Indiana State’s men’s exhibition basketball game vs. Indianapolis was a homecoming for its visiting coach, Stan Gouard. Gouard was an ISU assistant coach for three seasons, recording a 9-18 record in his first season coaching the Greyhounds last year.
“It’s always good to go back,” Gouard said. “I have so many great memories when I was here. Made a lot of relationships, still have a lot of friends here. It was good to see some familiar faces that I haven’t seen or talked to in a long while.”
“But I understood coming in it was a business trip. That’s always a tough thing when you’re going back to a place where you once coached. It’s one of those deals where you got to get in there a little bit early, say your hellos and try to get your guys ready.”
Gouard spoke glowingly of the current crop of Sycamores.
“They are a lot deeper, deep at the guard spots,” he said. “You take Harry Marshall coming off the bench … you’re a good basketball team. Aaron Carter coming off the bench. I recruited both those guys. For those two guys to come off the bench, I knew we were going to have some problems.
“They wore our first group down and those guys came in and took it to the next level. They’re going to make some noise in [the Missouri Valley Conference] and they’re fun to watch.”
• • •
• Carter returns — Aaron Carter sat out ISU’s first exhibition game vs. Rose-Hulman on Tuesday due to contracting the H1N1 virus (swine flu).
“He got that on Tuesday, then they cleared him for practice on Thursday,” McKenna said. “He practiced very well, didn’t miss a beat. Practiced well [Friday] and had a good game today. Thirteen points and six rebounds in 14 minutes is pretty good for having swine flu three days ago.”
• Reed did not play — ISU senior guard Rashad Reed was in street clothes for the Indianapolis game. Reed suffered an injured knee in the Rose-Hulman game attempting to block a shot and landing awkwardly out of bounds near the ISU bench.
“He’s day to day right now,” McKenna said. “I asked him today at shootaround ‘if today was the Missouri Valley Conference championship game, would you be playing?’ He goes, ‘oh yeah, I’d be playing.’
“I think he’s a couple days away yet. We didn’t want to rush him. The one thing about Rashad is he’s had a lingering, nagging groin problem. My thinking is if his knee heals up, the groin will get some rest too. Then he will be full go on Friday for our first game.”
• Odum plays well again — Freshman guard Jake Odum, a former Terre Haute South standout, continues to impress after two exhibition games.
Odum played 11 minutes vs. Indianapolis, with a line of four points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and only one turnover. Against Rose, he had 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.
“He played a little bit today and played very well,” McKenna said. “He sticks his nose in there … he’s just a scrappy player. He’s doing what we thought he could do.
• Kelly adjusting well — Former Marshall, Ill., Carmel and University of Iowa player Jake Kelly, a junior at ISU, feels he is fitting in well in his new playing situation.
“Being a point guard, brand new here, I don’t know any of the plays right now,” Kelly joked. “I’m just trying to get us into the offense, do the best I can.”
“Early on in my career at Iowa I was basically a defender, a spot shooter,” Kelly added. “I developed and gained confidence from [Iowa] coach [Todd] Lickliter, he gave me more freedom. But this year I think I’ve got that freedom from the get go from coach McKenna.
“I’m just trying to build faith for my teammates. I don’t want to force things too early. By the time the Missouri Valley season starts, man, I really think we’ve got a good team and we’re going to be top of the league.”
• Wabash Valley connections — Lucas Eitel, Logan Eitel and R.J. Mahurin all entered the ISU lineup with just 1:05 remaining. Despite not getting much playing time, Mahurin’s block led to a fast break basket by Lucas Eitel — accounting for ISU’s final points.
Former Terre Haute North and Gardner-Webb player, Nate Blank, is a new member of the Indianapolis team. He played 34 minutes, tallying five points, four rebounds and two steals — going an uncharacteristic 0 for 6 from the field.
College
ISU Basketball Notebook: Former ISU assistant Gouard impressed by this year’s Sycamores; Kelly optimistic
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ISU hurdler Swift becomes 5th Sycamore to make NCAAs
Indiana State sophomore Greggmar Swift became the second member of the men’s team and the fifth Sycamore overall to qualify for the 2012 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Finals at Drake University, placing second in the second heat of the 110 meter hurdle quarterfinals Saturday at the NCAA East Preliminary Round.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: ISU baseball has pluses, minuses for tourney bid
Last Thursday, when Indiana State’s baseball jumped around in a celebratory dogpile after clinching the Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship at Bob Warn Field, no one thought that a little over a week later, the dreaded NCAA Tournament bubble would fly over Terre Haute. -
Lou Watson, former IU player and coach, dies at 88
Former Indiana University player and coach Lou Watson died on Thursday in Fairfax, Va., the school announced. He was 88.
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METRO ROUNDUP: ISU’s Pounds qualifies for NCAA Championships
Brandon Pounds of Indiana State missed the 2011 outdoor season with a hand injury but has made up for lost time, qualifying for the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake University with a fifth place finish in the men’s hammer throw at the NCAA East Preliminary Friday.
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Rose’s Liz Evans wins fourth NCAA high jump title
Junior Liz Evans became the first Rose-Hulman athlete to earn four career NCAA Division III championships by winning the women’s high jump at Friday’s 2012 outdoor national meet at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
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Indiana State throwers advance to NCAA championships
A pair of Indiana State juniors punched their ticket to Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday as Felisha Johnson finished fifth and Mary Theisen ninth in the women’s shot put at the 2012 NCAA East Preliminary track and field championships on the University of North Florida campus.
“Both were very focused and had great starts,” ISU women’s track coach Angela Martin said. “They did just what we wanted them to … be relaxed, have fun, and do what they have already done this season.” -
Blanked by Blach: ISU drops MVC tournament opener
Things went wrong for Indiana State’s baseball team in its Missouri Valley Conference Tournament opener against Creighton, but one statistic glowed white-hot.
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MVP of the MVC: Lucas first Sycamore to earn Player of Year honors
Indiana State’s baseball team got the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season hardware last week and it’s hoping to grab more gold this week in its quest to win the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament.
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Sycamores try to catch Missouri Valley Conference tourney vibe
A Missouri Valley Conference championship season has bloomed for the Indiana State baseball team in 2012. The Sycamores have been dominant through most of the season.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Subtle switch has fostered MVC baseball parity
When Indiana State was crowned as the regular season baseball champion of the Missouri Valley Conference last Thursday, it marked the fifth different regular season champion the league has had since 2005.
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ISU claims Missouri Valley Conference baseball title
Entering Thursday’s game against Indiana State, Missouri State starting pitcher Nick Petree had gone 72 1/3 innings without surrendering an earned run, an unofficial NCAA record.
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ISU baseball in familiar territory with MVC title on line
First place is there is for the taking for Indiana State's baseball team this weekend … so is redemption.
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A time for firsts: SMWC seniors have national title aspirations
Even though St. Mary-of-the-Woods College has won eight national titles in softball in the last 16 years, seniors Sara Goelz and Jessica Jonas are among the many current Woods players who have not been part of a national championship team.
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Win over SIU puts Sycamores in first place
As Indiana State’s baseball team tried to climb to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference mountain on Saturday against Southern Illinois, it stood to reason that the air would get more rarefied as they neared the summit.
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Major Clay takes fourth straight MVC high jump title
For the fourth straight year, Indiana State’s Major Clay will climb to the top spot on the awards podium as the Sycamore captured his fourth high jump championship at the 2012 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday.
The competition was conducted at Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University. -
Edgewood takes Western Indiana Conference golf crown
Edgewood and senior Jackson Cowden took top honors in the Western Indiana Conference boys golf championship played Saturday at Idle Creek.
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North grad wins 10,000 at Big Ten Championships
Terre Haute North alumnus Zach Mayhew ran a Dan McClimon track record at the University of Wisconsin to win the 10,000 meters at the Big Ten Championships.
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Top-seeded Rose-Hulman falls in opener of HCAC Tournament
A couple of Rose-Hulman streaks came to an end Thursday night in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament action, but the home-team jinx looks to be still alive.
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ISU's Ort getting hot at right time for Sycamores
Indiana State’s baseball game notes list game-by-game performance for each Sycamore batter. It lists them box score-style: at-bats, runs, hits and RBI.
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Terre Haute native getting national attention as freshman for Kentucky
On a day where Terre Haute native A.J. Reed returned home to continue his college career, he got plenty of time to be on-stage.
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Top seed, home field doesn’t guarantee Rose success
On the surface, serving as host for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament would appear to benefit Rose-Hulman’s No. 1-seeded team, which finished the regular season 27-12 overall and 18-6 in the conference.
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Metro roundup: ISU’s Lucas honored by Missouri Valley again
For the fifth time in the last nine weeks, Indiana State junior catcher Jeremy Lucas has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
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Sycamores top Shockers in 10 innings in MVC series opener
If free baseball is what you want, Indiana State has what you need. For the sixth time in the span of a month, ISU’s series opener went extra innings.
- METRO ROUNDUP: Rose baseball team takes first game of doubleheader
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ISU starting pitchers in rhythm heading into Wichita State series
“Gettting into rhythm” is such an oft-used cliché in sports that it’s hard to hear the term and fight the urge to not let it enter one ear and escape another.
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ISU goes to well too many times
Perhaps the most unnecessary pursuit for a Wabash Valley sports fan during the now-completed weekend was watching the first few innings of nonconference college baseball between Indiana State and visiting Nebraska-Omaha.
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ISU baseball living on the edge
Indiana State’s baseball team got its game against Nebraska-Omaha in Saturday between morning and evening rain showers. But in the wake of another walk-off 3-2 victory against the struggling Mavericks, one might be forgiven if they felt the Sycamores are walking between the raindrops a bit.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North Central baseball improves to 10-2
North Central lost a 7-1 game to Vincennes Rivet, and then Nolan Kinnett pitched the Thunderbirds to victory, adding a double and three RBIs against Riverton Parke in a pair of high school baseball games on Saturday.
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METRO ROUNDUP: Jenkins, Goatee win inaugural Rush the Punter 5K
Steve Jenkins and TaPring Goatee were the 5K winners in the inaugural Rush the Punter event on Saturday at Fairbanks Park.
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Providing perspective: ISU’s vets have 2009 as window into 2012
Indiana State’s baseball team has reached dizzying heights, but if the Sycamores have any trouble keeping their feet on the ground, they can turn to three teammates who can remind them how dangerous it can be to get complacent.
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