Class of '66 Old Fart

No rest for the weary. On paper, Illinois sucks but it's a road game, no Mackenzie Holmes and potential for a letdown following Sunday's sweep of PUke. GO HOOSIERS. No. 7/6 Indiana travels to Illinois on Wednesday night in an 8 p.m. ET matchup at State Farm Center. #7/6 INDIANA (16-3, 8-1 B1G) AT ILLINOIS (6-12 1-6 B1G) Wednesday, February 9, 2022 • 8 p.m. ET State Farm Center • Champaign, Ill. Broadcast: B1G+ Radio: WHCC 105.1 FM (Austin Render) Live Stats: FightingIllini.com Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram ABOUT THE COACHES Indiana Illinois Teri Moren Nancy Fahey Career Record: 363-213 (19th Season) Career Record: 778-224 (36th Season) Indiana Record: 164-83 (8th Season) Illinois Record: 41-91 (5th Season) ABOUT THE FIGHTING ILLINI Illinois came off a three-game COVID-19 pause on Sunday as it fell at Wisconsin, 70-62. They have lost four-straight heading into Wednesday's matchup, winning its only Big Ten game against the Badgers at home on Jan. 9. Sophomore guard Aaliyah Nye leads the way with 11.2 points per game while sophomore forward Kendall Bostic is one of the league's best rebounders with 11.9 boards per game. The Illini average 65.3 points per game and shoot 40.1 percent from the floor. SERIES HISTORY Indiana leads 45-30 LAST MEETING 2/14/21 – W, 58-50 (Champaign, Ill.) NOTES The Hoosiers hold a 12-game win streak over the Illini, its longest current win streak over any other Big Ten foe. The streak dates back to the 2013-14 season. IU started a new win streak last week as it recorded wins over Minnesota and Purdue to improve to 16-3 overall this season and 8-1 in the Big Ten. In her last three games, graduate student guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary averaged 16.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.3 steals and shot 45 percent from the floor and 50 percent at the 3-point line. Sophomore guard Chloe Moore-McNeil is coming off her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds against Purdue. She set new career-highs in both categories in the win as she went for 4-for-7 from the floor and hit a pair of triples. UP NEXT Returning home on Saturday, Indiana will host Michigan State at 3 p.m. ET. The game will be the annual Head to the Hall game where tickets for all fans are $1.

Remained at #6 in the Coaches Poll

Rivals updated its rankings for the '22 class. If you missed it in Jalen's thread, he's now a 5-star. 2022 OFFERS Rivals Top 150 - 06.16.21 Rivals Top 150 - 08.25.21 Rivals Top 150 - 02.08.22 Rivals +/- Jalen Hood-Schifino 32 20 16 +4 Kaleb Banks 129 121 128 -7 C. J. Gunn 149 Unrated Unrated

CVCA with a home game tonight against Orrville HS (Orrville, OH ring any bells?). The game will be streamed and this is the link. athletics.cvcaroyals.org/livestream 7:00 scheduled tipoff. The link will take you to NFHSnetwork.com but I believe you'll be able to watch the game complete with audio at no charge. At least this is how it worked for his previous home game.

Alec Lasley - Indiana signee Jalen Hood-Schifino has now moved up to a five-star prospect and the No. 16 overall player in the Rivals150 class of 2022 rankings.

Our home game against Wisconsin on Tuesday, Feb. 15, at 9 p.m. has been set for TV on ESPN2.

Alec Lasley -- 2022 signee and Montverde (@MVABasketball) guard Jalen Hood-Schifino led the NIBC in assists per game (5.2) and was second in steals per game (2.2) this season.

In the New Albany game, Booker played 15 min. scoring 4 pts. on 2-8 FG; 0-4 on 3s; 0 FT; 3 reb; 1 asst; 1 stl; 3 blk; 2 TO.

Tucker 16 pts. in a 72-57 win over Gleneig Country School.

Heads up for anyone planning to attend. This from Indiana Basketball Hoosiers headed to Welsh-Ryan Arena. All guests ages five & older are required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination OR negative COVID-19 PCR or rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours of the event.

From @IBS_Stats

An update from Raby this a.m. that Gunn was 5-10 on 3-point shots.

Lawrence North on the road at Carmel and Carmel jumped out to an early double digit lead and led 27-12 at the half. Gunn held to 3 pts. After 3 it was a 47-29 Carmel lead; Gunn up to 11 pts. LN made a strong 4th Q run but too little too late and Carmel won 68-61. Gunn finished with 27p 3r 3s. LN had no answer for Pete Suder (Bellarmine commit). He scored 13 of Carmel's 19 third Q points and at one time had 32 pts. on 9-9 on 2s; 2-3 on 3s and 8-8 on FT.

https://www.richmondobserver.com/sports/item/15019-paul-mcneil-the-official-richmond-county-male-athlete-of-the-week.html

Capsule summary of how our outbound transfers are doing this season. https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/checking-in-on-the-transfers-a-look-at-how-former-iu-basketball-players-are-performing/?fbclid=IwAR0vDtRq8is7KT3NDDsTkEo_67TzszghBgguhADd8tJ-SVM84B5JtwNjzW0

A skunk smells its own odor first !! lol

Slipped to #7 in the AP Poll.

Don't make me use this!

NO!

Stockrisers.com I made a trip down to Indy on Jan. 24 for the Indianapolis City Championship, thinking it was going to be headlined by Top-100 junior Xavier Booker. Unfortunately, Booker saw limited minutes in the win for Cathedral Prep. But man, in the limited minutes for the 6’10, 210-pound forward, his major potential and freak athleticism were put on display. I watched the Indiana big man on multiple occasions including last Spring and this past Summer, and most recently after seeing his limited minutes in that championship game, Booker has also made some huge physical improvements. He looked like he added a few more pounds and looked even more versatile running down the floor. Yes, I would’ve loved to see more game action for the Top-100 prospect, but, it was good to see that he’s in the weight room getting his body right as the end of the season is near and AAU ball is approaching for the talented junior. With Cathedral being very balanced this year, Booker has seen 19.4 minutes of game action per game and is still putting up very nice numbers which include 12.5 points and nearly 6.5 rebounds per game. College coaches are extremely interested in the dynamic four-man and the list of schools continues to grow. He most recently saw himself on Indiana’s campus, as well as Notre Dame’s campus, both were visits of the unofficial capacity. It’s currently TBD as to when Booker will begin taking his official visits, but, he dove into that in his interview with Stockrisers.com. Which schools are heavily involved in your recruitment? “Notre Dame, Indiana, Xavier, Michigan, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Ohio State, Purdue, and Illinois.” Any new schools? “Not right now. I expect it to pick up during the summer.” What’s Indiana’s pitch and your relationship with Mike Woodson? “The pitch really is them wanting me to just keep developing my body and my skills and just growing as an individual. They want me ready as soon as I come in (not committed) and they talk all the time about how they need a big who can space the floor, put it on the floor, shoot, defend, and of course finish. They think I would fit in perfectly. My relationship with Coach Woodson is pretty good, he checks in on me every week and he calls me sometimes, they are normally great conversations.” Notre Dame’s pitch? “It’s pretty much the exact same thing [As Indiana] but, I really like and have a great relationship with Coach Soloman, the assistant coach, and Coach Brey as well.” Is Michigan State still heavily involved? “They are heavily involved, as well. Coach Montgomery reaches out the most and Coach Izzo reaches out sometimes as well.” Current visit plans? “I don’t have any scheduled as of now but I will start taking officials when my season is over.” A full breakdown of your game? “I would say I’m a stretch-four type of big. I like to shoot the three and my mid-range pull-up is becoming really good. I like putting the ball on the floor, I can break my defender down really well for someone my height. I’m a very good playmaker also, I see the floor very well and know how to set my teammates up. My post-game is pretty strong too. When I’m attacking the rim I rarely ever get stopped because I use my height and length to my advantage. My IQ is going up over time and as I learn more about the game and learn how to deal with certain situations, but, I would say I have a pretty high IQ.” Goals for AAU basketball this year? “Just improve my game in every aspect. I'm good at a lot of thing but you can always be better and I am going to be working to earn more offers from schools like Duke and Kentucky. Also, just getting stronger physically.” Early commitment timeline? “Undecided right now, but, probably when I just know the time is right.” What are you looking for in a college program? “Somewhere I know I’ll fit into every aspect of the school. I want to have a family type of bond with the coaches and players and I wanna go somewhere where I know I’ll be able to play right away. Obviously, it takes work, but just a coach who believes in my ability and lets me play my game, and doesn’t limit me. Also somewhere the education is very high level.”

Stockrisers.com Arguably the nation’s top-ranked junior, Kwame Evans Jr, tells Stockrisers.com that he will be visiting Indiana once the high school season is over. The dynamic 6’10 prospect had originally planned on taking his official visit to Bloomington this month, but, with the season progressing quickly, he has decided to wait till the end of his season with Montverde Academy. That was the lone official visit he had set and planned, but, with the rescheduling of that visit, he has also said he also plans on visiting Oregon after the high school season. In addition, Evans Jr. also says the following schools remain in the mix: Kentucky, Auburn, Oregon, Indiana, Texas. New schools include Alabama, Gonzaga, and UCLA. (UCLA offered five days ago) When it comes to Evans Jr. you’re getting just an overall gifted prospect on both ends of the floor. He continues to build his consistency from three-point range, still can guard multiple positions, and is a menace on the boards. In addition, Evans Jr. continues to be an underrated playmaker and his court vision is improving all season long. He has been very vocal also on the fact that he remains in the weight room and is continuing to strengthen his body as his junior season is winding down and bringing him nearly just one year away from being in college. Look for one of 2023’s top-rated prospects to continue reeling in offers and stay on the lookout for possible visit dates in the works as the season continues to move along.

IU Baseball opens its season on the 18th in Clemson, SC. This IUBB team is an enigma / inconsistent / puzzling / frustrating / maddening / driving me to drink (more) / all of the above. Northwestern (11-10) (4-8) but has won its last 2 games -- 79-78 in OT over Rutgers at home and 87-63 on the road at Nebraska. Can we put 2 good halves together on the road? Radio Live Stats

On Saturday, New Albany (14-2) defeated Cathedral (14-5) 48-46. Booker 4 pts. all in the first half.