Indiana Hoosiers 2008/2009 Basketball Schedule Announced

The 2008/2009 schedule for the Indiana Men's Basketball team was announced today. Let's just say we our team of all-stars walkons is in for a very challenging year. More thoughts to come later.

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time / Result
11/07/08	vs. Anderson	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
11/11/08	vs. Bemidji St	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
11/15/08	vs. Northwestern State	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
11/18/08	vs. IUPUI	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
25th Annual EA Sports Maui Invitational
11/24/08	vs. Notre Dame	Maui	5:30 p.m. ET
11/25/08	Saint Joseph's or Texas	Maui	1:30pm or 7:00pm ET
11/26/08	TBA	Maui	TBA
11/30/08	vs. Cornell	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
ACC/Big Ten Challenge
12/03/08	at Wake Forest	Winston-Salem, N.C.	7:15 p.m. ET
Hartford Hall of Fame Classic
12/06/08	vs. Gonzaga	Indianapolis, Ind. - Lucas Oil Stadium	TBA
12/10/08	vs. TCU	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
12/13/08	at Kentucky	Lexington, Ky.	TBA
12/22/08	vs. Northeastern	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
12/28/08	vs. Lipscomb	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
01/03/09	at Iowa	Iowa City, Iowa	4:30 p.m. ET
01/07/09	vs. Michigan	Bloomington, Ind.	6:30 p.m. ET
01/10/09	at Illinois	Champaign, Ill.	3:00 p.m. ET
01/13/09	at Ohio State	Columbus, Ohio	7:00 p.m. ET
01/17/09	vs. Penn State	Bloomington, Ind.	6:00 p.m. ET
01/25/09	vs. Minnesota	Bloomington, Ind.	12:00 p.m. ET
01/28/09	at Northwestern	Evanston, Ill.	8:30 p.m. ET
01/31/09	vs. Ohio State	Bloomington, Ind.	4:00 p.m. ET
02/04/09	vs. Iowa	Bloomington, Ind.	6:30 p.m. ET
02/07/09	at Michigan State	East Lansing, Mich.	4:00 p.m. ET
02/10/09	at Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minn.	9:00 p.m. ET
02/15/09	vs. Illinois	Bloomington, Ind.	1:00 p.m. ET
02/19/09	vs. Wisconsin	Bloomington, Ind.	9:00 p.m. ET
02/21/09	at Purdue	West Lafayette, Ind.	TBA
02/22/09	at Purdue	West Lafayette, Ind.	TBA
02/25/09	vs. Northwestern	Bloomington, Ind.	6:30 p.m. ET
02/28/09	at Penn State	University Park, Pa.	6:00 p.m. ET
03/03/09	vs. Michigan State	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
03/04/09	vs. Michigan State	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
03/05/09	vs. Michigan State	Bloomington, Ind.	TBA
03/07/09	at Wisconsin	Madison, Wis.	12pm/2pm ET
03/08/09	at Wisconsin	Madison, Wis.	12pm/2pm ET

Western Kentucky vs Indiana Liveblog

Welcome to Defend The Rock's inaugural liveblog for the 2008-2009 season for Indiana sports!

Will the Hoosiers be able to stop the Hilltoppers formidable rushing attack? Will Austin Starr kick one out of Memorial Stadium? Will the Big Ten Network manage to blow the coverage of this game somehow?

All the answers shall be revealed shortly. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the live blog, because anyway, it's not like you could be outside playing some sports for yourself.

10:58: Go figure, all the channel listings are screwed up, courtesy of Comcast or the Big Ten Network, or both. Betting that the games keep switching channels throughout the day, because honestly, it would just make sense...

11:02: Apparently Kellen Lewis "bought into his own hype" and became full of himself. I guess things like that will happen when you're the best QB your team has had in years. Sounds like he got over his "pity parties" and now enjoys playing Xbox with teammates, awesome. I wonder what his name is on XboxLive?

11:05: God I love having a good kicker.

11:09: Commentator on Kellen Lewis "He's a Heisman candidate" -- Awesome

11:15: So far we're all happy with IU's tackling today. It's still early, but so far so good. Improvement from last year is required. And Phillips screws us on a sack by Murando.

11:21: Wow, I called out a 90 yard TD run for Lewis at the start of this series and others in attendance said "you know he'll break it out at some point". I guess he decided that'd be a little too far, and opted for just 75 yards. But in the end, it's good for us.

11:27: Beautiful sack. Who's Gred Middleton?

11:30: "You guys need to get out of here. You guys need to get away from Jersey Boys"

11:32: What the hell type of play was that? I guess 2 yards are 2 yards...

11:39: First opportunity for Starr to start his run on a perfect season on Field Goals....it's in! 1-1.

11:41: What the fuck is going on with this network coverage. The Big Ten Network/Comcast keeps going to commercial in the middle of plays. This is horrible.

11:50: Sidenote on commericals: These ads for Lincoln Car insurance are terrible, but we are quickly becoming obsessed with them. We're pretty sure the women in them are real life prostitutes.

11:51: Andrew Means...two sport star.

11:57: Ben Chappell is in the game. At least he didn't throw an INT.

11:59: Awesome, now the IU game is no longer on any of the Big Ten Network channels. Great...

12:04: Just for the record, the IU game is still gone from the TV listings, but we do have 3 channels of Ohio St and 2 channels of Penn State. What the hell.

12:10: On Megan West: D: 1338, I: 0363, P: 1352, A: 1347.

12:11: Man, that was a total video game play by Lewis. Poor cameraman.

12:18: Sorry, we got distracted by Kige Ramsey.

12:20: This punter is ridiculous. Seems like every time he hits w/i the 20.

12:22: Well, these aren't really the plays we'd like to see with the half winding down. Plus Fisher is injured, so not quite the best way to crawl towards the end of the half.

12:30: Can't complain too much about the results heading into the half. Would like to have seen some more down field passes and fewer screens. But so far so good for the first game of the season.

12:49: Nice play by the defense to get the ball right back.

12:42: So Kellen Lewis is the record holder for IU with 43 touchdowns through the air. Good for Kellen, but man, that record number is sad.

12:45: Second thoughts on Megan West: D: 1148, I: 0363, P: 1252, A: 1137.

12:55: Got distracted by trying to figure out pizza to order. God, why is it so complicated?

12:57: Good job stopping 'em with just a FG. 17-3.

1:16: Good to know we're not blowing out a newly instated Division I team (yet?)...

1:20: Consensus here is NOT Thigpen for RB.

1:24: Ah, that's a patented James Hardy play....except it's Belcher...hopefully he can keep it up.

1:32: "She looks like a muppet...like that blonde band leader muppet."

1:42: Another long (62YD) rushing TD for Kellen. Heisman Watch.

1:53: Ben Chappell does not look good/comfortable at all. Yet somehow he completed that pass.

1:57: Last play as Ben Chappell flails around, all of us in unison "Ooooh noo! Ooh no! Oooh no!"

1:59: Good to see kicker turned safety turned punter Joe Kleinsmith come in and actually give the Hoosiers good punt.

2:02: This commentator continues to amaze. Expressing facts (time/score) as "feelings." Man.

2:05: We have determined Ben Chappell's nickname: Beck Chappell (like Beck Chapel on IU's campus).

2:08: That's a winner! Good start to the season.

Football Season Kickoff or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying About Suspensions and Fall In Love WIth Kellen Lewis All Over Again

Football season is upon us and even before kickoff the Hoosier squad has seen fit to bring some excitement to their fan base by continuing their version of musical chairs re: suspensions.

First up, Greg Middleton (the Hoosier who just so happened to lead the NATION in sacks last year) has been suspended along with his (non-starting) teammates Troy Wagner, Brandon Mosley and Kyle Kozak.

Now, putting aside the issue of why they were suspended, the three non-starting players aren't that big of a deal. A for Middleton on the other hand, is he truly a stand out player, a key to our defense?

While he led the nation in sacks, he mainly did it by absolutely destroying bad teams' QB's. He started piling up the sacks early in the season against weak opponents, and as the season went on, there were fewer and fewer sacks showing up in the boxscores for him.

So will IU miss him against the opener against Western Kentucky? My expert opinion is yes -- WKU represents just the sort of team Middleton would have success against.

Now we come to our dearly re-instated QB Kellen Lewis.

If you're an avid reader of Defend The Rock you know that we've been Kellen Lewis fans since before there we even such things. Even during Blake Powers' Sports Illustrated featured year we were pushing for Lewis to start (the fact that he was redshirted that year, eh, not so much of an issue for us), with chants at games of "Start the freshmen!"

Hell, we even started the first Kellen Lewis group on Facebook!

So while we accepted his suspension, players should have to follow the rules, be good students, and excellent team players after all, we eagerly awaited his return. We had never been impressed with Ben Chappell, in fact after his single down implosion in Northwestern we pretty much swore an oath against him, so having Kellen back is like a breath of fresh air.

Now, Kellen Lewis is undeniably the face of this team. Gone is his main playmaker James Hardy, as is star defender Tracy Porter. It's up to him, and we firmly believe in his third year, he is once again ready to step up to the plate, accept the challenge, and exceed all expectations.

Let's play some football!

Defend The Rock will be liveblogging the season opener starting at 11am central time. Join us!

ITWCT: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Edition

The first team that will be covered in our new series If These Walls Could Talk, just so happens to be the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

So just who are these guys? We've chose three Hilltoppers that we think you should know more about beyond their stats.

#7 WR Quinterrance Cooper
Favorite Music: "Anthing Bangin"
Favorite Movie: Scarface
Favorite TV: BET (But he admittedly does not have enough TV time due to his excessive use of his computer.)
Relationship Status: Single. But watch out guys, he's just looking for love from the ladies. "no homos."

#78 RG Austin Chestnut aka A/C
Are you a single woman looking for a companion? Then A/C may just be cool enough for you. A Taurus, he's open to dating and serious relationships. Can you imagine a nice night at home, starting off with a romantic dinner to the tunes of Lil' Wayne, followed by a classic cuddle movie like 300? Then A/C would be the perfect date, and don't worry if you're thinking long term--he's got good genes, as A/C proudly declares himself: "There aint nothin but ballers in my family."

#31 SS ORLANDO MISAALEFUA
A self described military brat and Christian, Orlando has moved around a lot in his life, but has always been grounded by his spirituality and the presence of family and friends in his life. Unfortunately at the moment Orlando's mother is deployed in Iraq, and we here at Defend The Rock, send our best wishes to her and the entire Misaalefua family, and hope she returns home quickly and safely.

So there you have it, a little bit more about a few players lining up against our Hoosiers this Saturday. Enjoy the game, because this time, it's personal.

If These Walls Could Talk

With IU's football season opener only days away, it seems only appropriate that we take a closer look at the team our Hoosiers will be playing, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

Now, it's not difficult to just go online and cut and paste some stats about these guys, but those bases are already covered by pretty much any major sports site, and probably a few of our fellow IU blogs.

No, we are going to do things differently this year.

Instead of telling you how many yards on average our oppositions running back gains or how many sacks a defensive end has, we're going to give you something much more personal, juicy tidbits from his myspace page.

Oh yes, it's come to this...

Football Schedule

Here is the IU football schedule for the 2008 season, available nowhere else everywhere.

Home games in bold.

08/30/08 vs Western Kentucky
09/06/08 vs Murray State
09/20/08 vs Ball State
09/27/08 vs Michigan State
10/04/08 vs Minnesota
10/11/08 vs Iowa
10/18/08 vs Illinois
10/25/08 vs Northwestern
11/01/08 vs Central Michigan
11/08/08 vs Wisconsin
11/15/08 vs Penn State
11/22/08 vs Purdue

Back From Summer Vacation (Or: No way was I going to stay inside and blog all summer in Chicago)

So, it's a sad fact in the real world that there is no real summer vacation for non-students.

We work Mondays through Fridays all summer long, doing errands on the weekends, and trying to find time for fun and friends whenever possible in our busy "adult" lives.

Needless to say, when it's summer in Chicago, even though we don't get a summer vacation, there's no way we here at Defend The Rock were going to stay inside in the few good months we have here in the Windy City blogging, instead of spending time at poisonous beautiful Lake Michigan.

So now, with summer coming to a close we return. Not rested, not refreshed, but maybe slightly tanner and with a few more chips on our shoulders (There is only so much crap one can take from Northwestern fans bragging about their football team before one cracks).

What has surprised us in our time off is that you have continued to visit us. With no new posts, you have continued to check everyday in the hopes of seeing something new.

Well, the suspense is over.

We have returned!

Ben Chappell

So as we here at Defend The Rock have discussed often, we were the first Kellen Lewis fans. At any given IU game it would be us yelling "Put in the freshmen," and we started the original Kellen Lewis facebook group, "You Tell 'em Kellen, #15 For Quarterback." Needless to say with his ascension, and subsequent success we were thrilled. And needless to say, with his indefinite suspension we were extremely disappointed and disenchanted.

So now as all of you know, Sophomore Ben Chappell will be starting for the Hoosiers in their new look no-huddle offense. As you may recall, Ben Chappell received the brunt of our ire last season when we attended the Northwestern game and he saw fit to throw an interception in his only play of the game, the play which in turn cost us the game.

I'll be honest, I don't like Ben Chappell, I don't trust Ben Chappell, but this Hoosier fan will be rooting for him to take command of this team and put up some victories. This is very similar to my innate dislike for Blake Powers, but for whom I found myself rooting for with the chant "Throw some shit to Hardy!" and hey, it worked out, kinda, for a season.

So Ben, here's to a good first season as the starting QB of the Hoosiers, no matter how much it may disturb my fellow Defend The Rockers (and even me for that matter), Ben Chappell, I've got your back, now go make Kellen Lewis wish he never got suspended by being twice the QB he ever was!

Basketball Leaders

So there will a complete write up on the Indiana Men's Basketball season up within the next few days. For now there is this list of team leaders in all sorts of tasty stat categories:

Games Played-- D.J. White and Lance Stemler (33)
Starts-- D.J. White (33)
Minutes Played-- Eric Gordon (1110)
Minutes Average-- Eric Gordon (34.7)
Field Goals-- D.J. White (216)
Field Goals Attempted-- Eric Gordon (425)
Field Goal Percentage-- D.J. White (60.5%)
Three-Point Field Goals-- Eric Gordon (70)
Three-Point Field Goals Attempted-- Eric Gordon (208)
Three-Point Field Goal Percentage-- Armon Bassett (45.4%)
Free Throws-- Eric Gordon (231)
Free Throws Attempted-- Eric Gordon (277)
Free Throw Percentage-- Armon Bassett (83.9)
Rebounds-- D.J. White (341-10.3 average)
Assists-- Jamarcus Ellis (108-3.38 average)
Blocks-- D.J. White (54-1.64 average)
Steals-- Jamarcus Ellis (47, 1.47 average) Points-- Eric Gordon (669, 20.9 average)

Hoosiers Grab Plenty of Awards & Honors

The only awards and honors that truly matter (those bestowed upon players by Defend The Rock) have yet to be released, but in the meantime plenty of other awards and honors have been handed out to a bunch of IU Basketball players.

Rivals.Com Big 10 Awards:

D.J. White - 1st Team, Player of the Year

Eric Gordon - 1st Team, Freshmen Team, Freshmen of the Year

Jamarcus Ellis - 2nd Team 

Sports Illustrated All-Americans:

D.J. White - 2nd Team

Eric Gordon -  2nd Team

Official Big 10 Conference Awards:

D.J. White - Big 10 Player of the Year (Coaches), Top Performer (Media), 1st Team All Big 10

Eric Gordon - Big 10 Freshmen of the Year (Coaches & Media), 1st Team All Big 10 

Armon Bassett - 3rd Team All Big 10

Jamarcus Ellis - Honorable Mention (media)

Adam Ahlfeld - Hoosier recipient of League Sportsmanship Award

The Sunday Wrap

I wanted to wait for the Hoosier baseball squad to get a few games out of the way before reporting on them, and with eight under their belt, it seems like now is a good time to start.

The Hoosiers are currently sitting on a record of 3-5 with plenty of baseball left before conference play begins. Starting off season with three away games against LSU was obviously not the best way for the season to begin, but we managed to take the last game of the series, 7-6 with help from Defend The Rock favorites Evan Crawford (3 hits), and Kyle Leiendecker (3IP, 0ER, 3 K's)

Player Highlights:

So far former Indiana Mr. Baseball Josh Phegley is showing off all the tools and skills he was touted as having, but which he kept hidden during his Freshmen season. The Sophomore is hitting at an INSANE .485/.526/.697 (AVG/OBP/SLG) clip with 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, and 9 RBI.

Andrew Means continues to put up great numbers, after a solid season last year, with a combined line of .366/.381/.463, while being 3 for 3 in stolen base attempts. It seems like nobody has been able to keep this guy off the basepaths in years.

Evan Crawford is scuffling a bit so far this season, only getting on base in a third of his at bats, thus decreasing his SB opportunities, the 7 strike outs to 0 walks isn't helping things.

After a good Freshmen season, Matt Bashore has looked incredible in his 17IP, sporting a nifty 2.08 ERA, while having a K:BB ratio of 5:2 while holding opposing batters to a .188 AVG, all leading to a solid 1.22WHIP.

Leftly Kyle Leiendecker is being thrown into the fire as a Freshmen in relief and aside from his showing against LSU, he has mostly been burned. In 9IP he has a 9.00ERA, with a .344 BA Against. I believe these stats will normalize as they are looking pretty flukey when taken in context with his good control (4:1 K:BB ratio), he has mostly been hurt by the long ball.

That concludes The Sunday Wrap!

Opening Day!

Today is opening day for College Baseball.  The Hoosiers have been taking good steps the past few years under Tracy Smith to become a competitive team, and eventually nab an appearance in the College World Series.  It is great that Indiana has decided to broadcast ALL of their games for free online (audio online), check out the page here.

Last year before the season I picked Evan Crawford as a Freshmen to watch, and he ended up shining in his first year of college ball.  With a solid Sophomore season he could begin to put himself on the map as prospect for the majors.   So without further ado, this years pick to watch:

Kyle Leindecker (LHP).  So this is an easy one.  As opposed to last season where we didn't have any truly projectable players coming in, Kyle Leindecker has all the makings of a pitcher who will make an impact his freshmen year.  Drafted by the Indians in the 25th round, he opted to go to school in his home state instead, and hope to boost his draft status over the next few years.  

So let's go Hoosiers!  

First up, LSU...

Kyle Taber - A Hero Obscured By Tragedy or Come On Folks, Kyle Taber Is Playing Pretty Well

An unfortunate consequence of Kelvin Sampson's recruiting violations is the fact that Kyle Taber, all 6'7", 228lbs of him is getting lost in the mayhem.

It's not that he is a superstar possessing NBA potential, it's that this largely forgotten player sidelined by injuries his freshmen year has come on over the past few weeks to play an important role on this team. I went about gathering stats on his performance but have opted not to include them, as honestly, they don't do him justice, as they are fairly paltry due to his limited playing time (although I did tinker with extrapolating his stats/playing time for the equivalent playing time of White/Gordon/Ellis and he came out 3rd on the team in rebounds!).

Normally I am NOT one to speak a lot about intangibles, I like looking at statistics to evaluate players, but from watching Taber the last few games it's clear he is making his time on the floor count. It's not that he is scoring tons of points, getting every rebound, or blocking every shot, it is simply that he is there on every play, thus when he gets an opportunity he does follow through and make the play. I remember vividly yelling "Taberrrrrrrr!" out of excitement several times during the Purdue game when he made a great follow-through lay up and a jumper, not to mention some good board coverage.

In what may be the best part of the story though is that if you listen, you can hear chants of "Ky-le Ta-ber" coming from the crowd on occasion. IU fans have always loved to support the guy who comes from no where, or is a native son who worked his way up through the ranks. The last guy who got this treatment was Errek Suhr, the most recent to get it, and lose it due to the fickleness of the fans was Sean Kline. Let's hope Taber continues to play well, and IU fans keep supporting the former walk on from Evansville.

Iu vs Wisconsin

Surrounded in a cloud of haziness, and uhhhhhh lies, IU tried to defend assembly hall last night and failed. The zone defense was useless and as soon as we came out of it, we took a pretty commanding lead. For some reason we felt the necessity to head back to the zone in the second half, even though they were lights out from 3 point land all game.

A heart wrenching loss which caps off an atrocious day (week) in IU Sports.

Now onto what everyone is talking about.

I was writing an email to my fellow DefendTheRock-ers about how frustrating all of this is to sit back and watch. Is this worse than the Mike Davis stuff? We are winning now right (well not against anyone with an RPI higher than 32)? We are winning but are we now the team that could start playing well and winning, but have an asterisk next to our name at the end of the season?



Really we can't do anything about it either, that's the hardest part. Fans everywhere are commenting on blogs or polls and saying Sampson and Greenspan need to be fired. I agree. I want them so far from this organization right now, even without "proof." I think a truly clean and fresh start can really do nothing but help IU. They can be pro-active and take the punishment handed down by the NCAA but also get rid of the cancer that is tainting IU basketball at the moment.

Let us know what you think, or if you hear any news, sadly we are not in Bloomington anymore, so we lack the immediate connections and ties to what is going on. Should we look internally for a coach? Or go outside and try to start a new no cheating era?

Beats me, this is an incredibly frustrating time for Hoosiers fans. If you see a moping Hoosier fan, give em a hug. We have to prove our resiliency here. Lets lift each other up, and not forget that we still have 12 guys out there still playing their hearts out for our Alma Mater.

Hoo Hoo Hooosiers!

A.J. Ratliff

I just want to mention that I wish him the best.

I will always love this:



enjoy!

Time For Sampson and Greenspan To Go

By now I am sure all of you have read and seen the reports on the latest round of recruiting violations by Coach Sampson and his staff. You can look back on this blog (just search "Sampson" ) and you will see me singing this man's praises. It's true that I didn't want to see Mike Davis go, but I welcomed Sampson with open arms, despite the violations he had at Oklahoma, and the repercussions they meant for Indiana basketball.

I do not believe Coach Sampson is a stupid man, and that just means that he is arrogant and foolhardy. I can't imagine why a coach at a Big Ten school, with such a rich basketball tradition as IU would go back to his illicit recruiting methods that he used at his prior job after already being caught.

As for Greenspan, he was responsible for brining in a coach that he knew violated league rules once before, so one would figure he would keep Sampson on an extra short leash, making sure he didn't repeat his previous violations and cause further harm to the Indiana basketball program. Greenspan is doing typical PR spin right now, trying to make it sound as if he, and the rest of his staff had no idea what was going on, there are two ways to take this. If true it means he wasn't doing his job of keeping an eye on Sampson to ensure the continued excellence and honesty of the program. If false, it means he was complicit in violations of league rules. I think we know which one is worse, but both are pretty damn bad.

I just feel bad for the players, it's not their fault that their coach violated the rules to recruit them or their teammates. Sure, these guys know they're not supposed to accept a car, but I have to imagine they don't read every press release and every line of the league recruiting rule book to see if they can take a call.

Coach Sampson has done an excellent job on the court while here at Indiana, but it seems increasingly evident that off the court, his job has not just been lackluster, to contrary to the image than Indiana would like to project. Greenspan has done an admirable job of bringing in coaches, attention, and funding to our various athletic programs, but if he is unable (or unwilling) to go that next step and properly oversee his subordinates (especially such a high profile, and high risk one such as Sampson) in order to make sure they are following league rules, he has no place at this institution.

I am not well enough versed in how the contracts for these two gentlemen are set up, so I do not know what the most pragmatic method of terminating their contracts is, all I know is that it is my fundamental belief that it would be best for Indiana Athletics, and Indiana fans nationwide if these two men did not return to their posts in Bloomington next year.

In no way am I going to turn away from Indiana basketball, or any other Indiana sport over this latest ordeal, but it's leaving a pretty awful taste in my mouth and regretfully, at this point I have to assume it will only get worse before it gets better.

I am sure my fellow Defend The Rockers will have plenty to say on this topic, so stay tuned.

A.J Ratliff Is No Longer An IU Basketball Player or A.J. Ratliff Was Still An IU Basketball Player?

As reported by the Indiana Daily Student, A.J. Ratliff is as of now, no longer on the IU Basketball roster. As IU fans have probably noticed, Ratliff has been noticeably absent from the team this year. Between injuries (which have nagged him his entire IU career), academic ineligiblity, and "personal issues," Ratliff has been deprived of playing time this year.

Ratliff had an impact in his Freshmen year, leading the team in 3-Point Percentage, and playing in 26 of the team's games, but never seemed to explode like it seemed like he was always set to do. His best year was last year, when he averaged 9.3 points a game, and scored himself an Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award due to his strong performance against Purdue.

As with any Hooiser who carries a good attitude and plays hard, I'm sorry to see him go. Luckily this team has plenty of guards, and his performance, or lack thereof this year, will not be sorely missed.

Football is making headlines again!

Not even a week after our #11 in the Big Ten Recruiting Class was announced, 5 IU Football Players have been arrested.

James Bailey and Demetrius McCray were both arrested for disorderly conduct after failing to turn down their music on Sunday. They were both taken to Monroe County Jail that evening after the police verified they had been issued warnings previously.

The others arrested were Jarrell Drane (Illegal Consumption), Ian Reeves (Illegal Consumption), Darius Johnson (resisting law enforcement, illegal consumption, public intoxication).

This is disappointing news. Especially that of Ja Bailey to me. I know we have seen him sit out a game for an unspecified violation of a team rule, but I hoped as he came into his senior year that he would start acting like the leader that he needs to be. He has to be our BMOC this year. He can be a fan favorite like J-Hard was, and I would love to see that happen. I would hate to see him keep getting caught up in all of this off the field bullshit. Come on Ja!

I assume we will be hearing about this via IUhoosiers.com soon. In regards to a punishment for the players, what do you think is a decent punishment for the above arrests? Should there be any punishment? Are/Should football players be held with a certain level of accountability higher than that of an average student? What do you think Bailey and McCray were listening to? Honestly, were the freshman simply being freshman?

Let us know!

Q&A

We here at Defend The Rock use multiple SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in order say atop the search engine rankings. Naturally the best "tool" is good, and constant writing, and I'd like to think that for the most part, we do a good job of it. One of my favorite features of one of our SEO tools is a "latest questions" section of a visitor tracking service. It lists the questions visitors of our site have typed into various search engines, that resulted in them visiting Defend The Rock. Sometimes we have the answers already up on the blog, sometimes we don't. For the times that we don't I would like to announce Defend The Rock: Q&A.

So here are a few questions from the past week, with their respective answers (we do not insert the question marks, questions listed exactly as shown to us by our SEO tool):

Q: "i missed last nights indiana vs illinois game?"
A: I guess so? I mean, you are asking if you did, which seems to suggest that you're not certain that you saw it. Seeing as it was quite the memorable game, I'd wager that you missed it.

Q: "will josiah sears get drafted?"
A: Short answer: no Long answer: Definitely not (And that's too bad as we are big JS fans here)

Q: "what year did indiana rocks form in"
A: Instead of going into tons of detail I will direct you to two excellent resources:
1. The Indiana Geological Survey
2. Indiana Geology Facts

Q: "how much money do college athletics make for the university"
A: Seeing as you don't specify a university, this question is a bit difficult to answer. It is a fact that Universities make a great deal of money from the athletic programs. On the flip side though we are seeing an increasing trend towards profit sharing within conferences. For example, even if Team X from Conference Y made it to a bowl and received $10 million for its appearance, that $10 million would be spread amongst all of the Conference Y schools.

In Defense of My Fellow Bloggers or Wow, We Actually Had At Least One Reader!

Upon hearing the news of Bobby Knight stepping down, one of my friends and fellow bloggers here at Defend The Rock made a post which both reflected how many IU fans felt, and also reflected the exact opposite way many IU fans felt. I arrived at IU, from another state, after Knight had already left. I really have no emotional connection with him and what he did while at IU, so I cannot really get fired up about this issue.

What I do have to say is this: Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I would like to hear them all, preferably through comments on the specific blog posts in order to foster some form of community, or at least start a conversation on here.

A very passionate IU fan (who failed to properly grammar check his subject line) sent in an email in response to the post cited above. Below is the email we received (I have not included his name or email address, although sir, I suggest in the future you use an anonymous email address to send vitriolic emails as a simple google search resulted in your home town, job information, your non-work activities, and photos, I don't need to know all that!)):

Subject: Your are an idiot

Terrible language and an idiot is all I can say about you.

You are probably one of the people embarrassing the rest of us in Assembly Hall by chanting B__ S__.

Mike Davis will never ever come close to being the Coach that Robert M. Knight was.

And walking out on something – hardly. He is setting them up to be a better group by getting started now instead of next fall.

I will not look at your useless blog anymore.

First things first, we had a reader! At least now I know that we haven't been completely wasting our time! Secondly, I am sorry to see him go, as I would much rather have such an engaged reader remain and make his thoughts known in public on here than through email where I only get to see them. Lastly, as I said earlier, everyone is welcome to express their here, and while I would prefer that opinions be expressed in civil, non-juvenile ways (both by bloggers and readers), I have no intention of censoring this blog (although I do reserve the right to do so).

James Hardy NFL Draft Prediction or The One Where I Pretend To Have Knowledge About The NFL

This year's NFL draft kicks off on my Birthday (April 26th) and will lead well into the 27th where I will be passed out on a couple or floor, surely having been unable to make it to my bed from the night before. The Hoosier's very own WR James Hardy will be looking to be drafted over the course of those two days, and now I'm going to tell him where his going to end up.

I have no inside information, and I haven't been reading any draft previews. These predictions (I am choosing the 3 most likely teams) have manifested themselves through trusting my gut, poor logic/reasoning, and a and a random non-story about the Steelers I heard months ago. Without further ado, here is where you're likely to end up James:

1. Pittsburgh Steelers: This offseason Ben Roethlisberger expressed his desire for a tall receiver. Well, guess who just happens to be a 6'7 tall receiver? James Hardy. Throw in the fact that James Hardy played for the Coach who made Big Ben into who is today, and you've got a perfect match. BAM!

2. Tennessee Titans: Vince Young needs some solid receiving weapons in order for this team to go anywhere. Hardy has played his last few years with a running QB in Kellen Lewis and can bring a new element to a team desperately trying to figure out who to run its offense.

3. Miami Dolphins: Why not?

Now, once I really look at that, those three teams seem far fetched, as I can't imagine Hardy going either 23/24 to the Steelers or Titans, and their next picks are in the mid 50s where I imagine he'd be gone. Maybe the Dolphins at 32 do make sense...

Indiana @ Illinois - A Great Game?

Before I get to the Indiana @ Illinois game I'd like to make a brief comment on posting. Just as I resurrected Defend The Rock from it's hiatus I entered Graduate School. While at first I was posting frequently, I have noticed that both my post count, and quality has gone down drastically of late. I am hoping that as I get back into the groove of being in school I will be able to better manage my time, and thus make more frequent, and substantive posts. In the meantime, I'd like to thank my fellow Defend The Rockers who have been picking up the slack for me of late.
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Tonight after class TITTLE500 and myself watched the game. I DVR'd it as I would not have been able to make tipoff. We isolated ourselves from the internet and ignored various calls and texts that might've clued us into the outcome of the game. I had a conversation with a classmate about the game that went something like this:

Her: Good luck, I hope Indiana wins tonight, what do you think their chances are?
Me: Road games in the Big Ten are always tough, but come on, Illinois is terrible!

At the conclusion of the game TITTLE500 and I had a similar discussion, discussing how while this win was important, how "good" of a win was it really? It took us 2 overtimes and some luck (not to mention some wretched FT shooting by Pruitt) to win against an Illinois team that has shown nothing all year long.

The Hoosiers had a couple guys who really could've been goats of the game but managed to shine in their own ways. Both Ellis and Crawford made quite a few mistakes but made up for them big time with crucial plays/totals. Crawford's poor ball handling (nothing new) juxtaposed with his perfectly timed 3's. Ellis' missed free throws and foul trouble masked by his big 3 and always reliable rebounding performance.

Eric Gordon was clearly preoccupied in the first half with all sorts of thoughts running through his head. Whether the crowd was getting to him, or if he was just trying to do too much is up for debate, but as always seems to be the case, he got his points and helped IU to a win. I made a comment late in the game that is really seems that against tougher opponents, Gordon almost makes his impact below the radar (or as below the radar as Eric Gordon can be). Often times I find myself surprised that he's scored the last 10 IU points, or something to that effect.

Looking back at this game, it was a great game to watch, there can be no questioning that. But for IU fans that have a nagging doubt about how good this team actually is, it wasn't encouraging. The Hoosiers seems to have the pieces to be able to field one hell of a team, but that puzzle still hasn't quite come together to form a cohesive image yet.

Signing Day

Head over to IUHoosiers.com to see what is going on with signing day today. As of right now 14 players have sent in their written commitment to Bill Lynch's Hoosiers. Be sure to check out the videos also, I know what I will be doing for most of my work day.

I mean I guess really they are all a bunch of 2 or 3 star prospects, but I am liking that we are getting a lot of guys from outside of Indiana. Always love learning the new names and faces, looking forward to seeing what happens with the future of Indiana Football!

Have fun following the recruits today! Here is hoping we don't finish last this year in Big Ten recruiting.

Bob Knight

Good fucking riddance.

News regarding other past IU coaches: Mike Davis is sitting at 15-6 with the Blazers. Tied for 2nd place in C-USA. He doesn't appear to be walking out on a team that is on the bubble and has a couple shots at bringing down Memphis (maybe not realistic shots, but shots) before the season is over. Also Robert Vaden is having an outstanding year down there avevraging almost 21 ppg.

Now let's get ready for Thursday!

*the thoughts in this post may not reflect the other posters on defendtherock.blogspot.com

Kyle Taber

Kyle Taber is receiving regular rotation minutes in the game against Northwestern today.

I'm listening to the game on WIUX online radio so its hard to get a good feel for minutes, but he seems to be getting more than Mike White or Fatty McMissLayups (DeAndre Thomas).

Why did we unredshirt Mike White again? The Hoosiers are shooting terribly, minus DJ and EG of course.

Also, there's a rumor floating around that DeAndre Thomas used to be skinny. Here's photographic proof.

Now:


In 2002:


Also, as you might be noticing, DeAndre used to wear #1.

Football Schedule

Here is the 2008 football schedule for our Hoosiers (home games in bold). I have to be honest and say that I have a hard time envisioning us doing any better than we did this past season, if even matching our win total. Granted we should be able to beat Northwestern this time around (as long as you know who doesn't come in for one play).

8/30 Western Kentucky
9/6 Murray State
9/20 Ball State
9/27 Michigan State
10/4 at Minnesota
10/11 Iowa
10/18 at Illinois
10/25 Northwestern (Homecoming)
11/1 Central Michigan
11/8 Wisconsin
11/15 at Penn State
11/22 at Purdue

Censorship and lousy Basketball

Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit! Bullshit!

Just playing. Swear if you want. Sometimes the refs deserve it, but the other teams probably don't. And maybe it does sound stupid or make us look bad...

Last night was disappointing, and this morning is even worse. As I sit here at work, un-showered and feeling like I reek of Budlight and wings, I am trying to pull from my brain some of the animosity I had for Eric Gordon last night. I remember going on long rants about the freshman, which in turn caused me to miss many a trivia question (damnit EJ!), but now it's all gone. I've got nothing. So I will just say this...Fuck Eric Gordon. Okay I am over it. I bet you will continue to wow me starting sunday against Northwestern. If you can't drop 20+ points on those Wildcats, I think it might jog my memory a bit.

In non Eric Gordon news, 8 games at the Rock this coming football season. Can't wait!

Baseball - There's Hope

So some of you may be aware but I devoted a TON of time last season to covering the IU Baseball Squad. No one else covered them all that much, so I thought I was filling a void, but it seems not too many people were all that interested. Well, just when my resolve was fading to cover them this season, I asked BP Prospect Guru Bryan Smith "Whatever should a IU Baseball Blogger Do?" And his response tells me that not only should I keep blogging, but maybe people will actually start taking a look at IU baseball.

Kellen (Indiana): I (wasted?) an entire summer blogging about and analyzing the Hoosier baseball squad. Any reason for me to cover these guys again, or just more obscurity? Would love to see my boy Evan Crawford get some attention.

Bryan Smith: No, you should continue to cover them, Tracy Smith is doing some good things with that program. They have a good freshman left-hander coming in named Kyle Leiendecker, and I think their sophomore catcher Josh Phegley is going to have an All-Big Ten year after a really good summer. The problem for your boy Evan Crawford is that he's the second-best player named that in college baseball, behind Auburn's electric southpaw closer. Next year he might get some attention.

Happy Birthday Kellen! And Fuck Off Big Ten Network!

Today is Kellen Lewis' 21st Birthday. We'd like to give him a hearty Defend The Rock Happy Birthday! Go out, have a beer (I'm sure you're excited and intrigued to try alcohol for the first time as certainly IU's and Bloomington's no-drinking for minors policies are 100% effective), have some fun, and then get prepping for next year!

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In other news:

The latest comment spam from the Big 10 Network on here (see the post below this one) really pissed me off. I find it hard to support EITHER or Comcast or The Big Ten Network in their ongoing feud, but shit like this makes an already bad image worse (and let's not forget the "Big Ten Network Spinners" that "performed" at the IU @ Northwestern game last year, ugh, thought I have erased that from my memory).

One of these days I'll put up a longer post on this topic but currently I am burdened with too many other obligations to successfully channel my fury.

IU vs Iowa

Indiana vs. Iowa

Let's go Hoosiers!

NFL Hoosiers

Well with the college football season over, and the NFL season winding down, I wanted to give a shout out to all of those Hoosiers that played (or DNP) this season in the National Football League.

Let's start with the NFC Hoosiers:

Adewale Oguleye - DE for the Chicago Bears ended the season with 58 tackles, 9 sacks and 6 forced fumbles.

Victor Adeyanju - This second year Rams Defensive End had 29 tackles this season.

Antwaan Randle El - Antwaan had 51 receptions this season (his second for the Redskins) and 728 yards with 1 touchdown. He had an impressive game against the Seahawks in the NFC Wildcard game, bringing in 10 catches for 94 yards and a touchdown as the Redskins fell short of Seattle 14-35.

Now on to the AFC Hoosiers:

Gibran Hamdan - Buffalo Bills QB - DNP

Isaac Sowells - Cleveland Browns G - DNP

Courtney Roby - Cincinnati Bengals WR - DNP

Herana-Daze Jones - Cincinnati Bengals DB played in 9 games this season and had 18 tackles, 15 of which were solo tackles. He is now on injured reserve for the Bengals.

Chris Taylor - Houston Texans RB - IR DNP

Trent Green - Miami Dolphins QB - In his first year with the Dolphins threw 5 tds and threw for 987 yards. He also threw 7 interceptions and was put on IR in October.

Aaron Halterman - Miami Dolphins TE - This season he saw action in 9 games, but only caught 1 pass for 7 yards.

Chris Liwienski - Miami Dolphins G - In his 9th season, and first for the Dolphins, Chris played in 16 games, 14 of those he started.

Kris Dielman - San Diego Chargers G - Kris Dielman started every game this season and helped the Bolts beat Tennessee and Indianapolis and taking them to the AFC Championship game were they lost to the New England Patriots.

So that was my very pointless recap of the NFL season and the Hoosiers that helped make it possible. If I left anyone off, or you can report about any other news involving former IU Football players and what they are up to now, that would be great. Has Lance Bennett helped Will Smith out with any hot singles lately? Let us know!

Although I am sad to see James Hardy leaving IU for the NFL, I am also extremely excited to have at least one more Hoosier to cheer for during the season. I am also looking forward to seeing what happens with Tracy Porter, I would love to see him work pretty hard this off season and get picked up somewhere for next season. I am looking for a team to follow, and it may be whichever team takes a chance on Tracy Porter.

Liveblogging Illinois @ Indiana 1/13/08

In honor of our triumphant return to the blogosphere I shall be liveblogging today's game versus Illinois. What will we see? Eric Gordon spitting in the faces of visiting Illinois fans - acting out physically what he did to them symbolically by brushing them off to go to IU? DeAndre Thomas taking off on a fast break culminating in an alley oop to himself? Only time will tell, and if you're unable to watch the game, all the highlights and lowlights will be here (unless I'm predisposed by letting my body try to digest the poison what was the Chinese food I just ate).

So without further ado, here we go! (And be sure to check out the debut posting by our latest poster, HARDYPARTY, below this liveblogging entry)

3:32: Why is football still on? The game was supposed to start at 3:30 but instead we still have football coverage. And no, we're not on the wrong channel like the one time we spent 10 mintues watching an infomercial waiting for a Wildcard game to start.

3:34: Why is Fogel on my damn TV screen hocking his bullshit sandwiches (try eating 2lbs of greasey chinese fried rice and sweet & sour pork and then committing to stay in front of the TV for several hours no matter how much you feel like death, then come and try to sell sandwiches to me Jared, until then, piss off). Sure he went to IU but that doesn't mean I have to accept him. If he really cared about hit roots he would've shouted at these talking heads to switch off football and tune into Bloomington.

3:37: TITTLE500 says that Shannon Sharpe needs to learn how to tie a tie.

3:42: We finally get to see some basketball 6 minutes into the game, thanks for all the commericals and NFL crap CBS.

3:47: D.J. White, not only is he a man, but with that celebration he just showed he's good friends with Defend The Rock fave DeAndre Thomas. Way to befriend the JuCos D.J., what a guy!

3:52: Lance Stemler: More than just a ping-pong player. DeAndre Thomas: Play nice, you're bigger than the other kids on the playground.

3:55: Eric Gordon Illinois/Indiana controversey reference count: 1. The two coaches aren't even willing to look eachother in the eye (seemingly over this issue).

4:00: Armon Bassett is in, always good to see him on the court. TITTLE500: A.J's also out there, needs to get some confidence.

4:02: Mike White looks like a Ninja Turtle (everyone in attendance here agrees).

4:08: Just discovered the existence of the Rock Band Stage Kit. Apparently it adds an interactive light and smoke show to Rock Band for 360. Incredible.

4:12: These "video game" camera angles they are using are making me really nauseated. I'm sorry, but I don't need camera "innovations" in my basketball broadcasts.

4:14: I look up and the TV has been changed to "Skate For The Heart." Ok, good, it's been changed back.

4:16: Currently debating whether Eric Gordon played Michael Jordan's son in Space Jam. He's credited, but is it THE Eric Gordon?

4:23: Well, you tried DeAndre, you tried. Also first sighting of Adam Ahlfeld's motivation technique.

4:25: Halftime. 34-30 Illinois. Not the half we here at Defend The Rock expected or like to see, but our boys are closed. Surely Coach will have some strong words in the locker room.

4:32: Talks of co-worker hugs and Rock Band take over half time. Hi Brian! Looking forward to the Bachelor Party.

4:42: Second half begins with a useless foul by Mike White. A discussion of check marks or something is going on around me. I'm slowing down, I think yesterdays festivities are starting to hit me.

4:47: Lots of traveling for IU tonight, fundementals guys, fundementals, 8 turnovers. Meanwhile Illinois is showing good hustle.

4:48: Eric Gordon hits a 3, the crowd is back into it. I don't think I will ever understand the offensive plan for tonight. Illinois hits a 3 and the crowd gets silent, support your team Hoosiers!

4:52: Jump ball. Get angry DJ, get angry.

4:56: White and Gordon decide to play together and put together one hell of a play.

4:59: Which Hoosier has gotten the most from lovely Bloomington ladies the audience asks? My vote is DJ, Basset clocks in with a vote as does Stemler. Really, Stemler?

5:00: Jeff Jordan's in the game. Exciting, it's like the Illini are now 90s era Bulls. Or not.

5:06: Team is fired up and playing D, the crowd is into it, this is what Indiana basketball should be. We have a young, energetic team so keep it up! Gordon layup, hoosiers lead. Hell yeah!

5:11: DJ is playing NBA Jam out there: He's On Fire! (I wonder if I can use that as a slogan to get an audition for Sportscenter, or more likely Stuart Scott already uses it).

5:18: Anyone else really excited about Commanche Moon? I've been waiting for Val Kilmer to return and really impress us all, even better that it's a Western. Or not.

5:24: D.J. stepping up as the team elder and sorting out some confrontations on the court and keeping the younger guys cool. Have to wonder what the make up (not talent, but personality) of this team would be like had he opted to go pro instead of return this year.

5:27: Partial up-skirt shot of an IU Cheerleader. Someone said "that's nice" and a hilariously unanimous "yeah" followed. Plenty of laughter.

5:32: Lots of criticism of A.J. from the ridiculous tats to the bizarre hair cut he has with all that stuff shaved on the back of his head. Criticism dampened by a well timed 3.

5:37: Bruce Weber is not a happy camper. He just took the coat off, look out, he's getting red and looking set to explode. But in fairness TITTLE500 did attend basketball camp with him (although he got a good scolding from him too).

5:40: We've got a patented crazy tense Big Ten ending. Players rolling around, crashing into each other all over the floor. We still have a few seconds left and who knows what'll happen, but damn, Big Ten basketball is diiiiirrrrrttttyyyyy.

5:42: IU Wins 62-58. Camera cuts away before we can see Adam Ahlfeld celebrate, we are all disappointed with that, but we'll take the win regardless. Hi Peter.

Gordon In Progress

It's a mythology in Indiana.  Bird and a rundown hoop at dawn, endless freethrows.  Bobby Knight's disruptive passion and an undefeated season.  "Hoosier" bears a weight, resonates with a storied history of victory and loss on the court and off.  And the story of Indiana Basketball continues, with Eric Gordon writing himself into the next chapter.

In the four years I spent in Bloomington ('02-'06) the basketball was secondary.  I just missed the Mike Davis NCAA Finals squad that caused that memorable eruption of drunken euphoria and pole-climbing on Kirkwood.  The subsequent downward spiral of Men's basketball left me not disappointed, but ambivalent.  I saw some games, got pumped in 2006, but focused on the Colts and the X on my calendar marking Little 5 weekend.

That's all changed now.  Eric Gordon is in Bloomington, Indiana wearing the cream and crimson.  Maybe it's just a year, but with his presence, as well as some strong help inside from a veteran D.J. White, Gordon's again put the ranking next to the name.  

Indiana University has a tenuous grasp on Eric Gordon.  Even if he were to make some sort of commitment, it wouldn't be a sure thing; the luxury of the young all-star.  But while he's there it seems to be all Gordon, all day.  He's not Lebron, not yet, not carrying a team with zero help.  D.J., Jamarcus Ellis, Mike White, even a young Jordan Crawford, they're all sharing the love in a top 10 ranking.  But Gordon is the star.  The 6'4", 215 babyface from Indianapolis is establishing himself as a premiere guard not just in the Big Ten, or even the NCAA, but the history of Indiana Basketball.  He moves the ball, puts points on the board, gets his teammates into the mix, and defends like a madman.  He is absolute, unabridged talent.  

It begs the question, what if he did stay?  He probably won't, Money vs. Myth and all that.  But what if they had the opportunity to build a team around this kid for four years?  Maybe slim another 30 or 40 off of Deandre Thomas and keep inside, get Jamarcus and Crawford to stick around, really build a little mini-Franchise around him.  It could really be something to see.  But alas, the idea of a four-year starter, a player with serious NBA-ready talent who sticks around, well, it's just not gonna happen.  It's old school.  Antique College ball.  

Which means we have to settle for one year at a time.  Keep our hopes and dreams contained to this season and what it might mean.  Sure, it's a young team, but clearly they're not lacking for talent.  They make mistakes and they're play is nothing if not inconsistent.  But they're ranked.  High.  They're working hard, and this is one of those seasons where literally anything could happen.

When Eric Gordon leaves it'll be a sad day down in Southern Indiana.  But it won't be the end of Indiana Basketball.  We'll watch Gordon, wherever he ends up playing.  And we'll watch IU, whatever happens next.  But for this season, while he's there, let's get pumped about what it means: A young all-star, top ten prospect, kid still learning how to be the best player he can be, and a team at his heels looking for a former greatness.     

     

We're Back? Yes. You're back? Face it, you never left.

So those of us here at Defend The Rock took a short (6 month long), unannounced break, but all of you kept clamoring for more. We got emails, we got comments on months old posts. Well, due to overwhelming pressure, we're back!

In our time off we missed the entire football season, but really, did we miss anything? It's not like IU made it to their first bowl game in ages, oh wait, damn! Or like an incredible incoming freshmen basketball class has been brought into IU, double damn!

A little later on we'll have a retrospective on the Football season and get into full swing covering Basketball, but first we have something important to do:

Disclose who won the Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award for the Insight Bowl Appearing Indiana Hoosiers!

With a team that had so much heart, so much talent, so much athleticism, and whatever the hell Ben Chapel supposedly brings (Seriously, we made the trip to the Northwestern game and what does he do to honor our appearance? Comes in and gives up what amounted to a game losing interception on his first play), it was tough to choose.

Without further ado, your Indiana Hoosier Football Playing Adam Ahlfeld Team Player Award recipient:


Josiah Sears

The big man racked up 4 rushing and 2 receiving TDs, 270 Total Yards, and Veteran Leadership (we assume).

Also we must highlight Austin Starr. For the first time in ages Indiana had a kicker, and that foot of his certainly made the difference between us having a winning season and ending up in the gutter of the Big Ten. In honor of his achievements we are bestowing on him the Brett Finkelmeier "I'm going to grow up to be Adam Ahlfeld someday" Award.


Austin Starr