David Jack = Class Act

In an earlier post Defend The Rock introduced you to David Jack, one of IU Volleyball's new assistant coaches. Well, now we have learned that David Jack is a real class act. Aside from being a very successful coach in the past, in a recent interview (with iuhoosiers.com) we heard some things we really liked.

1. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
If I could visit anywhere in the world, it would be Africa. Why? I heard it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. My main reason for going would be to help decrease the plight of AIDS that is devastating a continent.

Ok - we here at Defend The Rock are big fans of Africa. Well, maybe "fans" isn't the right word, but in our time at a certain Big 10 school in Bloomington, Indiana we focused our studies on Africa to a fairly high degree. Also, it's always great to see from anyone, especially those in the sports community have the recognition of, and the desire to help eliminate/alleviate the AIDS crisis.

2. What is your favorite childhood memory?
The food ... for breakfast, fried dumpling, callaloo, friend plantain, for dinner, rice and peas, chicken or beef, boiled bananas. The food is delicious. I dream of having dinner at home every once and a while.

My god, that sounds scrumptious. I haven't eaten yet today and now David Jack has gone and made me even more hungry. I'll be making a trip down to Bloomington at some point and hopefully I can be a guest at the Jack residence for dinner, damn that sounds good.

3. What can the fans expect from the Hoosiers next season?
Playing hard, competing and challenging the best teams in the Big Ten. That type of intensity every time you step on the court can only lead to success.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! That's what I love to here from IU athletes and coaches. IU Sports always has been, and will be continue to be about intensity. The fans like to see their teams playing with intensity and passion, and I can guarantee you that if IU Volleyball displays it, fans will flock to the games.

On this day 20 years ago...

Today Defend The Rock and all of Hoosier Nation celebrate the birth - 20 years ago- of our star Quarterback Kellen Lewis.

Defend The Rock and friends were among the first to sing the praises of #15 and urge Coach Hep to start him (even before he was technically eligible, redshirt and all).

Happy Birthday Kellen!

<----Birthday Boy

What team was that playing in IU road jerseys tonight?

Seriously, what team was that playing against Illinois? Anyone who can tell me gets an official Defend The Rock T-Shirt*

43 Points? 43 Points? 43 Points?

Watching that game it was clear from the get-go, even with the strong start, that the team wearing the Indiana road jerseys just wasn't into the game. I didn't see the emotion, the drive, the passion, or the hustle that I've come to associate with the Kelvin Sampson coached IU team that I've watched all year.

From the looks of it, the IU team playing tonight just didn't care....and I'm sure they're gonna get a good yelling at from Coach Sampson.

Game Preview: Indiana at Illinois

Tonight at 7PM EST/6PM DTRST (Defend The Rock Standard Time, i.e. Central Standard Time) the Indiana Hoosiers will take on the Fighting Illini of Illinois at that *other* Assembly hall down in Champaign, Illinois.

Indiana has been dominant of late (Winners of last 5, and 9 of the last 10), while the Illini have decided it's ok to lose four of six conference games and drop five of its last seven games.

Personally I will be watching the stands to see all the signs that Illinois students are holding up. One can only assume they're none to pleased with Kelvin Sampson snatching away #1-in-the-nation recruit Eric Gordon from Illinois and bringing him to Indiana next season.

D.J. White Continues To Be A Man, IU In The Top 25!

I'm not quite sure how many times I've written this on Defend The Rock, maybe some loyal reader can get back to me on it, but DAMN, D.J. White is a man! What has he gone and done now to deserve recognition for this? How about being named the Big Ten Player of The Week. All he did was go and average 22 Points, 7.5 Rebounds and 2.5 Blocks per game this past week. Not only did he help lead IU to two victories over Iowa and Connecticut, but he played a crucial role in.....

GETTING IU RANKED!

Indiana currently sits at #23 in the AP Top 25 and #24 in the ESPN/USA Today Poll. This marks the first time IU has been ranked this year. I'd have to guess that IU will be sticking around on one or both for quite a while, or at least make plenty of appearances through the rest of the season.

IU Over UCONN, Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award

It almost seems of a late an IU game means just another victory. With IU's 77-73 victory over UCONN our Hoosiers made it 5 straight wins. Sitting pretty at 14-4 (4-1 Big Ten, T-2nd), it's hard to imagine IU not winning 6 more games to make it 20 and a bid to the Tourney.

Watching the game I was struck by the size of the Huskies, in fact early in the game I logged onto UCONN's athletics site and found that they have 5 players 6'9 or taller, topped off by 7'3 Freshmen Hasheem Thabeet. Wilmont continues to be SICK. 23 Points (5-8 3pts), 5 Rebounds, 3 Steals, 1 Block. This guy continues to carryt his team on his shoulders, or perhaps his heart would be more appropriate. Roderick Wilmont is IU Basketball this season, no doubt about it.

As for this week's Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award, the deserving recipient? (Here's a hint, he's getting it for the second time!):

Roderick Wilmont

Its T-Shirt Time Again

When an IU alum sacks a former Purdue legend, causes, and recovers a fumble in one play while helping to lead his team to the biggest bowl of them all, (and I'm not talking about the Outback Bowl here folks...) he is worthy of something very special...

That's right, the AJ Moye T-Shirt Award! Here it is:



Congratulations Adewale Ogunlye. Put on your t-shirt and go partying with J. Jeffries.

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In other news, DJ White is this week's Big Ten Player of the Week. Its no secret that DJ White wears a T-SHIRT! More on that when YouTellemKellen posts the recap of the exciting victory over U-Conn and all their 7' players from Dar es Salaam.

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Aj Moye made the All Star team in his German league. He is not a starter, but was selected by the coach to be on the bench. Here he is in recent game action.... GASP! not wearing a t-shirt. He is wearing one in our (or at least my) hearts.