Indiana
Indiana football raids Ohio for latest wave of verbal commitments
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football landed three verbal commitments for its 2025 signing class from the state of Ohio over a 36-hour span
It started with Winton Woods defensive back Seaonta Stewart picking the Hoosiers on Monday afternoon.
Princeton linebacker Paul Nelson and Findlay offensive lineman Baylor Wilkin followed suit on Tuesday. They announced their commitments within minutes of each other to give IU 21 verbal commitments in the class.
Stewart, who also took official visits to West Virginia and Purdue, was the highest ranked player of the bunch. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound defender is the fourth member of the class ranked among the top 750 players in the country (No. 686) per 247 Sports composite rankings.
According to 247 Sports, the three-star recruit had 19 scholarship offers including ones from Oklahoma, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan State, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
It continues a trend of IU’s staff focusing on bulking up the team’s secondary. While Stewart has positional flexibility — he’s listed on recruiting services as an athlete — he’s the fifth defensive back in the class.
More: Ranking Indiana football’s 2024 schedule from easiest opponents to toughest: Part 1
Nelson had verbally committed to Cincinnati in June, but that decision came before he took an official visit to Bloomington. The defender attended Princeton High School that’s located less than 20 miles from the Bearcats’ campus in downtown Cincinnati.
The three-star defender had 16 scholarship offers including ones from Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Michigan State. He was the No. 1,140 nationally ranked recruit and No. 113 linebacker in the 2025 class.
Wilkin was a three-star interior offensive lineman with a list of scholarship offers that got a lot longer in June. The Hoosiers offered him along with Cincinnati, Miami (OH), Western Kentucky and Navy over a span of 10 days.
More: Ranking Indiana football’s 2024 schedule from easiest opponents to toughest: Part 2
All three players fall within the region new Indiana coach Curt Cignetti laid out when he took the job. The Hoosiers has as many verbal commitments from Ohio (four) as in-state prospects.
“I think most teams across the country, the plan is about the same,” Cignetti said, back in December. “You’ve got to do a great job in your state and the border states, 4 1/2, 5-hour radius.”
Indiana has 12 commitments within a five-hour drive from Bloomington that includes two recruits from Tennessee, two from Illinois and one from Missouri, but the new staff has promised to venture out as far as necessary to land the right mix of talent.
“Wherever they are, we’ll find them,” Cignetti said. “If we think they’re a good fit and a good match, then we’ll get them on campus.”
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti on importance of Purdue rivalry
Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti explained his comments at an IU basketball game addressing Purdue and the top teams in the Big Ten Conference.
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football’s new staff moved swiftly to reshape the roster for a program that’s won just nine games over the last three seasons.
The Hoosiers brought in more than two dozen transfers, but the coaches also shifted around some key personnel that opted to stay in Bloomington during spring practice. The most notable changes were shifting linebacker Jacob Mangum-Farrar to defensive end and corner Nic Toomer to safety.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti didn’t have any further changes to announce at Big Ten Media Days last week — ”nothing earth shattering in terms of position changes” — but was also non-committal whether or not those position changes will stick for Mangum-Farrar and Toomer.
“As of today, yes,” Cignetti said.
More: Can Indiana football receiver E.J. Williams overcome his ‘biggest nemesis’ this fall?
Why so coy? Cignetti wants to see both defenders show a bit more consistency when call camp opens next week.
“I thought both those guys came out of spring, learned a new position and had some good moments,” Cignetti said. “The one thing I’ll say when you are introduced to new stuff in spring ball — you are a lot better in the last half of spring, but when you come back for August camp, the amount of improvement now guys are just playing and not thinking.”
Mangum-Farrar started in the spring game alongside Mikail Kamara at defensive end. He will have to beat out Lanell Carr, who is healthy after sitting out the spring with an injury, to keep that spot.
The Hoosiers need Mangum-Farrar to be productive whether he wins the starting job or not. They didn’t add a defensive end during the spring window and didn’t have any experienced depth beyond Kamara and Carr.
He had 62 tackles last season (33 solo) with four tackles for loss, four pass breakups and 21 quarterback pressures. Farrar got more experience rushing the passer last year for IU (94 pass rush reps) than he had over three seasons at Stanford (31 pass rush reps).
Toomer ran with the second-team defense in the spring game. He’s played 1,016 snaps on defense with 880 of those coming at corner. He earned the second-highest coverage grade among IU corners last year (66.0), according to Pro Football Focus.
The 6-foot-2, 194-pounder had 26 tackles (22 solo) with an interception and three pass breakups.
He’ll be competing for playing time in the coming weeks against Shawn Asbury II, Josh Sanguinetti, Bryson Bonds, Amare Ferrell and Terry Jones Jr.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
The 2024 Olympic games are underway, and the Men’s Basketball competition began over the weekend. That means a few Indiana Pacers players get to suit up for meaningful international action.
On Saturday, Andrew Nembhard and Team Canada took down a talented Greece team thanks to an impressive first half. Nembhard was effective in the third and fourth quarters and finished with two points, one rebound, and one assist during his first Olympic action. Canada is undefeated this summer outside of an exhibition loss to the United States.
Speaking of Team USA, Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton is with the squad. He didn’t play in the team’s last two wins, but this week is likely the best time for him to hit the hardwood if he’s going to be out of the rotation come time for the knockout rounds. Team USA beat Serbia on Sunday.
This week, a trio of Pacers (or to-be Pacers) will hit the hardwood again. Group Play ends for the event on Saturday, so it’s possible for any of the three to be eliminated from the Olympics by the end of the week. Otherwise, the knockout stage starts on Tuesday, August 6.
Here’s the schedule for this week.
Tyrese Haliburton (United States)
Wednesday, July 31 vs South Sudan (Olympics group play) at 3 p.m. EST
Saturday, August 3 vs Puerto Rico (Olympics group play) at 11:15 a.m. EST
Andrew Nembhard (Canada)
Tuesday, July 30 vs Australia (Olympics group play) at 7:30 a.m. EST
Friday, August 2 vs Spain (Olympics group play) at 11:15 a.m. EST
Keisei Tominaga (Japan)
Tuesday, July 30 vs France (Olympics group play) at 11:15 a.m. EST
Friday, August 2 vs Brazil (Olympics group play) at 5 a.m. EST
BEVERLY SHORE, Ind. (CBS) — First responders are performing a search and rescue for two jet skiers who went missing Sunday afternoon after falling into Lake Michigan off Central Beach.
According to the Coast Guard, a woman was reported two and a half miles from Michigan City. Authorities say she is still floating in a northerly direction but is wearing a life jacket.
Her communication with the Coast Guard was halted, but then regained with the dispatch. There has yet to be any communication or updates from the man who is also in the water.
The wind out of the south was said to be at 8 miles per hour, and the water temperature was 73 degrees.
The Porter County Sheriff, National Park Service, and Porter Police Department are assisting in the rescue. Marine units are searching the area for anything they spot in the water.
No further information was available.
This is a developing story.
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