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July 8, 2012

Juniors in name only: With no seniors, ISU underclassmen serve as mentors

Todd Golden The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — They’re juniors officially, but seniors by proxy.

Indiana State’s men’s basketball team has no seniors on its 2012-13 roster. It has six juniors, but only three — Jake Odum, R.J. Mahurin and Lucas Eitel — have played a game for the Sycamores.

It means the experienced junior trio are two-year seniors of a sort. If it’s a thought that occurred to Odum, it’s one that took him aback.

“Don’t say that! Seniors? Wow!” Odum jested.

The truth is that Odum and his experienced teammates are well aware that the mantle of leadership falls upon them.

Fellow junior and Gonzaga transfer Manny Arop has spent a year in the program, but hasn’t played a game yet.

Junior college transfers Michael Samuels and Dawon Cummings are program newbies just as are ISU’s three true freshmen — Khristian Smith, Rhett Smith and

T.J. Bell.

With the Sycamores having so many new players to depend on — redshirt freshmen Devonte Brown and Brandon Burnett will also debut — the process of assimilation is the first brick the juniors have laid as far as their own leadership is concerned.

“I just have to perform on the court and show these young guys what to do, that’s how I plan to handle [leadership]. I have to let them know that just because they might be tired during a summer workout, everybody’s going through it,” Odum said.

The new NCAA summer workout rules — coaches are allowed to participate in two-hour-per-week chunks over eight weeks with the players — have helped the experienced players refine their own brand of leadership. Instead of trying to become leaders in the informal and often unorganized open-gym format of the past, their leadership can be forged in a more formal setting with supervision from the coaching staff.

ISU will get an additional 10 formal practices in preparation for its exhibition trip to the Bahamas in August.

“I like it a lot. It’s better when you have coaches in the gym, rather than working out on your own. They can teach you more and help you with your shooting form, things like that. The extra practices are going to help a lot, especially since we have so many new guys,” Odum said.

Mahurin, who along with Odum and Eitel spent one season as a redshirt, has been impressed with the work ethic of the new players. He mentioned that Rhett Smith already has the team-best bench lift.

“They’re really smart basketball players and we have a lot of athleticism. They work hard and they’re going to surprise people with how hard they work. You almost can’t tell they’re coming in from high school,” said Mahurin, who will get married to his long-time sweetheart a week before ISU embarks for the Bahamas.

Though the Sycamores and coach Greg Lansing have all remarked on the positive progress the team has made so far, it is just the summer, when hope springs eternal for all basketball teams.

Odum knows that what the Sycamores accomplish through their summer workouts must have some meaning once the season schedule rolls around.

“Toughness is going to be key with some of these freshmen. They haven’t played any games here before. It’s something I have to show these guys,” Odum said.

The toughness Odum seeks from his teammates is something he had tested himself during a trying 2011-12 campaign.

He entered the season with back spasms he suffered with during the run-up to the season. Shortly after the season began, he developed plantar fasciitis, but played through it. Odum also suffered with shin splints.

“The season was frustrating. It was such a day-by-day thing. One day I could feel great and the next day, you’d feel terrible,” Odum said. “It’s basketball and athletics. Every single person on the floor has something wrong with them at one point or another. [Playing through it] tests your mental capacity as to how you can perform [with an injury].”

After a month of rest, Odum is optimistic his aches and pains are behind him.

“I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in. I’m healthy, it’s the first time I’ve been healthy for the whole summer. It’s just good for the program and my health especially,” Odum said.

It wasn’t just injuries that tested ISU’s juniors-to-be in 2012. Though ISU finished with a winning record for the third straight year and a berth in the postseason, it was a letdown. ISU was eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference after having been picked a contender in third.

While the four seniors from that group moved on (though former center Myles Walker is still a Sycamore … on the football team), the juniors were left to learn the lessons from what didn’t go right last season and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“We learned from last year about handling situations and handling each other. I love all of the guys from last year, but something didn’t click right,” Mahurin said.

“I’ve been taking the off-season to figure out what it was. We had talent, we all liked each other, we just didn’t finish. That’s something we’re stressing a lot — finishing plays and not coming up short on anything,” he added.

Finishing strong was an emphasis of a team workout last Thursday. To wit, on an open drive to the basket, sophomore Justin Gant was urged to dunk the ball, not just lay it up.

Lansing feels the juniors are being heard by their teammates. If their ears remain open, he’s confident the Sycamores can achieve big things in the two years the juniors have left to lead.

“The new guys are listening and getting as much as they can out of it. It’s nice to know, in a year, we’ll have the same time. If we can keep these guys together and continue to improve, it could be an interesting couple of years,” Lansing said.

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Sports
SPT 052213 JENKINS JUBI.jpg

On the scoreboard: Terre Haute South's Justin Jenkins (6) celebrates the Braves' first run with teammate Jacob Johnson during the Braves' sectional game against North on Wednesday at South.

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    May 23, 2013 4 Photos

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    Indiana State’s Wednesday morning wish list probably read something like this: a dominant complete game effort from starting pitcher Devin Moore, near-immaculate defense to support him, and a steady diet of clutch situational hitting from lineup spots one to nine.

    May 23, 2013

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    West Vigo got off to a good start in Class 3A high school sectional baseball action Wednesday evening at Dick Ballinger Field.
    The Vikings scored four runs in the first inning of the first sectional game and went on to defeat Brown County 10-0 in five innings with Kevin Stewart hurling a two-hitter.

    May 23, 2013

  • Terre Haute South tennis claims regional crown

    It was a lot tougher than some thought it would be, but the Terre Haute South girls tennis team won the Greencastle regional for the second year in a row Wednesday evening at DePauw University Tennis and Track Center.

    May 23, 2013

  • evans-jump.jpg METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman's Evans honored as Great Lakes' top athlete

    Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans earned her fifth career NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year honor, according to results released Wednesday by the U.S. Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association.

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field

    Indiana State freshman and Terre Haute North graduate John Mascari is among the enormous group of Sycamores competing this weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary. The top 48 NCAA track and field competitors in each event on this half of the United States are narrowed down to 12 who will compete at the NCAA meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

    May 23, 2013

  • SPT0511613trackseibert.jpg Big group of Wabash Valley boys head to Evansville looking for state berths

    The top four finishers in each event from last week’s Terre Haute North, Evansville Central, Jasper and Princeton boys high school track and field sectionals will converge on Evansville Central today for regional competition.

    May 22, 2013 2 Photos

  • SPT0512113WVSB mcclain.jpg West Vigo comes up short against 19-9 Brown County softball

    West Vigo got off to a good start but Brown County finished better in Class 3A high school softball sectional semifinal action Tuesday night at Edgewood.
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    May 22, 2013 5 Photos

  • Valley baseball teams have been keeping busy heading into sectionals

    When high school baseball sectionals begin around the Wabash Valley today, one complaint that’s not expected to be heard from any coach is that his team has had too much time off.

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Local Interest
evans-jump.jpg

  • METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman's Evans honored as Great Lakes' top athlete

    Rose-Hulman senior Liz Evans earned her fifth career NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year honor, according to results released Wednesday by the U.S. Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association.

    May 23, 2013 1 Photo

  • SPT 051913 TIM TERRY.jpg Terry enjoys strong year with Wildcats, and still enjoying suiting up to play

    South Vermillion’s Tim Terry is the longest tenured coach in Wabash Valley high school baseball as his Wildcats are set to begin sectional play Thursday against Owen Valley.
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    May 22, 2013 4 Photos

  • softballsecs.jpg Softball sectionals up for grabs

    All three Vigo County high schools and Northview appear to have a realistic chance of winning sectional championships in softball this week.

    May 20, 2013 1 Photo

  • Indiana State baseball series canceled

    Heavy rain from Thursday through Saturday has forced Indiana State and Tennessee Martin to cancel their three-game weekend baseball series in northwest Tennessee.

    April 27, 2013

  • METRO ROUNDUP: Rose-Hulman baseball to play DePauw on Thursday after Tuesday's rain

    The Rose-Hulman baseball team has rescheduled its non-conference game with DePauw to Thursday night.
    The start time remains 7 p.m. for the single nine-inning game that was originally scheduled for today. Tuesday’s scheduled Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Anderson was moved to Sunday because of rain.

    April 24, 2013

High School
College
  • Indiana State baseball now one win from MVC Championship

    Indiana State’s Wednesday morning wish list probably read something like this: a dominant complete game effort from starting pitcher Devin Moore, near-immaculate defense to support him, and a steady diet of clutch situational hitting from lineup spots one to nine.

    May 23, 2013

  • Terre Haute's Mascari running 10,000 meters for chance to get to Hayward Field

    Indiana State freshman and Terre Haute North graduate John Mascari is among the enormous group of Sycamores competing this weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary. The top 48 NCAA track and field competitors in each event on this half of the United States are narrowed down to 12 who will compete at the NCAA meet at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

    May 23, 2013

  • Manaea's shoulder causing him latest pain

    Indiana State pitcher Sean Manaea has battled through so many aches and pains during the 2013 season that it can be hard to discern the serious pain from the pain he pitches through.

    May 22, 2013

  • ISU's Negele answers call in big way in wake of Manaea injury

    When Indiana State starting pitcher Sean Manaea slumped on the mound in obvious pain after he took his warm-up pitches, red flags raised for ISU’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament hopes.

    May 21, 2013

  • SPT0511613manaea3.jpg ISU baseball hoping Manaea can get its MVC Tournament moving in right direction

    Indiana State’s baseball team has been waiting all season for its stars to align.
    But this is the 2013 Sycamores, after all, and after a season in which seemingly little has gone right, it appears its stars will remain crossed at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

    May 21, 2013 1 Photo

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Terre Haute Rex
SPT 071512 DORSETT FILE.jpg

Consultation: Rex manager Brian Dorsett talks with his pitcher and players during a time-out Sunday, July 15, at Sycamore Field. (Tribune-Star file/Bob Poynter)

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