Leaderboard

Was speaking with someone at the race this weekend who went to some spring practices and would know what he’s watching. Among other things that many on here and in the fanbase are aware of, he hit me with a take that Turbo is every bit as good as Hemby/Black with potential to be more dynamic. That room is going to be a load and none of them are one year guys unless someone(s) goes to the draft.

Really excited for him and his family. Hope he grabs that spot and holds onto it. But there are a lot of young guys there that can play so no guarantees. (As it should be) I was personally shocked we didn’t get an experienced guy too, which, I guess says a lot. He’s a smart kid, he’s a big kid, he’s a very athletic kid. No reason he can’t be successful. He was pretty dominant in the HS landscape. Was a good baseball player, basketball player too. Needs to stay healthy. Would personally love to see him and Nowakowski race in the 60. Riley was sneaky fast. He was so good. And apparently Brock is watching and learning all that film.

Appreciate the local insight you have for this player! It is a pretty perfect situation for him; He gets to be close to home, Transfers to one of the very few programs where there is no dropoff in accomplishment compared to Miami, and Plugs in at one of the VERY few places that Cig and staff are willing to start someone that is inexperienced. The staff must like either him (or maybe Barker/Thiry) a ton to leave that position to a young player.

I think he misses Indiana/friends/family. Has a lot of friends at Indiana U. Sets up to be the perfect environment for his family to watch his games in person. From what I heard this was decided around Thanksgiving break/Christmas break time.

He does not have any eligibility left. He’s one that put his name in the portal looking to get an extra year but will not.

Three legit starter-level B1G running backs will certainly come in handy when one of them inevitably gets banged up or worse also. The situational versatility each of those three bring along with just being able to give it to the hottest hand on any given weekend is pretty incredible.

#361 - ties him with Joe DiMaggio!

Quite the outlier at #1.

Absolute Cig player.

I just cannot imagine, with the extraordinary defense we're bringing back, how it will feel to be down three or four touchdowns to us in the third quarter when we bring in our current third string running back, the guy that was even in competition for playing time last year with Kaelon; Lee Beebe Jr.

5'10.5", 210 for a running back. That's prototypical IU bellcow running back size. #478 national composite recruit. Really good get. https://247sports.com/player/dajon-rhodes-46158176/

An outstanding, extended interview with Brock Schott, who I assume will be the starting tight end:

Not many options. Looks like Euros who have played professionally at a high level are off the table and 5for5 doesn't apply to kids who graduated this year. The transfer portal is pretty much depleted. Only a couple who interest me for what we need: Emeka Opurum- 7'0" from Auburn who we were involved with last year as a juco. Only problem is he sat out last year with a heart condition. Supposedly has been medically cleared to play and visited N.C. State last weekend. Hamad Mousa-6'8" from Cal Poly a high scoring wing and great shooter. Just not sure about the level of competition but Michigan and Kentucky have been involved.

NBA analysis of the year by Iman Shumpert on NBA Today: Talking about Kenny Atkinson’s “Analytically we should be up” comments Shumpert replied, “I know he’s trying to encourage them with this analytics talk. But they don’t need encouragement, they need a foot in they a$$,” Indeed

Crap, is this all the faster this thing will go?

4* out of DC. He's announcing June 3rd. He recently moved up his official visit with us to this weekend. So, if one connects the dots here we've got a good chance. https://www.on3.com/rivals/dajon-talley-rhodes-269709/

Ferrari makes some finely sculpted machines, but that's ugly. Not cybertruck ugly, but still bad.

Thanks for the insight. I didn't expect him to say anything bad about Miami in the interview, but he never gave any hints why he hit the portal just that IU was the place he wanted to be when transferring. Really glad it worked out for him and his family. Sometimes a kid thinks they want to go far from home, but when they get there even if the sport is everything they wanted it to be (high level program, great coaching, winning culture) it still may not be the right fit. My niece is an example of that. She had it all but missed home, her boyfriend, and having a life that being a student athlete doesn't allow for at times. She was playing a big role on her team too, so it wasn't due to utilization or unhappiness with coaching. Coaches loved her she loved them. It was unfortunate but she was able to concentrate on school more, take in person classes again, and change her major to something she actually wanted to pursue instead of just doing a major that her sport allowed for due to practice time and scheduling. Fit is incredibly important along with the athlete's mental health. Glad he's a Hoosier!

Don’t tease me.

I’m confident the plan for kids like him is to wait out 5 in 5 and if it’s enacted they then sue for the 5th year to be retroactive for them. I get the argument that the ‘21 kids get jobbed because they’re the 1 recent class that wouldn’t get a 5th year via either Covid or the new rules. And you know what? I don’t care. At some point you have to get this deal systematized and it’s now. And yet I’m completely confident that one of these kids will find some judge that’ll buy that argument and stay the new rules and here we go again. I assume the unfilled roster slot is in anticipation of that exact eventuality.

Mike Walz from Richmond? 6’11-260, avg 8p 6r last year in 21-22mpg while shooting 38.5% from 3pt

It's not, or so I have heard....Rumors are it's about 70% to scale. Churchill Downs and the Rose Bowl are bigger than that, but the place is massive and the picture is terrific. I went to my 4..... I won't date myself THAT much but I haven't missed a race since the year Tom Sneva won. The middle of the race is still a drag sometimes and was yesterday..until the red flag. I was happy to see them racing at 219-220 rather than 213 like last year. That was a race....and an incredible show. The second flyover was one of the most awesome things I've ever seen. F-16's flying east to west right at the crowd in the main front straightaway grandstand with after burners on. As my college aged kids said, it was "sick."

It would be a better get if the dude was eligible.

I don't disagree at all, and my mind just doesn't work like that. If Kansas is guaranteeing playing time to an 18 year old kid in that conference, they won't win 4 games. Impatience almost always has consequences.

After Game 1 the guy said he didn’t sub an obviously completely gassed Harden late because “He was 1 of our best defenders.” Actually said that. So, maybe he just doesn’t understand which end they play “defense” on.

The Knicks shoot 56% from the floor in game three. Atkinson attributes it to “the Knicks outperforming analytical expectations.” I attribute it to “shitty defense.”

My 25th 500 was, start to finish, probably the best one I’ve ever seen. What an absolute show.

Fowler and Gus are all-time greats that are in their prime. Keith Jackson is the all-time great for his era.

….get the feeling that he sees IU “up ahead at the next exit”. I think his mind said KU, but his heart is IU.

The best case for optimism with this year's IU team? Every single one of them are multi-year players, and will be joined by Branham. So let's get us in the tourney and trending upward, and rollin 2027-28.

A 12.3 seconds 100m leg is pretty meh/average for a high school track athlete. A 12.3 seconds 100m is extraordinary for a 290 lb offensive lineman. I mean, really extraordinary.

Ok, 90% of folks know this from Aerosmith’s really strong version. 9.5% know it from the bada$$ version by The Yardbirds. I love theirs, but I’d always thought that was the original. No, it’s this thing. This wicked little rockabilly raver by this dude. Awesome. And you know a song is legit great when you have 3 wildly different renderings and they all kick a$$. .

Our recruiting pitch: "Hey Aaron; we've got a super-duper-hot idea! You've been the third big off of the bench for three straight years. IU wants you! ... to be our third big off of the bench."