IndyHutch

Just a head's up to everyone but tonight's soccer exhibition game with Valparaiso scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Bloomington has been moved to Westfield, Ind., just north of Indy.   It still starts at 7:30 and it's free to the public.   Apparently heavy rain in Bloomington Sunday forced Armstrong Stadium to not be playable today or t least that's what the press release said.   The address in Westfield is:   Grand Park 711 E. 191st Street Westfield, Indiana

That story should be posted in a few minutes.

I'm actually writing an analysis piece on it right now. Hope to have it posted soon.

Missile Command

I'm old. MASH Happy Days Gilligan's Island

  The reality there is I probably won't have it today or this weekend. I've spent my entire week trying to meet a deadline for my latest book on IU basketball that is supposed to be this fall. It all has to be done by tomorrow. And so to be honest that has been taking the majority of my focus.    Just trust me that I won't forget about those questions and when I have a chance to talk to the right person within the program that I trust I'll get the best answers I can find for you.

Sage is the absolute best. I knew her when she was at WISH-8 in Indy, and last year when she was being honored at IU, she had some free time in the late morning and spent an hour with my students in my Sportswriting class I teach at IU. Sage is one of the good ones.

  We're all good.

  I can't say one way or the other about any delegation traveling to Boston. IU plays that pretty close to the vest. You would almost have to know someone who was in that delegation to get that info. But as far as the intel, that's what I've been hearing for some time now and that's that Stevens is happy where he is at. I think he sees that as an opportunity that he wants to see through.

  CCG,   Thanks for having my back. This has been a good community building exercise.

  Jason Hiner wrote the Encyclopedia of Indiana University Basketball that came out around 2003. In 2013, his publisher wanted him to update the book but for whatever reason he wasn't interested. That asked him to recommend someone to do it in his place and he suggested me. And so I wrote the next 10 seasons or so and that's why my name is on the cover for the second edition which came out in the summer of 2013. All of that said, he's a tough guy to find. He's one of those guys that sometimes I think he doesn't want to be found. I don't have a number on him. I'll look around and if I can find an email or something I'll send it to you in a direct message through the site.

At Indiana Football Media Day Saturday in Bloomington, Btownbanners had a chance to sit down for a few minutes with IU offensive coordinator Kevin Johns and ask a few questions about quarterback Nate Sudfeld and the IU wide receiving corps in particular. Here is the result of that interview. TERRY HUTCHENS: Nate says he’s been feeling close to 100 percent since early summer and some of these guys, receiver wise, are talking about how he is throwing the ball. What have been your impressions so far? KEVIN JOHNS: I think that he’s back. I think he is physically throwing the ball as well as he has ever thrown it. The injury being his non-throwing shoulder helped a lot so he didn’t lose a lot of development in the passing game. So he’s doing well. I think the thing that is different with Nate is that he just has a different focus this year, a sense of urgency if you will. It’s pretty cool. I’ve never seen him have it. He’s on the field. He’s into it. His freshman year I would always challenge him. He would be good for a 15-minute period of 7-on-7 and then by the team he got to the end of team he was drifting. He wasn’t as good. Now he’s taking every rep with an extreme focus on his game. That’s where I think he is more different than anything else since his injury. HUTCHENS: Is that a senior thing though? Do you see that with a lot of kids? JOHNS: Yeah, I do. I think they realize that they’re almost out of time. ‘Oh my gosh, I used to have four years and now I have three or four months.’ So yeah, I think with seniors they have a sense of urgency and they recognize that it’s my time now and there’s no one else that’s going to lead this team if I don’t do it. So there is a different sense of urgency. HUTCHENS: Nate has said in the past few weeks that this is the deepest wide receiver corps he has had and at the same time it’s the land of opportunity at that position. You have so many guys battling. Is the competition in that room as good as it appears to be from the outside? JOHNS: Yes. It’s phenomenal and I think there are as many guys who are capable of playing than we’ve ever had. They don’t have game experience like you said but Nate has been throwing with these guys for a long time. On paper it may not look like we have seasoned veterans but in his mind he has guys that he feels comfortable with and has a good chemistry with. I know he’s excited. And I’m excited, too, as the receivers coach. Any time there’s a chance for new guys to take the field that no one has ever heard of before and they can go out and have some success it can be good for those young guys who have worked so hard. HUTCHENS: Can some of these freshmen play right away, you think? What’s your early impression of a guy like Nick Westbrook for example? JOHNS: As for your first question, yes. But without singling any of them out, just as a whole I think they are all kids, and again you’re looking at four new freshmen, you’re looking at Camion Patrick, you’re looking at Luke Timian who has joined our team (a transfer from Oklahoma State), Marqui Hawkins, all of those kids are physically ready to play. And at receiver that is big. Shane Wynn came in at 150 pounds. Now that’s hard to play your freshman year at 150. These kids are 190, 200 pounds and that’s where they’re different more than anything else. They’re a smart group, they’re hungry, they’re learning. I think they all have a chance to play and at the same time there are some more guys who want those jobs, too. It’s going to be an interesting competition. HUTCHENS: You never want to see anyone get hurt, but when J-Shun Harris gets hurt early enough in the summer does that help you a little bit in terms of preparing for life without him for the 2015 season? JOHNS: No doubt about it. And again for us, we hate to lose J-Shun and as a team we hate to see anyone go through an injury like that. But at the same time we have pieces in place with guys that should be able to pick up the flag and keep us going. We hate to lose him but it certainly has helped with the freshmen, with Luke Timian, Mitchell Paige, Damon Graham, those guys have been taking a lot of reps for a long time with Nate in the slot. So I think Nate feels comfortable with whoever steps out there. HUTCHENS: Ricky Jones said he’s 100 percent healthy for the first time in his career to start a season. What’s the ceiling for a player like that? JOHNS: Well, I know for him there’s a huge smile on his face because what you just said. He gets a chance to go play football healthy and for him it has been a long time coming. I think he has a huge ceiling, and more than anything else he’s one of those guys that coming into last few years of football he has a chance to go out and show the things he knew he could do three years ago but the injuries have just held him back. I think Nate feels good with him, all the quarterbacks feel good with him. For me, I look at him in that room as the old guys who has been with me a while. He doesn’t have a ton of game reps, but he has been with me and he can lead some of those younger guys. HUTCHENS: This is my observation and maybe it’s not accurate but I’d like your take. Two years ago you had guys that could really go up and get the ball. Maybe last year not so much. But with this group, do you have those kinds of guys again or is that still going to be a challenge? JOHNS: No I don’t think it will be as much of a challenge. We have some taller and longer guys than maybe we had a year ago. Actually a year ago I liked those guys a lot but we just went through some injuries that hurt us. We were playing a lot of young guys for the first time and it’s hard to play as a true freshman when you’re playing the majority of plays. You can play as a freshman in spot play or play half a game but when you have to go play 80 plays against Ohio State that’s not easy. But I think this year we are taller, we are longer and we are more physically built that we were a year ago. I think it’s a different type of body that we can have this year but I think we can do it. I think we can go up and make those types of plays this year. @IndySportsHutch

Kevin Johns is in his fifth year with Indiana, the last two as the primary offensive coordinator. Saturday, he sat down with Btownbanners for a quick 5-minute interview during IU Football Media Day.At Indiana Football Media Day Saturday in Bloomington, Btownbanners had a chance to sit down for a few minutes with IU offensive coordinator Kevin Johns and ask a few questions about quarterback Nate Sudfeld and the IU wide receiving corps in particular. Here is the result of that interview. TERRY HUTCHENS: Nate says he’s been feeling close to 100 percent since early summer and some of these guys, receiver wise, are talking about how he is throwing the ball. What have been your impressions so far? KEVIN JOHNS: I think that he’s back. I think he is physically throwing the ball as well as he has ever thrown it. The injury being his non-throwing shoulder helped a lot so he didn’t lose a lot of development in the passing game. So he’s doing well. I think the thing that is different with Nate is that he just has a different focus this year, a sense of urgency if you will. It’s pretty cool. I’ve never seen him have it. He’s on the field. He’s into it. His freshman year I would always challenge him. He would be good for a 15-minute period of 7-on-7 and then by the team he got to the end of team he was drifting. He wasn’t as good. Now he’s taking every rep with an extreme focus on his game. That’s where I think he is more different than anything else since his injury. HUTCHENS: Is that a senior thing though? Do you see that with a lot of kids? JOHNS: Yeah, I do. I think they realize that they’re almost out of time. ‘Oh my gosh, I used to have four years and now I have three or four months.’ So yeah, I think with seniors they have a sense of urgency and they recognize that it’s my time now and there’s no one else that’s going to lead this team if I don’t do it. So there is a different sense of urgency. HUTCHENS: Nate has said in the past few weeks that this is the deepest wide receiver corps he has had and at the same time it’s the land of opportunity at that position. You have so many guys battling. Is the competition in that room as good as it appears to be from the outside? JOHNS: Yes. It’s phenomenal and I think there are as many guys who are capable of playing than we’ve ever had. They don’t have game experience like you said but Nate has been throwing with these guys for a long time. On paper it may not look like we have seasoned veterans but in his mind he has guys that he feels comfortable with and has a good chemistry with. I know he’s excited. And I’m excited, too, as the receivers coach. Any time there’s a chance for new guys to take the field that no one has ever heard of before and they can go out and have some success it can be good for those young guys who have worked so hard. HUTCHENS: Can some of these freshmen play right away, you think? What’s your early impression of a guy like Nick Westbrook for example? JOHNS: As for your first question, yes. But without singling any of them out, just as a whole I think they are all kids, and again you’re looking at four new freshmen, you’re looking at Camion Patrick, you’re looking at Luke Timian who has joined our team (a transfer from Oklahoma State), Marqui Hawkins, all of those kids are physically ready to play. And at receiver that is big. Shane Wynn came in at 150 pounds. Now that’s hard to play your freshman year at 150. These kids are 190, 200 pounds and that’s where they’re different more than anything else. They’re a smart group, they’re hungry, they’re learning. I think they all have a chance to play and at the same time there are some more guys who want those jobs, too. It’s going to be an interesting competition. HUTCHENS: You never want to see anyone get hurt, but when J-Shun Harris gets hurt early enough in the summer does that help you a little bit in terms of preparing for life without him for the 2015 season? JOHNS: No doubt about it. And again for us, we hate to lose J-Shun and as a team we hate to see anyone go through an injury like that. But at the same time we have pieces in place with guys that should be able to pick up the flag and keep us going. We hate to lose him but it certainly has helped with the freshmen, with Luke Timian, Mitchell Paige, Damon Graham, those guys have been taking a lot of reps for a long time with Nate in the slot. So I think Nate feels comfortable with whoever steps out there. HUTCHENS: Ricky Jones said he’s 100 percent healthy for the first time in his career to start a season. What’s the ceiling for a player like that? JOHNS: Well, I know for him there’s a huge smile on his face because what you just said. He gets a chance to go play football healthy and for him it has been a long time coming. I think he has a huge ceiling, and more than anything else he’s one of those guys that coming into last few years of football he has a chance to go out and show the things he knew he could do three years ago but the injuries have just held him back. I think Nate feels good with him, all the quarterbacks feel good with him. For me, I look at him in that room as the old guys who has been with me a while. He doesn’t have a ton of game reps, but he has been with me and he can lead some of those younger guys. HUTCHENS: This is my observation and maybe it’s not accurate but I’d like your take. Two years ago you had guys that could really go up and get the ball. Maybe last year not so much. But with this group, do you have those kinds of guys again or is that still going to be a challenge? JOHNS: No I don’t think it will be as much of a challenge. We have some taller and longer guys than maybe we had a year ago. Actually a year ago I liked those guys a lot but we just went through some injuries that hurt us. We were playing a lot of young guys for the first time and it’s hard to play as a true freshman when you’re playing the majority of plays. You can play as a freshman in spot play or play half a game but when you have to go play 80 plays against Ohio State that’s not easy. But I think this year we are taller, we are longer and we are more physically built that we were a year ago. I think it’s a different type of body that we can have this year but I think we can do it. I think we can go up and make those types of plays this year. @IndySportsHutch [url=https://btownbanners.com/page/index.html/_/football/news-notes/qa-with-iu-offensive-coordinator-kevin-johns-r168]Click here to view the article[/url]

All I heard from my IU football source for now is that the WR is eligible to play right away. I'll try to learn more about him tomorrow.

I haven't heard a lot to be honest but I'll have availability with Kevin Wilson tomorrow and I'll see what I can find out.   I know he was an Oklahoma State commit (maybe a walk-on) last year out of Southlake, Texas. He's 6-0, 185. The only story I could find on him was a mention in the Daily Oklahoman in August of last year from camp but nothing after that.   On his Twitter account he has a post from late July of playing golf with Sudfeld, and some of the receivers.   I'm trying to get one of my IU sources to fill me in and I have questions out to them tonight.   Once I hear I'll let you know.

I love to have fun with summer blog topics. When they involve Indiana University basketball it just makes it that much better because you know that IU basketball fans are dying for something to talk about. I used this one years ago while I was at the Indianapolis Star and I got a zillion responses. OK, maybe not a zillion but I think it was more than 100 replies which for me was well over the Mendoza Line. The topic: If you were to build a Mount Rushmore for Indiana University basketball, what four faces would be on the side of that mountain? I think the first thing you would have to decide is whether you were talking all of Indiana basketball or just the players? Because if coaches were a part of the equation there would clearly be one and possibly two IU basketball coaches on Mount Hoosier. Because I think there are arguments on both sides of that debate, I’m going to cop out. Let’s come up with two lists. One will be without any qualifiers and the other will be a players only final four. If you could select any four individuals to be on the Indiana basketball equivalent of Mount Rushmore, I would think the four would be Bob Knight, Branch McCracken, Calbert Cheaney and (drum roll please) … Don Schlundt. I can already see some of you rolling your eyes. “Don Who?”. If you haven’t read my latest Indiana basketball book, Hoosiers Through and Through, I would suggest you do so and see why I ranked Schlundt as the greatest player in Indiana basketball history from the state of Indiana. Schlundt was a three-time All-American who had a career average of 23.3 points per game and ranks as the third leading scorer in IU history. He played on the 1953 national championship team. He was an absolute stud. He may not have gotten all the notoriety he deserved later because he died at an early age but anyone who is an Indiana basketball historian would put Schlundt at the very least in the conversation for that mountain. In my opinion, the first three are no-brainers. Bob Knight was 618-220 in 29 seasons at IU and won 11 Big Ten titles and three national championships. In those 29 years, Knight led IU to the NCAA Tournament 24 times. In 21 of those seasons, IU won at least 20 games in a year. You couldn’t have a legitimate Mount Rushmore of IU basketball and not have Knight’s face on the side of the mountain. And the reality is Knight and McCracken are probably 1A and 1B. McCracken led IU to its first two national championships and earned national coach of the year in both of those seasons. His teams averaged 18.5 wins per year and he recorded the first four 20-win seasons in IU history. He was at IU 24 seasons and led the Hoosiers to a 364-174 record. All Cheaney did was average 19.8 points per game in his four-year career and finish his career as the all-time leading scorer in both Indiana and Big Ten history. He scored 2,613 points, one of five IU players in history to eclipse the 2,000 point scoring mark. The only knock on Cheaney that could take him out of the argument for being on that mountain is the fact he never played on a national championship team. He was on two teams that many believed could have hung a banner but one lost to Duke in the Final Four and the other saw its chances of a title evaporate when Alan Henderson suffered a knee injury late in the Big Ten season. So I would go with those three and Schlundt. Now there are several other former IU players that could be considered for that fourth and final spot. I’ll take a look at a few of them when I make up my all-player Mount Rushmore equivalent for IU basketball. If I were to take a stab at an all-player mountain my list would look like this: Cheaney, Schlundt, Scott May and either Isiah Thomas or Steve Alford. I’m sure you could make a case for players like George McGinnis, Kent Benson or even Damon Bailey just because of his legendary status in Indiana basketball lore. The reason I think May would have to be on the list is that he was the college basketball player of the year on the last unbeaten national champion. And there are few IU basketball fans around who don’t think the Hoosiers would have won it in ’75, too, if May hadn’t gotten injured. That final spot, though, is a tough one. Many people believe Thomas was the best player who ever played at IU. He’s got a national championship ring and is a big reason the Hoosiers were able to put up their fourth national championship banner in 1981. And then there’s Alford. He is Indiana’s second all-time leading scorer and led the Hoosiers to the 1987 national championship. And the truth is if the 3-point line had been in play for all four of Alford’s seasons he would have likely ended up as IU’s all-time leading scorer. Instead, he only had it for one season, the 1986-87 year when it was used on an experimental basis. Alford was 107-for-202 that season from beyond the arc, 53 percent. Still, if I had to choose I would probably go with Cheaney, Schlundt, May and Thomas on my all players equivalent of Mount Rushmore. So those are my picks. I’m sure many of you will have a completely different list. And with something like this there are no wrong answers, just a lot of good water cooler talk as fans debate the best of the best in IU history. So with that in mind, bring it on. @IndySportsHutch

Who said anything about a conflict of interest?

But see this is where it's different. All the guys you just rattled off (except Dopirak who left the HT 13 months ago and now covers Tennessee for the Knoxville paper) are considered beat writers. I'm striving to be more of a columnist with this gig. You didn't name drop any columnists there. That's why I'm trying to recruit a lot of solid contributors to do more of the day to day beat work. Until they're all up and running I'll do the stuff like I have today, the Q&A with Kevin Johns.

Trust me Albers'No.1 love is recruiting. Was it the only thing he did? Of course not. He had a big content number to fill just like I did. But recruiting was his baby. He coached an Indiana Elite team this spring and summer.

In the aftermath of the resignation of Norwood Teague as the athletic director at Minnesota for sexual harassment allegations, here's a story from Star-Tribune reporter Amelia Rayno who was a victim of Teague herself.   It's a good read. Check it out.   LINK

l don't find it to be rude. I was OK with the question and tried to answer it honestly.   And if people want to ask additional questions of me on this thread, I'll do my best.   I just wanted to post something so that people didn't think I was dodging the topic or something.

  I feel as if I have a pretty good idea of how to do my job seeing that I've worked as a sportswriter for nearly 40 years.    First off, Albers and I were more of a team more than me supervising his work. Yes I was the site publisher, but his interest had always been primarily basketball recruiting and so that was his primary area of focus. And yes, I was up on IU basketball recruiting but it was he was doing all the heavy lifting. When you're a team it doesn't make sense if one person is concentrating all of his efforts in one area for the other person to be spending a great deal of time in that area, too. I had enough other things on my plate. My contract called for me to write 80 stories a month at Scout and there were months where I wrote as many as 140 stories.   From the time Scout and myself agreed to part ways in May of this year until now I haven't really followed IU basketball recruiting as closely as I had in the past. To be honest, until btownbanners approached me I thought there was a good chance I was done writing about the Hoosiers. And so frankly I'm a little bit behind in terms of basketball recruiting. That doesn't mean I won't catch up. It does, however, mean that I'm not going to pretend like I know something that I don't just to try to sound smart. I'm comfortable with my overall knowledge of IU athletics but I'll also never try to be something that I'm not. I just don't do it that way.

I don't want you guys to think that I'm ignoring you ... but I am.   I have been out of the basketball recruiting realm the last two years at Scout because that was the main job of my colleague Justin Albers. So I've got to do my homework a little more before I answer.   This doesn't mean I'm dodging your questions or anything like that, it just means that when I give you an answer I want it to be accurate. I don't want to just shoot from the hip like a lot of people I know. I could baffle you with b.s. but that's not the course I like to take.   Give me a couple of days (it's freaking August by the way). I'm kind of locked in to getting football going with my stuff and with our contributors and at the same time I'm trying to get my latest book that will be out this fall to the printer. I'll try to have your answers by the end of the week.   Hope that works for you.   Hutch

I'm signed up.   Let the trash talking begin

The race is about to begin for Indiana football. It’s a race to win all four non-conference football games and position you to move a step closer to that elusive bowl game. In less than a month, IU will open the 2015 season with a home game against Southern Illinois. Should be an easy win, right? Indiana should dominate play on both sides of the ball and easily get to 1-0, right? Well, not so fast. The non-conference season has never been particularly friendly to the Hoosiers. Going through IU’s schedule in your head and circling non-conference victories may seem like the thing to do but more often than not it has led to disappointment. Remember last year when you thought realistically Indiana would probably go 3-1 in the non-conference season, beating up on three cupcakes and losing to Missouri? But the Hoosiers actually won at Missouri, scoring a stunning upset. Too bad IU had lost at Bowling Green the week before. The 3-1 record happened but not as anyone would have predicted. How about 2013 when IU finished 5-7 and actually won three Big Ten games against Penn State, Illinois and Purdue? But IU went 2-2 in non-conference play losing home games against Navy and Missouri. Even the year before that in 2012, a 4-0 non-conference record would have made for bowl eligibility in Kevin Wilson’s second year with the Hoosiers. But IU lost to Ball State and Navy that season and finished 4-8. No, the road to a perfect non-conference and had plenty of pot holes over the years for Indiana football. And yet with a 2015 schedule that includes Southern Illinois, Florida International, Western Kentucky and Wake Forest, you can bet that there are a lot of IU fans that are thinking the Hoosiers could easily be 4-0 by the time Ohio State comes to Bloomington to play before what will likely be a capacity crowd in Memorial Stadium (albeit a lot of scarlet and gray) on Saturday, Oct. 3. But there are no sure things when it comes to non-conference football opponents and Indiana. Think Southern Illinois will be a cakewalk? I’m sure IU thought so the last time Southern Illinois was in town. It was Terry Hoeppner’s second season in Bloomington and he actually missed the game because of health issues. He snuck into the press box and watched the game against doctor’s orders. As it turned out, he probably wished he would have stayed home. Indiana lost to Southern Illinois in that 2006 game, 35-28. It’s a sad reminder to Indiana fans that even though the schedule may be filled with teams you think you’re supposed to be able to beat that doesn’t mean it will turn out that way. And yet, as IU looks ahead this season at a schedule that also includes Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan and Maryland to name a few, you have to think a 4-0 start will be nearly imperative if the Hoosiers hope to increase their chances at bowl eligibility. For as long as I can remember, the magic formula for Indiana football to get to postseason eligibility has been simple: Go 4-0 in the non-conference season and 2-6 in the Big Ten. Do that, and at 6-6, with as many bowl spots the Big Ten has locked up, chances are your team will be playing in the postseason. Sounds simple enough, right? For Indiana, however, it has been anything but simple. In fact, it has been nearly impossible. In the last 20 seasons, dating back to 1995, Indiana has gone unbeaten in the non-conference portion of the schedule three times: In 2007 and again in 2010 under Bill Lynch IU went a perfect 4-0. In 2007, the Hoosiers were able to work that formula successfully and get bowl eligible. The other time was 2005 when the Hoosiers opened 3-0 in Terry Hoeppner’s first season in Bloomington. But that’s it. The other 17 years, Indiana fell short against a less than prominent non-conference schedule. In fact, only two times in those 17 years did IU go 3-1. The other years were two wins or less. Overall in the last 20 seasons, Indiana’s record in preconference play has been 42-30. Wilson’s teams are 8-8 in four seasons. Lynch’s teams were an impressive 13-3. Hep’s two teams in 2005 and 2006 were 5-2. Gerry DiNardo’s teams were 5-6 including a big road win at Oregon. Cam Cameron’s squads were 7-9 and that was with Antwaan Randle El at the QB helm four of those years. It would be interesting to look at schools like Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin and teams like that and see what their record is for the last 20 years. It would certainly put IU’s misfortunes into proper perspective. With all of that information as ammunition, and still with a month to go before the regular season starts against the Salukis, what are your expectations for IU’s non-conference record in 2015? And if the Hoosiers don’t go 4-0 in non-conference play, what do you think their chances are to earn bowl eligibility? It’s really early but I love making prognostications. And I think IU could technically go 3-1 in non-conference play and still find three Big Ten wins. The three that come to mind are Rutgers, Iowa and Purdue. But again, a lot has to happen before any of that can even become a dream. Remember last year, had you made those same remarks, all three of those games would have been in the second half of the season – after Nate Sudfeld had gone down with his injury. But it’s still a good conversation starter for this time of the year: What do you think IU’s non-conference football record will be in 2015? @IndySportsHutch