, it’s going to be pretty hard,” Elston said of the heartbreaker. “A lot of mindsets dropped, and I felt like we didn’t try as hard, for whatever reason.”It was the second of a string of 11 consecutive Big Ten losses, the longest conference losing streak in school history. Elston admitted that as bad breaks snowballed, the players would get down and couldn’t get back up. He said he would force Crean to take him out of games, because anytime he made a mistake, he couldn’t get over it and would ultimately make another. But Crean didn’t have the option to go with a more productive lineup. He said players could have lackluster performances, but they would still get on the court because IU lacked depth. With what he feels like adequate depth now, changing the losing mindset begins first and foremost by creating fierce competition within the program. “The easiest thing about being an Indiana basketball player the last two years has been playing time,” Crean said. “Practices are hard, classes are not easy...The games are certainly hard, the demands are hard. The easiest thing is to get playing time. Well, now it’s going to become the hardest, if we’re doing the right stuff.”After a season in which IU ranked seventh in the Big Ten in defensive rebounds, 10th in field goal percentage defense and last in assist-to-turnover ratio, “the right stuff” means flipping the script defensively.“We have not been a resistance-filled defense, and we’ve got to become more of that,” Crean said. “That’s when we can really start to take some steps.”To do so, mental and physical toughness will need to merge. And Crean said the internal competition, combined with a demand for support and encouragement, will help breed the former.“That takes time for a young team, because it gets territorial, and it will continue to get that way,” Crean said. “That’s not a bad thing. It’s only a bad thing if they don’t understand that the battle lines are inside the lines of the court, they’re not everywhere else. But I don’t know any great program that doesn’t have real internal competition on the practice floor to make it better.”Elston said coaches get very repetitive when going over defense, sometimes keeping the players in defensive drills for an hour straight to get it right.Crean said he wasn’t as worried about implementing offensive strategy this offseason as he was in the past, because he was determined to build a defense that could create offense with turnovers and rebounds.Because the Hoosiers know they are stronger and faster, Elston said there is no excuse for not crashing the boards. “It’s not new by any means. Last year we were doing the same things,” Elston said. “But this year, we have so many kids who are athletic. We just feel like if you don’t go, then you don’t even deserve to be on the court.”Setting a foundationAs the No. 41 player ranked nationally by Rivals.com, Watford was the highest rated player in IU’s 2009 recruiting class. He knew every move a forward needed to know, but he said mental toughness, to him, was a vague term.“Coming in last year, I really didn’t know what that was,” Watford said. “A lot of freshmen didn’t know what it was. But I started and played every game last year, and I feel like I’m a lot more experienced than the average freshman.”As Crean hits the recruiting trail, he said he is looking for players who already have what he’s trying to instill in his current team: a winning mindset.Winning, Crean said, automatically gives a player mental toughness; it comes from doing all the little things he isn’t required to do. “If I’ve got to make a choice between a guy that plays really hard and competes, but maybe isn’t in the gym as much as he should be, or a guy who’s in the gym all the time but is a little passive and soft when he plays, give me the guy that works hard and competes every time. We’ll put him in an atmosphere where he has to work that much harder.”If that atmosphere forms quickly, the Hoosiers could be the ones doing the pushing this time.
(11/09/10 6:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For 39 minutes, the IU men’s basketball team might as well have shot every 3-point field goal from half court. The Hoosiers were 3-of-13 from deep in the first half and finished 2-of-12 the rest of the way. But if it weren’t for a late revival from beyond the arc in a 78-65 victory against Ferris State on Monday at Assembly Hall, those numbers — and the result — would have been much worse.Sophomore guard Maurice Creek, who went 3-of-13 from deep, said IU coach Tom Crean didn’t discourage the team from shooting the 3-point shot. “He always says to stay confident, and if it’s there, you’re going to shoot it,” Creek said. “You’re going to miss shots regardless; nobody is going to be perfect. He told us to be confident and precise on our shots, and that’s what we did at the end.”In all, the Hoosiers put up 27 3-point attempts, three more than the team made from the field. Ferris State, meanwhile, tried just nine 3-pointers. The reversal of fortune began, of all ways, with a four-point play from freshman guard Victor Oladipo. His long-range swish with a subsequent foul shot with 10 seconds on the clock tied the game at 61, and seemed to instill a new sense of confidence from deep.As the game went into overtime, the 3-point shot became the Hoosiers’ best friend to pull away. After a short jumper from sophomore forward Christian Watford gave the Hoosiers their first lead since the seven-minute mark in the first half, Creek drilled a 3-pointer one minute in to give the Hoosiers a five-point lead.On the next possession, sophomore guard Jordan Hulls banged away a 3-pointer to give IU an eight-point advantage. It might have been a good thing the longer shots started to fall, because the Hoosiers couldn’t find anything within the arc throughout most of the game, either. Haunted by the Bulldogs’ zone defense, the Hoosiers shot 28 percent from the field in the second half, and the Ferris State lead ballooned to as high as 13. Trouble at the 3-point line might continue deep into the season, as junior guard Matt Roth — who missed all but two games last season with a foot injury — left the game with an apparent knee injury and did not return. Crean said he was more worried about the lessons learned from the game and the health of Roth, but he said he’s sure shot selection will be addressed before the Hoosiers open the regular season Friday against Florida Gulf Coast.
(11/08/10 5:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When IU coach Tom Crean put together his exhibition schedule, he wanted opponents who would challenge his team in specific ways.In their final tune-up before the regular season, the Hoosiers’ challenge exists in the post when they take on Ferris State in a Monday night contest at Assembly Hall.Ferris State senior forward Justin Keenan was named the 2010-11 Division II Bulletin Preseason National Player of the Year, coming off a season in which he averaged 20.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He also poses a new challenge by merely being on the floor. At 6-foot-7, Keenan is taller than any player on Franklin College’s roster. IU beat Franklin 89-37 on Nov. 3.Crean said the combination of Keenan and guard Darien Gay, who averaged 10.6 points per game last season, gives the Bulldogs an inside/outside tandem that will test the Hoosiers defense. That defense held Franklin to a 33 percent shooting clip last week while forcing 28 turnovers. The Hoosiers, on the other hand, had only 16 turnovers, and Crean expects similar production on both ends of the court.“As I said last week, our goal is to be relentless moving forward on defense,” he said. “On offense, we need to continue to emphasize taking care of the basketball. I was very pleased with our decision-making against Franklin. We shared the basketball and moved it around, and our defensive energy made our offensive effort better.”Matching up with Keenan will likely be sophomore forward Christian Watford, who scored 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting against Franklin. Junior college transfer center Guy-Marc Michel, meanwhile, will not play in Monday’s matchup, as his amateur status is still under NCAA review. Ferris State has not won a game against a Division-I team since it defeated Oakland in 2000. The Bulldogs last played a Big Ten team in 2007, when they squared off in an exhibition match with Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. FSU lost 70-48.Under coach Bill Sall, the Bulldogs have won 10 or more games in eight consecutive seasons after having finished with single-digit win totals for four years prior to his taking the job. With its victory against Franklin last Friday, IU is now 12-0 against Division II or III teams in exhibition games. But Crean said he won’t accept a mental letdown against a team with such winning experience. “I think our guys have a clear understanding that competition is going to make us a better program,” he said. “Whether it’s in a game, in practice or in the weight room, our expectation is that maximum effort and focus on the task at hand is not optional.”
(11/04/10 4:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>If you ask Franklin College, size does matter.The IU men’s basketball team used an overpowering roster to score 54 points in the paint Wednesday in an 89-37 victory against the Division III Grizzlies at Assembly Hall.The Hoosiers, going up against a team without a player taller than 6-foot-6-inches, owned the area around the basket with 42 rebounds, 17 of them offensive, to Franklin’s 20. “We got momentum back a few times, and our guys never stopped competing inside of the game,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “We had some defensive goals we wanted to hit. We hit those, and that was important to us.” The 52-point margin of victory is IU’s highest in an exhibition game under Crean. Sophomore Christian Watford led the forwards’ charge with 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting, adding five rebounds in a team-high 24 minutes played. “He’s really working to improve,” Crean said of Watford. “He’s very hungry, and I think he epitomizes where our team is right now.” Sophomore forward Derek Elston chipped in with two blocks to go with his nine points and six rebounds, while junior forward Tom Pritchard had a team-high seven boards, though he did not record a basket playing with a protected left hand. But the Hoosiers’ dominance was not contained to the inside. IU shot 7-of-17 from the 3-point line and made 58.7 percent of its shots. Sophomore guard Maurice Creek and junior guard Matt Roth, both playing in their first game action since season-ending injuries early last year, played 20 and 15 minutes, respectively. Creek scored 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting, 2-of-7 from the 3-point line. As he struggled at times with his outside shot, Creek used his defense to create offense with three steals. “There’s going to be some time to get his rhythm back, and we’re going to be careful with the stretches of minutes that he plays and getting loosened back up,” Crean said of Creek. The Hoosiers used a high-pressure defense throughout the night, forcing the Grizzlies into 28 giveaways. IU cashed in on its hustle with 41 points off turnovers, good for 46 percent of the team’s points overall.“Obviously we’re not going to be in that percentage all the time, but it does need to move up for us to be successful,” Crean said. “We want to create off of our defense. We want to create off the backboards. We want to be relentless moving forward defensively.” Junior guard Daniel Moore particularly reaped the benefits of quick hands, using three steals to help toward scoring 12 points. The Hoosiers also took a number of charges, which Crean said was led by Pritchard, Elston and sophomore guard Jordan Hulls.“We love charges here,” Hulls said. “It’s a big part of the game, it’s a big momentum changer, and we’re always going to be down to take a charge.”As if size wasn’t a big enough advantage, the Hoosiers used their depth to create a chasm between the two teams. The Hoosiers had 10 players play 10 minutes or more, compared to Franklin’s seven. Grizzlies guard Clay Starrett played a team-high 36 minutes, but he didn’t register a point on 0-of-4 shooting. Center Will Conoley led Franklin with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and added a team-high five rebounds. The differences in depth showed itself as the game wore on. The Hoosiers didn’t allow Franklin to score between the 9:09 mark and the 3:29 mark of the second half and just six points in the last 13 minutes.Crean said the turning point came less than 1:30 into the second half when he called a timeout to correct what he thought was a poor defensive effort.“In that situation, there was a possession there where we weren’t good,” he said. “So we needed to get that established right now that we weren’t going to play that way. It’s one thing to call a timeout. It’s one thing to say what you think. It’s a whole other thing for them to go out and carry it out. And that’s exactly what they did.”
(11/01/10 4:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s basketball team had just one scare this Halloween weekend.Early in the team’s intrasquad scrimmage during the “Night of the Living Red” event Friday at Assembly Hall, sophomore forward Christian Watford drove hard into sophomore forward Bobby Capobianco. Watford drew a trip to the foul line but lay writhing in pain on the floor.Fortunately for him, Watford simply had his wind knocked out, and he went on to score a Crimson- and game-high 24 points in a 65-51 loss to the Cream. It was a somewhat surprising result, as Capobianco was the only Cream player with any starting experience last season.Watford chalked up the loss to simple familiarity between the two teams.“They overplayed us a little bit,” he said. “They know our plays, and I guess we realized too late that we’ve just got to play instead of trying to run plays.”But it was the players whom the 7,847 in attendance weren’t used to watching who caught the attention.Sophomore guard Maurice Creek, who missed the final 19 games last season with a knee injury, returned to the court after missing the Hoosier Hysteria scrimmage earlier in October. He struggled to find a rhythm and ended with just 4 points on 2-of-8 shooting with 0-of-6 from the 3-point line.“I think it’s very apparent this was Maurice Creek’s first time under the lights since December,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “He wants to be right back to where he left off, and that doesn’t work that way.”Meanwhile, junior college transfer and center Guy-Marc Michel made some new fans with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. Fans chanted his name in appreciation, but he wasn’t the only recipient of the crowd’s love.High-profile recruits Hanner Perea, Cody Zeller and Austin Etherington — the team’s only 2011 commit right now — were in attendance and were the focus of the crowd during breaks of the action. Zeller, the No. 4-ranked forward in the 2011 class by rivals.com, drew the most chants. While the game was being played, the Crimson team struggled with its shooting, finishing 41 percent from the field. The Cream squad, led by Michel, dominated with points in the paint by a 38-12 difference. The game had its sloppy moments with 17 turnovers by Crimson, six of which were from Creek. Crean said while improvements will obviously need to be made, he wasn’t all that concerned with the transition game.“We have not gone up and down a lot,” he said. “We have not had a lot of scrimmaging per se, and I think that showed a little bit, because we’re really trying to get half-court defense right and try to gain some offensive continuity.”Junior guard Daniel Moore led the Cream in scoring with 18 points, while junior guard Matt Roth scored 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting.Junior guard Verdell Jones and senior guard Jeremiah Rivers missed the scrimmage, with an ankle injury and a concussion, respectively.Crean said he was happy to see players fight for their spots on the team, something he talked about since the spring.“Everybody’s got adjustments to make,” he said. “But everybody is showing that there’s going to be real competition this year for minutes inside the program.”
(10/29/10 11:55pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the possible future of IU men’s basketball watched, the current crop of Hoosiers showed a bit of what the present holds.The Cream squad, led by junior guard Daniel Moore’s 18 points, defeated its Crimson clad counterparts 65-51 in the “Night of the Living Red” scrimmage Friday night at Assembly Hall.“I thought we did some good things,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “I thought we moved the basketball pretty well and our energy was good.”And while the 7,847 in attendance voiced their appreciation for players such as Guy-Marc Michel (14 points, 10 rebounds), the majority of the chants included the names Cody Zeller and Hanner Perea.Zeller, the No. 4 ranked forward by Rivals.com in the 2011 class, is taking his official visit to IU this weekend. He and Perea were joined in attendance by guard Austin Etherington, currently the only IU commit in the 2011 class. Junior guard Verdell Jones (ankle) and senior guard Jeremiah Rivers (concussion) missed the action, but sophomore guard Maurice Creek played in front of the IU faithful for the first time since his season-ending knee injury early last season.Creek, playing for Crimson, finished the game with 4 points on 2-for-8 shooting, 0-for-5 from the 3-point line. “I think it’s very apparent this was Maurice Creek’s first time under the lights since December,” Crean said. “He wants to be right back to where he left off, and that doesn’t work that way.”Sophomore forward Christian Watford led all Crimson scorers with 24 points. Assistant coaches oversaw the action for both teams, as Crean watched from a lone chair on the opposite sideline. Steve McClain led the Crimson team, with Bennie Seltzer manning the Cream sidelines. The 2010 IU basketball season starts Nov. 3, when the Hoosiers take on Franklin College at 7p.m. at Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers will play Florida Gulf Coast in the regular season opener Nov. 12.
(10/29/10 4:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>What better way to kick off Halloween festivities than ... basketball?The IU men’s basketball team will conduct its second public scrimmage during a Halloween-themed “Night of the Living Red” on Friday at Assembly Hall.The event is free to all fans, and doors will open at 6:30 p.m., with trick-or-treating and games in the concourse starting at 7 p.m. The scrimmage will be played at 8 p.m. with an autograph session scheduled for postgame. “We like it because it means we are one day closer to the season starting,” junior guard Verdell Jones said. “It is always good to play in front of fans, and we have had a good time with everyone coming in costume as well. I think people will like to see the progress we are making.”All fans 18 and older will receive vouchers for two free balcony seats to one of the four games played during Thanksgiving or winter break. Student season ticket holders will receive their official student section T-shirt, and one student will be chosen for a chance to win $10,000 by making five out of 10 3-point shots in 25 seconds.The event, which is similar to the team’s “Haunted Hall of Hoops” from the prior two seasons, is the last public tune-up before the team’s first exhibition on Nov. 3. Players such as sophomore guard Maurice Creek might miss the scrimmage due to injury, but IU coach Tom Crean said he hopes to replicate a real-game situation as much as possible. It’s a big night for recruiting as well, as high-profile recruits such as Washington, Ind.’s 2011 forward Cody Zeller are expected to be in attendance. After Hoosier Hysteria, recruits unanimously said they were blown away by the crowd, and Crean said he hopes for a similar turnout in attendance to help get his current players acclimated.“Any time you go under the lights for the first time like that, it won’t be nearly as good as you want it to be because there’s a feeling-out process,” Crean said. “Guys will try to do things that they don’t need to do. But you got to learn out there that there is a crowd out there every night we play. So there’s some learning approach to that.”
(10/15/10 3:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Five reasons why Hoosier Hysteria is a big night for fans and the basketball program.RECRUITING EFFECTA laundry list of recruiting prospects, including 2012 guards Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell and Jeremy Hollowell, are expected to be in attendance Friday. Last season, 13,321 fans made it to Assembly Hall, and IU coach Tom Crean said attendance has an impact on potential players.“You can’t have Indiana basketball at Indiana University and not have great crowds. ... I think that’s what we expect, I think that’s what the fans have always done, and I know that’s what recruits want to see.”— Tom Crean, IU coachSTART OF PRACTICEHoosier Hysteria signals the start of practice for the basketball players, and they couldn’t be happier to end their offseason training.“Individual stuff sucks, and conditioning sucks, so as we get to practices it’s less running and more focused on improving on last season.” — Verdell Jones, junior guard“These workouts have been tough, but that’s what we need in the preseason to get ready for the season.” — Jordan Hulls, sophomore guardEVENT SCHEDULELast season, the men’s basketball team was introduced at about 8:30 p.m. For this season, the doors will open at 6 p.m. with an autograph session at 7:30 p.m. Crean said he hopes to have a quicker evening than years past, leading to a quicker exit.“It will give people more opportunities to come with families, it will allow people to come from distance, and it will allow students to get out that night. I think that’s important.” — Tom Crean, IU coachNEW FACESFour players — freshmen Victor Oladipo, Will Sheehey and Jeff Howard and junior transfer Guy-Marc Michel — will make their first public appearance on the Assembly Hall floor. But after an offseason of pumping iron, many old faces will look new to fans.“It’s a good time for people to see how the bodies have changed, the product of what these guys have done in the offseason, the product of what they have done in the sense of what Je’Ney [strength coach Jackson] is putting them through.” — Tom Crean, IU coachDUNK CONTESTThen-senior Steven Gambles defeated sophomore forward Christian Watford in last season’s dunk contest. But with Gambles graduated, Watford has a chance to take the crown this time. He faces stiff competition in freshmen Oladipo and Sheehey, and the former has the vote of confidence from teammates.“Victor is going to pull something out of his butt. He’s a freak of nature.” — Verdell Jones, junior guard
(10/13/10 5:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Athletics Director Fred Glass said he couldn’t have imagined a student section with seats to spare when he was an IU student.But unless there is drastic increase in men’s basketball student season tickets sold before the group tickets deadline Friday, that will be the situation for the third-straight season.As of Tuesday, about 5,300 of the 7,800 tickets available in the student allotment had been sold. The goal is to break last year’s mark of 6,400 tickets sold if a sellout cannot be reached, Glass said.It’s a disheartening number for Glass, who had seen sellouts from when he was a student in the 1980’s until as recently as the 2007-08 season.“They sold twice as many tickets as they had spaces available, so you would buy a season ticket, but you’d only go to half the games,” Glass said about his time as a student.Glass said if ticket sales hit the undersold three-peat, he might reevaluate the number of tickets in the student allotment in Assembly Hall and if it should be decreased. He cautioned, however, that he would be hesitant to make such a move.“It’s what makes the place a hard place to play,” Glass said. “When that place is rocking, it’s because of the students. So I’d be really hesitant to cut back on that because I think that’s what really makes that place special.”If a change is made, it would be a blow to the stadium’s calling card of having the largest student section in the country. It’s also a change the players do not want to see.Junior guard Verdell Jones said the student support lifts them in big games, citing last year’s close loss to Purdue and dramatic victory against Minnesota as examples. “When it gets down to crunch time, and we’re down by four or up by four, and we want to run, it just gets loud and scary in there,” Jones said. “That’s something that gives you chills.”The new “Front Line” — which makes select seats in the main lower level first-come, first-served — is one way both Glass and the players feel will drive student attendance back toward the sell-out mark. Sophomore guard Jordan Hulls said he fully supported the idea when he heard it, as it gives incentives for students to arrive early and give opponents a hard time.“We’d love if before the tip, and even when we are warming up, it was packed and heckling the other team,” Hulls said. “That’s what we get a lot when we go on the road.”While the ticket numbers are not yet where Glass would like to see them, he said it’s a matter of perspective in the Big Ten.Students at Purdue were turned away at 7 p.m. the night before the 1,779 tickets for the school’s “Paint Crew” general admission section went on sale, said assistant ticket manager Cindy Bailey. But Mackey Arena’s student allotment is 2,800 less than AssemblyHall’s, and Bailey said a preseason sellout of student season tickets is a rare occurrence. For Northwestern basketball and football games, there is no preseason student season ticket sale. Students are admitted with a swipe of their ID card the day of the game.Glass said even though student season tickets reached a low point in the 2008-09 season, selling 4,500 tickets, schools have called him asking how they sell so many season packages. “Four thousand and five hundred tickets would be the envy of any other program in the Big Ten, and for us it’s a down year,” he said.Glass said he realizes that the team’s combined 16 wins the past two seasons have been a major factor in the comparatively low numbers, but he sees IU has a beacon of success given the modern times.“Between the economy and the ability to get most of the games on TV, it’s a phenomenon around the country that student ticket sales are down,” Glass said. “And to some extent, we’re bucking that trend, as we still have a big number, and that number is increasing."
(10/06/10 4:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In response to years of questioning about an official student section in Assembly Hall, the IU Athletics Department is implementing a first-come, first-served seating area for men’s basketball games — with some minor details.Athletics Director Fred Glass said he has heard the pitch for such a section since taking his post, and he hasn’t had a good answer to the inquiries.“My sort of lame response is, ‘Well, we do have a student section. It’s the biggest in the country,’” Glass said.Now, he has a better, slightly more complicated response.Men’s basketball student tickets will follow the same rotation system as is currently used, but when students receive tickets in sections K, L or M and within the first 25 rows, the earliest arriving ticket-holders will get the seats of their choice.“Three or four times a year, that’s your time to come early, wear your ketchup outfit or your Gumby and Pokey, paint yourself crazy,” Glass said. “I hope you do that even when you’re not in the special student section.”Students who buy their season tickets before Oct. 15 are guaranteed to have at least half of their seats below the balcony level. Tickets can be purchased at the IU ticket office in Assembly Hall or from 3 to 5 p.m. today at Cook Hall at the JMV sports talk show.Glass said he wanted to implement the system last year in his first full basketball season as athletics director, but details and logistical issues forced the idea to the back burner. After hammering everything out, he said now was the time to put it in motion.“There was the opportunity this year to either do it or not do it, and I was just determined to do it,” Glass said.The special section will be known as the “Front Line,” staying consistent with the “Crimson Guard” student section mantra. Of the 7,800 student ticket allotment, about 1,000 seats make up the three “Front Line” sections.Glass said the idea for the section was largely accepted by men’s basketball coach Tom Crean, who has joined Glass in growing weary of empty student seats before tip-off. “I hate it, hate it, hate it when coach Crean comes out to engage the students, and they’re not there,” Glass said. “We’ve got a coach who wants to engage the students, embrace them and have them be a part of what makes Assembly Hall a really tough place to play for opponents.”The “Front Line” creation is just the latest of Glass’ efforts to change certain cultures around IU sports. With football, it has been about simply getting fans into the stadium. With basketball, Glass is more worried about when students arrive.“They come right before the game or maybe even a little late, and it’s just not creating the kind of environment we want to have,” he said.Certain issues, such as security and seat assignments, arose in discussing a general admission section in Assembly Hall. But as opposed to football, more basketball student tickets often sell than there are seats available in the section. There was also concern that students would be missing class to wait in line for good seats, but Glass said he wasn’t persuaded by the idea to protect students from themselves.“We should treat them as the young adults they are and not patronize them by saying they can’t handle the freedom of deciding whether or not they should wait in line,” Glass said.Glass said if the “Front Line” idea is wildly popular this season, he would be open to expanding the section in future seasons. He cautioned, however, that a primarily general admission section probably won’t come in the near future.“I’m a little afraid that if it was a pure first-come, first-serve, students might be more inclined to cherry-pick the games they want to go to, knowing that they can wait in line to get a good seat,” Glass said. “We might then see a significant drop-off in our overall sales.”
(09/24/10 4:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Just call Tom Crean the IU basketball CEO.In his third annual lecture Thursday at the IU Auditorium, the IU men’s basketball coach laid out the parables between his athletes and each of the at least 1,000 people in attendance. Like the top man of any company, Crean only wants great teammates and men who hate to lose. In his most passionate point of his 40-minute speech, he drove home what he expects from each of his student athletes.“We are all here to go above and beyond what people think we can do,” Crean said. “To go above and beyond what people thought we had the capabilities of back in high school. To go above and beyond what people think we should be capable of. I don’t want to be at an Indiana that’s like that. I want to be at an Indiana that’s getting ready to win championships again.”Crean said there are phases of the Hoosiers’ game that can help turn the program in that right direction. He started with decision making, challenging the team that averaged the most turnovers per game in the Big Ten to be one of its best passing teams.He also wants to see an improvement in defense, especially in rebounding. IU was second in the conference in offensive rebounding last season but seventh in defensive rebounding, which Crean called “pathetic.”But no matter how the team performs in the technical aspects of the game, Crean said there are things behind the stat line that his team has to fight through — division from within, outside forces and fatigue.Togetherness and cohesiveness, while deflecting outside influences, are what build winning programs, he said. Even referees can drive a wedge into a team, a fight Crean admitted he lost at one point last season.“Except for the Wisconsin game, I did OK with that,” he said about the game in which he was ejected for the first time as IU coach. “They got me that night. I couldn’t deal with it any longer.”Perhaps the Hoosiers’ biggest factor they must work against is the low expectations they face this year. “People have gotten used to seeing Indiana being down,” Crean said. “Our opponents, they don’t want to see it come back. The people that we deal with in this business and all the other fans that aren’t Indiana fans, they like to knock Indiana. They like Indiana coming off the losing seasons. They like the probation Indiana.”He added that the only reason others are getting joy out of the program’s situation is because it was once so prestigious. And although the climb back to the top will be — and has been — tough, he doesn’t want anybody who’s not willing to accept the challenge on his team.“I can’t stomach being around someone that doesn’t want to be in that fight,” he said.
(09/21/10 4:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Je’Ney Jackson has a vision he’d like to share. Similar to any strength and conditioning coach, he sees himself molding IU men’s basketball players into unbreakable frames of muscle. But differently than others in his position, he likes to break away from the weight room and onto the yoga mats.Jackson is a big believer in visualization. “If you see it happening good for you, then you can make it happen,” he said. So he puts his players in typical basketball positions and instructs them to silently visualize the poorest phase of their game. “If you’re a bad free throw shooter, focus on your breathing to shoot the free throw and be successful that way,” Jackson said. “Whatever is lacking or deficient in their game, that’s what I want them to focus on while we do those things.”Whether that will help a team that finished 10th in the Big Ten in free throw percentage last year is yet to be seen. But the bodily results are something he can measure right now. ***Jackson arrived at IU in July after former strength coach Jeff Watkinson left to be former Hoosier and current Los Angeles Clippers starting guard Eric Gordon’s personal trainer.He last served as secondary coach for the Southern Mississippi football team, and he was the strength coach for IU assistant Steve McClain of the University of Wyoming basketball team. Jackson wasn’t greeted with a large welcome party in Bloomington — just a group of men he needed to get into game shape.“As soon as I got here, I got in the facility, put my stuff down, grabbed my whistle and I was literally on the court working them out,” Jackson said.He put the players through a series of physical tests in his first week, and he saw a need to improve flexibility, balance and strength. To help bring his players’ athletic ability to its full potential, Jackson worked out a system to keep them and, most importantly, their muscles guessing. “I want every day to be something just a little bit different for them. Just to really keep them on their toes,” he said. So far the results are exactly what he wants to see. The too small are getting bigger, and the too big are getting smaller. For example, sophomore forwards Derek Elston and Christian Watford are 10-to-15 pounds heavier than last year’s official weight. “I looked at some tape from last season, and I was like, ‘Wow, we were thin,’” Jackson said. “But they were also really young. With each passing year, they’re going to mature and get bigger. They’re going to turn from young men into grown men.”Meanwhile, junior forward Tom Pritchard and sophomore forward Bobby Capobianco have slimmed down while packing on some extra muscle. While getting stronger in the inside is an evident need for a team that finished seventh in the Big Ten in defensive rebounding last season, the outside is not safe from Jackson’s regimen. Junior guard Verdell Jones, a slashing guard whose lanky body type could only benefit from added strength, said in August he put on about 15 pounds since the end of last season.After a summer of working with Jackson, Jones is happy with his situation.“He is pushing us like no other,” he said at the August press conference. “Every day we are doing ab workouts, and I’ve got a rock right here now. “We have been working hard with conditioning, tire flips, running stadium stairs. It feels like boot camp right now, but it will work out better for us in the long run.”For junior guard Matt Roth, getting back into game shape takes a different meaning. He missed all but two games last season with a broken bone in his foot, but he is through rehabbing the injury.Roth said Jackson brought with him a hard-nosed mind set, something formed from five years as a football positional coach with Kansas, serving three years as the cornerbacks coach.“Some of the stuff we do is more football-oriented, as far as things like explosive strength,” Roth said. “At the same time, it’s going to help you with basketball. You just don’t have pads on.”But getting stronger doesn’t end physically. Jackson said he expects this year’s team to be stronger mentally, being able to respond when an opposing team goes on a run or when a losing skid hits. “We go above and beyond every single day,” Jackson said. “So I’m proud as can be that none of our guys quit. None of them give in. None of them try taking an easy way out.”
(04/23/10 10:14pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Former IU left tackle Rodger Saffold was selected No. 33 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams.Saffold was projected to be a first round pick, but instead was the first pick of the second round. He will be in charge of protecting the Rams' No. 1 overall pick in Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford. Saffold allowed just one sack in his senior season at IU, and he started 41 games while appearing in 42 in his Hoosier career."The entire IU football program is very happy for Rodger Saffold,”IU coach Bill Lynch said in a statement. “Rodger was a mainstay on our offensive line and developed into an elite left tackle and one of our team captains. The St. Louis Rams are getting a tremendous football player and a young man who will represent the St. Louis organization in a first-class manner. We congratulate Rodger and look forward to watching his NFL career for many years to come."In the seventh and final round, former IU defensive lineman Jammie Kirlew was selected by the Denver Broncos with the 232nd overall pick. Kirlew was a vocal leader on the Hoosier defense, racking up 62 tackles and 6.5 sacks in his senior season.Later in the round, former IU wide receiver and cornerback Ray Fisher was selected by the hometown Indianapolis Colts with the 246th pick. Fisher made his name on special teams last season, scoring two return touchdowns in just nine games. Fisher missed the last three games of the year with a leg injury, and he finished with 40 tackles.“Congratulations to Jammie and Ray,” Lynch said. “It is a tremendous accomplishment for both of these young men. Jammie is one of the hardest-working players I have ever been around. Ray was a talented guy who played two positions at a very high level for us. We could not be happier to have three players taken in this year’s draft.”
(04/19/10 2:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A record 5,325 fans traveled to Memorial Stadium for the annual Cream and Crimson Spring Game on Saturday. But if they were looking for mistake-free football, they went to the wrong place.Seven total turnovers and nine punts highlighted Crimson’s 17-10 victory, something IU coach Bill Lynch attributed to the divided nature of a spring game.“Any time you split the team like that, it’s going to be a little bit sloppy compared to the rest of the spring,” Lynch said.Despite the mistakes, Lynch said the attitude on the sidelines was boisterous.“They were having a great time with it, and they’re going to be having a great time in the locker room, so that’s really what it’s about,” he said. “You just know it’s not going to be as clean as the normal practices, because you’ve got guys playing next to each other that they haven’t throughout the spring.” While Lynch and his staff tried their best to even the matchups, there were some discrepancies IU fans shouldn’t expect come fall. Senior quarterback Ben Chappell led the Crimson offense, but his top target — junior wide receiver Tandon Doss — donned the Cream outfit. The expected starting defensive tackles, sophomores Adam Replogle and Larry Black, clogged the middle for Crimson, rushing freshmen backup quarterbacks Edward Wright-Baker and Dusty Kiel.And the defense’s sheer knowledge of the offensive playbook made the job that much tougher for both teams. “They’ve gone against us for 14 practices before this, so they know when we’re going to run power left, I think,” Chappell said. That ability to quickly recognize a play was evident all night. Senior linebacker Jamie Lukaszewski led Cream with 11 tackles, while junior Fred Jones led the Crimson with three sacks. Still, some offensive players were able to break through for big nights. Freshman wide receiver Duwyce Wilson hauled in 5 catches for 65 yards, second in the game to Doss’ 6 catches for 67 yards. After redshirting last season, Wilson is ready to make an impact when it counts, Lynch said.“Duwyce has really had a great spring,” he said. “You just notice him. He’s a playmaker. He’s got great speed, he’s got good ball skills and he’s picked up the offense really well. He and Doss made plays all spring ... I think going into the fall we’ve got four real quality wide receivers.”Freshman running back Antonio Banks continued his impressive spring with 11 carries for a team-high 49 yards. Banks is one of two true freshmen competing in spring activities, and Lynch said he is sticking out.“Every day in the spring, he’d do something, and you kind of went, ‘He’s really going to be a good player,’” Lynch said. “Antonio had that kind of spring, and he had flashes of it today too.”Behind all the action, the record attendance made for a “tremendous” atmosphere, Lynch said. “It was a big day for us. We had a number of recruits on campus and certainly spent a lot of time with them throughout the afternoon,” he said. “I didn’t get out in the parking lot like I wanted to, but I heard it was a great time out there and a big crowd.”Chappell agreed with his coach, saying he loved having the Marching Hundred there to play the fight song and keep the fans buzzing.“It was awesome,” Chappell said. “Having people come out, playing in front of a crowd, that’s always fun. I thought it was really neat, and hopefully it will continue in the future.”
(04/18/10 10:12pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A record 5,325 fans traveled to Memorial Stadium for the annual Cream and Crimson Spring Game on Saturday. But if they were looking for mistake-free football, they went to the wrong place.Seven total turnovers and nine punts highlighted Crimson’s 17-10 victory, something IU coach Bill Lynch attributed to the divided nature of a spring game.“Any time you split the team like that, it’s going to be a little bit sloppy compared to the rest of the spring,” Lynch said.Despite the mistakes, Lynch said the attitude on the sidelines was boisterous.“They were having a great time with it, and they’re going to be having a great time in the locker room, so that’s really what it’s about,” he said. “You just know it’s not going to be as clean as the normal practices, because you’ve got guys playing next to each other that they haven’t throughout the spring.” While Lynch and his staff tried their best to even the matchups, there were some discrepancies IU fans shouldn’t expect come fall. Senior quarterback Ben Chappell led the Crimson offense, but his top target — junior wide receiver Tandon Doss — donned the Cream outfit. The expected starting defensive tackles, sophomores Adam Replogle and Larry Black, clogged the middle for Crimson, rushing freshmen backup quarterbacks Edward Wright-Baker and Dusty Kiel.And the defense’s sheer knowledge of the offensive playbook made the job that much tougher for both teams. “They’ve gone against us for 14 practices before this, so they know when we’re going to run power left, I think,” Chappell said. That ability to quickly recognize a play was evident all night. Senior linebacker Jamie Lukaszewski led Cream with 11 tackles, while junior Fred Jones led the Crimson with three sacks. Still, some offensive players were able to break through for big nights. Freshman wide receiver Duwyce Wilson hauled in 5 catches for 65 yards, second in the game to Doss’ 6 catches for 67 yards. After redshirting last season, Wilson is ready to make an impact when it counts, Lynch said.“Duwyce has really had a great spring,” he said. “You just notice him. He’s a playmaker. He’s got great speed, he’s got good ball skills and he’s picked up the offense really well. He and Doss made plays all spring ... I think going into the fall we’ve got four real quality wide receivers.”Freshman running back Antonio Banks continued his impressive spring with 11 carries for a team-high 49 yards. Banks is one of two true freshmen competing in spring activities, and Lynch said he is sticking out.“Every day in the spring, he’d do something, and you kind of went, ‘He’s really going to be a good player,’” Lynch said. “Antonio had that kind of spring, and he had flashes of it today too.”Behind all the action, the record attendance made for a “tremendous” atmosphere, Lynch said. “It was a big day for us. We had a number of recruits on campus and certainly spent a lot of time with them throughout the afternoon,” he said. “I didn’t get out in the parking lot like I wanted to, but I heard it was a great time out there and a big crowd.”Chappell agreed with his coach, saying he loved having the Marching Hundred there to play the fight song and keep the fans buzzing.“It was awesome,” Chappell said. “Having people come out, playing in front of a crowd, that’s always fun. I thought it was really neat, and hopefully it will continue in the future.”
(04/16/10 3:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>If you are looking for attendance numbers from previous IU spring games, don’t bother — they aren’t there. But Athletics Director Fred Glass can give you a pretty good idea of the scene. “You weren’t likely to get run over in the concourse or anything,” Glass said. Pat Kraft, senior assistant athletics director for marketing, can only speculate. He said the highest attendance he remembers was about 3,000 people, but he doesn’t think the department ever recorded hard numbers. “That just goes to show how it was kind of like, ‘Whatever,’” Kraft said. The Kraft of changeGlass, Kraft and the rest of the administration have two goals with the annual Cream and Crimson Spring Game: create a festive atmosphere and create traditions similar to those of basketball’s Hoosier Hysteria.An IU linebacker from 1997-99, Kraft said he knows firsthand how barren the Memorial Stadium stands can be for April action. “I’ve played in spring games where the parents were the only ones there,” Kraft said. Now a member of the athletics department since June, Kraft said the front office can no longer accept that. “We really haven’t put 100 percent into it from an administration standpoint. No one’s fault of their own, it’s just times have changed,” he said.In changing the culture of a program, the administration has to be willing to think outside the box, Glass said. Last season, coinciding with the new North End Zone facility, Glass added game-day experiences such as Kick for Keeps and Knothole Park to regular-season games. He also lowered student ticket prices to $5 for all games. The changes left an impressionable mark on the season. Average attendance in 2009 spiked to 41,833 people per game, 10,051 more than 2008 and the highest average since 1992.Glass said making the moves at IU was different than it would have been somewhere else. “I said, ‘You know what? We’ll take some chances. What am I going to do, make the 30,000 people there mad?’” he said. “It’s not like Michigan. Those guys might not want to take chances because they might make 110,000 people mad.“I’m willing to color outside the lines a little bit,” he said.Not just a spring flingNow, Glass said, the same decisions have to be made to turn the spring game into a must-see event. But before such a big change can happen, the department is making small changes.During the game, the scoreboard and corresponding video board will be on. The Marching Hundred will play, and fans are permitted to bring their dogs to the stadium. The Hoosiers’ new uniforms will also be unveiled Saturday, set up on mannequins throughout the stadium. But that’s where the small changes end and the bigger vision begins.The stadium’s east side — where fans are asked to sit — will be split into Cream and Crimson sides. Fans will know their side when they arrive, as — depending on which gate they enter — the first 3,000 fans will receive a free cream or crimson T-shirt. As each side scores or makes a stop, crimson- or cream-clad fans will win a prize. Fans will have a chance to text plays in, either helping their own team or sabotaging the other. Random prizes — including an opportunity to kick from the 40-yard line for a year’s free tuition — will be awarded throughout the game. Kraft said he hopes the division and desire for free things will create a friendly competitive atmosphere and establish new traditions. “We really said, ‘OK, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to focus around this game.’ And guess what? We’re going to do it next year,” Kraft said. “You’ve got to start somewhere. “We talk about changing the culture, and it’s believing in success, saying ‘It’s Indiana, we’re going to go root for them and have fun.’” Kraft said he’s been asked questions about how the department will bring basketball back. The 100-plus years of traditions will get that program back on track, but football doesn’t have that luxury, he said. “When we go to a bowl game this year, is the culture going to be changed? No,” Kraft said. “When we go to two bowl games back-to-back, is it going to be changed? No, but we’re getting there.“To me, it’s consistency, it’s focus and dedication.” All their work, though, couldn’t prevent mother nature from running its course. Kraft said the weather trumps anything else in fans’ decision-making, and the staff is praying for a clear night. Even if dark clouds hover over the stadium, Glass said he has a plan to bring — and keep — the festivities in the stands.“We’re not going to let it rain,” he said.
(04/16/10 3:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Throughout spring practice, IU coach Bill Lynch has been looking for his top 50 players.He’ll get a more finalized list after the Hoosiers’ annual Cream and Crimson Spring Game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.“You need to know when you come out of spring who the guys are that you can really count on,” Lynch said.Still, Lynch said he doesn’t want to put too much stock into players’ performances during the spring game because it is a different animal than practice.“You always want to see how they perform with some people in the stands,” Lynch said. “Some of them will be out here on the field for the first time with people in the stands, regardless of how many.”If IU Athletics had its way, the younger players would have some crowd noise problems to worry about. Senior quarterback Ben Chappell has heard of the department’s plans to get fans to the game, and he said he’d love to have the student support.“It’d be really neat,” Chappell said. “I know a lot of other schools do. If the weather is like this, it’d be a fun day to come watch.”The Hoosiers will be split into two teams for Saturday’s game, with the coaching staff trying to get the most even matchups possible. But Lynch said choosing who plays where is anything but an exact science.“One night, I was doodling with the depth chart, and I just kind of split it up,” Lynch said. “I threw it at the staff, and we made a couple of adjustments just to make sure we had the right numbers. I guess you could say I did it this year.”The installation of new defensive wrinkles was another of the Hoosiers’ biggest goals this spring. Lynch likened the moves to last spring, when the team put in the pistol offense. IU made the changes this year to accommodate new personnel.Senior safety Mitchell Evans, sidelined by a hip injury all spring, said it’s been a challenge learning the new schemes.“We have a lot of spots to fill on our defense,” Evans said. “We have to have people to step up and make plays next year, and that’s what we’re trying to find out in the spring.”While the spring game will be a necessary coaching tool as the staff figures out who will play where, Lynch said Saturday should be all about the players.“I want them to play hard, get excited and have fun playing football,” he said. “I think we’ve had a great spring, and I think we’ve gotten a lot done.”
(04/12/10 3:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For someone who should be in high school, Antonio Banks is measuring up well on a college field. The 18-year-old running back from Middletown, Ohio, ran for a team-high 42 yards on 10 carries in the Hoosiers’ second spring scrimmage Saturday morning at Memorial Stadium. He added 20 yards and a touchdown on 4 carries in red-zone drills. But Banks, one of four members of the Hoosiers’ 2010 signing class participating in spring practice, said he had his mind on the one mistake he made. Midway through the scrimmage, senior linebacker Jeff Thomas — a junior college transfer and another 2010 signee — forced Banks to fumble the ball after a four-yard gain. “I thought I did all right after the fumble,” Banks said. “After the fumble, I got mad because coach Springer doesn’t like us fumbling. So I put it on myself to run harder.” The hard running caught the eye of IU running backs coach Dennis Springer, and while he indeed isn’t a fan of fumbles, he’s been impressed with Banks’ progression.“He came in with a lot of natural ability, and he’s fitting in well,” Springer said. “He’s running behind his pads very well, and more and more, he’s seeing the cuts and making the cuts a lot better than he did earlier in the spring.” Although Banks’ cuts and broken tackles helped him shine, injuries to those ahead of him on the depth chart turned on the spotlight. Prospective No. 1 running back sophomore Darius Willis was out with a hip injury, and three others were out with ankle or toe injuries. Only senior Trea Burgess and freshman Nick Turner joined Banks in the distribution of carries. “I thought all three probably got the same number, it just seemed like Antonio showed up,” IU coach Bill Lynch said.Lynch cautioned, though, that Banks’ performance could be skewed to the naked eye.“Right after a scrimmage you never get too excited because you never know who’s going against who,” he said. “Sometimes you get some mismatches in the line ... and that’s why the video is so good.”Once fall begins, Banks will have plenty of company vying for competitive playing time. IU currently boasts six other running backs on the roster, and the rest of the incoming class only adds to the mix. Maine South (Ill.) running back Matt Perez, Chicago Tribune’s 2009 High School Football Player of the Year, tops that list.Banks, meanwhile, comes with little fanfare. A two-star recruit by Rivals, he ran for 1,023 yards and 17 touchdowns his senior year. While he was Middletown High School’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 2005, his numbers are far from Perez’s 2,246 yards and 34 touchdowns. Still, Banks said if he continues to study the playbook and continue his hard-nosed style of running, he will have a chance to play on Saturdays. Springer agreed, and he kept his advice for Banks simple. “Just keep doing what he’s doing,” Springer said. “You never know how things are going to shake out in the fall, but if he keeps competing like he is, you never know what’s going to happen.”