Eye on IU

By Pete DiPrimio What’s next for Lilly King – walking on water? Indiana’s swimming superstar continues to blast through water like nobody else, racking up awards, gold medals and races faster than you can ask, Mark Spitz who? The last few days King has burned up the lanes at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis as part of the U.S. National Swimming Championships. She unleashed the fastest 50-meter breaststroke in U.S. history Thursday night in a winning time of 26.66 seconds. In fact, it’s the fastest time in the world this year. The previous record was held by Jessica Hardy at 26.80 seconds. Maybe that’s not as impressive as out-swimming a shark, as mega-Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps will try to do, but it’s darn good. It was a follow up to King's Wednesday night win in the 200-meter breaststroke in a school-record time of 2:21.83 seconds, the second-fastest time in the world this year. It all qualified her for next month’s FINA world championships in Budapest, whi...

By Pete DiPrimio Lilly King once again breaks new ground. Are you surprised? This time, Indiana’s superstar swimmer and Olympic gold medalist is the Big Ten female athlete of the year. No Hoosier woman has ever won this award, although five guys have. Well, they’ve won the conference male athlete of the year award, and not the female athlete of the year honor because … well …. just because. Anyway, King followed last summer’s Olympic success in Brazil with a big season for the Hoosiers. She was the national champ in the 100-meter breaststroke (in a record time of 56.71 seconds) and the 200 breaststroke (a record time of 2:03.18) for the second straight year. No other Big Ten swimmer has ever won four individual national titles. King is the first swimmer to win consecutive 100 and 200 breaststroke titles since USC’s Rebecca Soni did it in 2008-09. King also earned four All-America honors. She led the Hoosiers to an eighth-place finish in the NCAA meet, the second-best showi...

By Pete DiPrimio It’s official -- Archie Miller is really, really rich. That is, if you think $3.35 million a year makes you rich. It’s also official -- Indiana will pay its new basketball coach to stay away from scheduling non-conference patsies. For those who love watching the Hoosiers bury the likes of Savannah State, Nichols State and Coppin State, this is heart-breaking. For those wanting IU to schedule to its tradition -- and to boost its NCAA tourney stock -- this is Manna from heaven. First, Miller’s contract to coach Indiana basketball was released on Tuesday. It’s a seven-year deal worth $24 million.   If you like specifics, and who doesn’t when you’re talking about this much money, his base salary is $550,000 per year. Then he gets an extra $1.65 to $1.95 million a year for some reason. He also gets an extra $50,000 a year in outside marketing and promotional income. He also gets $1 million a year in deferred compensation. To put this in perspective, ...

By Pete DiPrimio They came They were offered Will they accept? That is the big question in the aftermath of Indiana’s weekend team basketball camp. Teams and players gathered at Assembly Hall and Cook Hall to compete, improve and impress. Hoosier coaches were there to, in a big way, woo. The top targets were four-star forward Jerome Hunter out of Ohio, and four-star center Trayce Jackson-Davis from Center Grove in Indiana. IU coaches made them offers Hoosier fans hope they can’t refuse. Stay tuned. There were other camp prospects, of course, in this annual June ritual college coaches use to get recruits on campus, and players use to see what schools really intrigue them. First, a few facts. The camp featured high school talent from around the state and the Midwest. The 6-7 Hunter stood out right away, which is what you’d expect from a player who has long since sparked interest from IU coach Archie Miller. Miller had offered him a scholarship last year while Miller was a...

By Pete DiPrimio OG Anunoby found his voice as he didn’t at Indiana. He remains a man of few words and big basketball potential. He didn’t overwhelm his Toronto Raptors introductory press conference in a gush of oratory to remind you of, say, Dick Vitale, but he left an impression the best is yet to come. Take for instance, his ability to guard every position. “I could do it in high school. I could do it in college. I feel I can still do it now. I think I’m athletic enough, strong enough and smart enough to defend every position.” If that sounds bold for an NBA rookie, you’d better be bold if you expect to guard some of the best players on the planet; if you think, at 6-8, you can handle the likes of guards Chris Paul, Steph Curry and even Yogi Ferrell, another former Hoosier now playing for the Dallas Mavericks. “Guarding the perimeter, getting steals and blocks, I love that.” Anunoby smiles as he says this, looking dapper in a charcoal suit just as he did during draft night...

Thomas Bryant wanted a shot. Naysayers had no relevance in his quest for NBA Draft selection, and now that the former Indiana standout is a Los Angeles Laker, now that he’s part of team president Magic Johnson’s debut quest to return the Lakers to greatness, he’s ready to make his mark in a city of angels, illusions and heartbreak. “All I need is one foot in the door,” he tweeted. Bryant got it, briefly with Utah in the second round before a trade landed him in Los Angeles. Bryant had worked out for the Lakers in the weeks leading up to the draft. General manager Rob Pelinka quickly noticed Bryant had NBA-ready fitness. "One of the things that stood out was he was in extraordinary shape,” Pelinka said in a post-draft press conference. “He ran up and down the floor and didn’t get tired. He was doing a lot of drills that the guards did and showed that he was in good fitness." Beyond that, Bryant had a standing reach of 9 foot 4.5 inches, which was second among players at Ma...

BY PETE DIPRIMIO Welcome to the debut of my new blog. It comes amid change that hopefully will lead to a better tomorrow ... and more hair! Anyway, the NBA draft arrived on Thursday night, and for the 137th consecutive year, I was not selected. The obvious conclusion is, as always ... conspiracy! So there you go. Meanwhile, Indiana's OG Anunoby and Thomas Bryant were drafted. James Blackmon was not. This surprised no one. The 6-8 Anunoby was the No. 23 overall pick by the Toronto Raptors. The 6-11 Bryant was the 42nd pick by the Utah Jazz, who then traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers. So he'll get a shot at the Hollywood lifestyle. Anunoby, a preseason All-America, was a first round pick despite not being able to work out for teams as he recovers from knee surgery. No matter. His size, length, hustle, defense and potential were more than enough for Toronto to take him. He might not play this year, although he's hoping to be cleared by November, and that...