Some residents in the eastern part of Indiana County are waking up without power this morning.

Penelec reports 172 customers were without power around 7:20 this morning. Most of them coming from Cherry Tree Borough, as 155 outages were reported. Meanwhile, fewer than 20 customers in Green, Montgomery, and Pine Townships are without power.

REA Energy reports 19 customers in East Mahoning Township are without power at this time, as well as 18 customers in Loyalhanna Township in Westmoreland County.

It’s unclear if those outages are related to the heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Debby and there’s no word on when power will be restored to those areas.

Playing basketball for your country in the Olympics can lead to growth in the NBA, and the Indiana Pacers have plenty of reason to believe that will happen with Andrew Nembhard this coming season.

Prior to the 2024 Paris Olympics, the last Pacers player to be an Olympian was Paul George in 2016. He was a part of Team USA, and they rolled to a gold medal in Rio. George came back to the NBA and set a new career high in points per game and field goal percentage on his way to his fourth All-Star appearance. Leandro Barbosa spent 2012 with the Pacers before playing for Brazil in the London games that year and came back to the NBA a more refined passer, albeit not with Indiana.

Nembhard (and Tyrese Haliburton) can replicate that pattern. The 24-year old and the rest of Team Canada won’t be happy with a 5-8th place finish after falling to France on Tuesday, but it may lead to more long-term success for the young Pacers guard.

“Point guard is a vital position in FIBA, the games are short, every possession matters and that’s one of his great strengths,” Rowan Barrett, the general manager of Canada’s men’s national team, said of Nembhard. “He’s a very, very good decision maker, very calm.”

At his best, Nembhared showed why he drew praise from teammates Jamal Murray and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander during the Olympics. His scoring, both within the flow of the offense and to his own rhythm, were valuable for the Canadian bench. Murray struggled from the field, but the second unit with him and Nembhard was still effective in large part thanks to that duo’s potency playing either on or off of the ball.

When Canada needed Nembhard to score, he did. He had 18 points against Spain to secure Canada’s top spot in Group A, for example. When passing was more important, he found his teammates — the young ball hander had five assists in a win over France during a pre-Olympics exhibition.

That balance is exactly what Nembhard tries to strike every night with the Pacers. Some nights, playing next to Haliburton means that Nembhard needs to cut and shoot when open. Other outings, he will have to create his own shot. In between, he’s a terrific connector. Playing alongside different talented guards with Canada showed Nembhard’s improvements in those areas.

“He plays with the highest of IQs, he’s probably one of my favorite players in the NBA right now, he’s just very underrated,” Murray said of Nembhard.

In his four Olympic outings, Nembhard averaged 6.3 points and 1.3 assists per game. He shot 63.6% on two-point looks and 50% from long range without missing a free throw. Turnovers were his only statistical blemish, but he more than made up for it with great defense, efficient scoring, and useful passing.

For Nembhard, improvement next season could mean a number of things. It could be better shooting from long range, or refined attacking abilities. Perhaps he becomes a better passer or cutter. Maybe his scoring jumps as his unique mid-range jumper falls more often. The most boring, yet most likely, path is that he gets incrementally better at many skills.

Regardless of what improvement looks like for Nembhard this coming season, he showed how his game fits next to anyone in the Olympics. He played, and defended, every position one through three. He did that in various lineups that took different shapes. Indiana has a deep team that will have a similar amount of lineup options this season. The more Nembhard can fit in, the better — players like him who have two-way ability hit the court for big minutes.

The Canadian guard finished last season incredibly strong by putting together two dominant outings in the Eastern Conference Finals. He showed his high ceiling in those games, and he was named to Team Canada about a month later. It was an incredible summer for Nembhard.

He will get closer to his ceiling this coming season — which is part of why the Pacers gave him a three-year contract extension late in July. They believe in his future and want him around for the long haul.

Now, they’ll have him, and he’s coming off of a pivotal basketball moment — he just played in his first Olympics. The crowds are bigger, and the stakes are higher. Nembhard handled it well, and he now enters a third season with the Pacers that should be his best yet.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – If there was a position for Indiana’s football team that needed to be refreshed with the coaching change from Tom Allen to Curt Cignetti, it was cornerback.

The Hoosiers have performed poorly against opposing passing games in recent years. Indiana ranked 86th in pass defense in 2023, a damning statistic considering that teams often didn’t have to throw the ball late in games with leads already secured. The Hoosiers gave up 7.82 passing yards per completion.

The problem became acute late in the 2023 season. Three of the four worst pass defense performances occurred in the final trio of games to end the campaign – including an embarrassing 507 passing yards given up in a Nov. 11 game at Illinois when Indiana was still fighting for bowl eligibility. Opponents completed 60% of their passes or better in four of Indiana’s final five contests.

That’s what Cignetti and cornerbacks coach Rod Ojong confronted upon their arrival. Like it was with so many other Indiana football positions, there was no certainty in terms of returning talent.

However, compared to some of Indiana’s other positions, change here isn’t quite as dramatic.

There are only two transfers, though one of them is a sophomore who could some day become one of the best in the Big Ten Conference if he fulfills the promise of his freshman season.

Oddly enough, both possible starting cornerbacks are sophomores who hail from Miami. The Hoosiers hope their Miami connection makes it tough on opposing pass games.

Top expected contributors: D’Angelo Ponds, Jamari Sharpe, JoJo Johnson, Jamier Johnson.

Position switch: Nic Toomer has moved to safety.

Contributors who departed from the 2023 team: Kobee Minor (to Memphis), James Monds III (to Middle Tennessee State),

Cornerback D’Angelo Ponds was a revelation for James Madison in 2023, and Cignetti is banking on the sophomore to make a similar splash at a much-higher level in 2024.

The 5-foot-9 Ponds, expected to be one of the two starting corners, was a Football Writers Association Of America freshman All-American.

He played in all 13 games for JMU and started 10 games for the Dukes, finishing 11th in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) with 15 defended passes.

“I want to get one percent better each day,” Ponds said.”I want to be the best version of myself, and that’s what separates me.”

“The key is technique. My coach harps on it, trusting your technique and being consistent,” Ponds added.

Ponds, a Miami native, had two interceptions, but he had a nose for the ball in other respects. He recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a touchdown against JMU in-state rival Virginia, and he recovered a fumble in a key game against Coastal Carolina. One of Ponds’ interceptions was a game-clincher against Appalachian State.

“I don’t know if we’ve beat him yet on a pass route. He’s just swallowing that side of the field,” said Cignetti, who credits Ponds’ mindset and talent for his success.

The only other transfer who didn’t play for Indiana in 2023 is former Indiana Wesleyan corner Neil Campbell.

Not technically a transfer, but a true freshman who could figure into the mix is Dontrae Henderson. A Charlotte, N.C., product, Henderson was a JMU commit who followed Cignetti to Bloomington.

Jamari Sharpe, the other Miami native in the Indiana cornerback group, made nine starts in 2023. Sharpe had a single interception, but Cignetti is counting on continued improvement from the redshirt sophomore.

If Indiana has a Miami connection, it also has a Johnson and Johnson connection. JoJo played in all 12 games in 2023, while Jamier ran into injury problems in 2023 after his transfer from Texas. Jamier only played in four games, and the Hoosiers hope he’ll bounce back.

“He’s got talent. He’s got the ability to be a really good football player. He’s got to put it on the field, stay on the field and play consistently, day in, day out,” Cignetti said.

One returning Indiana player who fans haven’t seen and might help is redshirt freshman Lincoln Murff. Murff redshirted in 2023, but was an All-State talent for the powerful Ben Davis High School program.

Still another new Hoosier, Josh Philostin, is an Allen recruit that Cignetti decided to keep. He is a four-star recruit from Palm Beach, Fla., who could work his way into the mix.

One collective concern for Indiana’s cornerbacks is size. Among the entire group, only Sharpe (6-foot-1) is taller than 6-foot. It will be rare for Indiana corners to have a size advantage against Big Ten receivers. The bigger safety and nickel back units might make up for some of that.

Past that, there’s a lot of players with something to prove in 2024. Ponds could be a star in the making, but no one on the field has yet proven anything in an Indiana uniform. Given that, corners will remain an area of concern until they prove otherwise.