Indiana
Pacers News: Watch Former Top Draft Pick Dominate for Indiana Mad Ants
The Indiana Pacers’ G League affiliate squad, the Indiana Mad Ants (formerly the Fort Wayne Mad Ants), are off to a 1-1 start on their young 2024-25 regular season.
The club’s opening night roster included two Indiana legends, in two-time Big Ten All-Defensive Team Purdue guard Dakota Mathias and ex-Warsaw High School and Indiana Wesleyan combo guard Kyle Mangas.
But the biggest name, by far, suiting up for the Mad Ants is Jahlil Okafor.
Following a title-winning, one-and-done 2014-15 NCAA season with the Duke Blue Devils, the 6-foot-11 center was selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, still in the midst of their “process” teardown era, as navigated by beloved former general manager Sam Hinkie. In Philadelphia’s draft history, Okafor was the lottery selection in between 2014 draftee Joel Embiid, the eventual 2023 league MVP, and 2016 draftee Ben Simmons, who blossomed into a three-time All-Star before he became a semi-tantalizing, often-hurt expiring contract.
Okafor never reached the heights of either of those comrades, although on paper he had the pedigree to potentially get there. The cousin of former 10-year NBA vet Emeka Okafor (who himself was the No. 2 pick in the 2004 NBA Draft), the younger Okafor was seen as a top prospect coming out of Mike Krzyzewski’s system. It never quite worked out, as his offensive game was stuck in the 2000s — full of back-to-basket moves but missing longer jumpers.
He never developed a reliable 3-point shot, but wasn’t the kind of rim-protecting big man who instilled fear in the hearts of opposing players. Essentially, he was in no man’s land, and some early meniscus trouble also hampered his development.
After an infamous departure from Philadelphia in 2017, Okafor played for the Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans, and Detroit Pistons. He hasn’t suited up in an NBA game since 2021, but has played for the CBA’s Zhejiang Lions, the Mexico City Capitanes of the G League, Spanish club Casademont Zaragova, and Puerto Rican squad Capitanes de Arecibo.
Now, Okafor is making the most of his opportunity with the Mad Ants. In two contests with the Mad Ants, the 28-year-old is averaging 14.5 points on .684/.500/1.000 shooting splits (that 3-point rate is arriving on a fairly low 1.0 attempts and seems a bit fluky), 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.5 steals a night.
Okafor’s performance against the Cleveland Charge, NBAGL affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, was especially appetizing.
In that 122-114 Mad Ants win, Okafor scored 21 points on 10-of-16 field goal shooting (63 percent) and pulled down nine rebounds.
roll the tape on @JahlilOkafor‘s highlights 📼 pic.twitter.com/24bbxf9B6V
— Mad Ants Basketball (@TheMadAnts) November 10, 2024
Mad Ants sixth man De’Vion Harmon led the club with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor (1-of-4 from the 3-point line) and an immaculate 5-of-5 shooting from the foul line. All five starters (including Okafor) scored in double digits.
Combo forward Cameron McGriff was the team’s third 20-plus point scorer, with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor (4-of-8 from long range), along with nine rebounds and two assists.
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BLOOMINGTON — Whatever he can.
That’s the answer. The question — one prompted by an urgency to add strength to his game — is what Vaughn Karvala, Indiana basketball’s athletic freshman wing, is doing to add weight. IU’s highest-ranked signee in the 2026 class, it’s not hard to envision a role for Karvala in Darian DeVries’ second season in Bloomington. The player himself knows that starts with meeting the physical demands of the college game.
Which starts with building onto to his 6-foot-7, 190-pound frame.
“The biggest thing for me is just putting on weight,” Karvala told reporters after practice Thursday. “That’s my biggest thing, getting stronger, trying to play with these guys that are three, four years older than me. I have to get stronger, I have to get faster, everything.”
A three-year letter winner at Oregon (Wisconsin) High School, Karvala spent his senior season at Bella Vista Prep in Arizona, bolstering a profile that saw him ranked No. 62 nationally per the 247Sports Composite.
Karvala averaged 26.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in his final season with Oregon, shooting close to 42% from behind the 3-point line. He averaged another 14.7 points per game with Team Herro on the EYBL circuit.
He handed DeVries a major recruiting win last fall, when Karvala picked the Hoosiers over Xavier and Cal. Now, both at the rim and behind the arc, Karvala looks like a player who can contribute meaningfully in his first year in college.
“I know my athleticism catches the eye, but I can still shoot it,” Karvala said. “But another thing is just working on rebounding, trying to get extra possessions for us.”
Whether on the glass or elsewhere, embracing the physical challenge of college basketball has been an emphasis for Karvala since he arrived in Bloomington earlier this summer.
That manifests itself offensively, when he tries to push the ball downhill and leverage that athleticism to attack the rim. It shows up defensively, where Karvala said he’s comfortable guarding the two, the three and, matchup depending, the four.
It even plays out on the glass, battling bigs up to including 7-2 teammate Samet Yigitoglu, who Karvala described with a smile as “the biggest guy I’ve ever seen.”
“Physicality, 100%,” Karvala said, when asked where he’s challenging himself. “Just playing with all these guys that have 20, 30, 40 pounds on me.”
Which starts with the physical demand of more weight. Karvala said he’ll eat chicken, steak or “whatever we have in the locker room” that can help him in that effort. His focus, he said, is simply to “eat a lot, and work out every day.”
As that weight and strength begin to build, Karvala knows the next step — to mentally prepare for the rough-and-tumble nature of life on the floor in the Big Ten — is just as important. Preparing his body comes first. Challenging himself to toughen up once it’s required follows quickly after.
“Just getting fully there, mentally,” he said. “You’re going to have to push your body to get through this.”
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KOSCIUSKO COUNTY, Ind. (WSBT) — It’s fair season and a new law uncorks adult beverage sales!
The new Indiana law will go into effect July 1st, making it legal to sell alcohol at county fairs.
The Kosciusko County Fair is set to kick off in just a few weeks and Indiana is officially allowing alcohol to be sold.
The law is bringing back something that’s not necessarily new to this fair.
Here’s what you need to know
The new law will go into effect on July 1st. It officially allows county fairs to apply for fee-free permits to sell alcohol.
Officials with the Kosciusko County Fair say they are participating this year. They are implementing the same guidelines they used when they sold alcohol just at grandstand events.
The difference now is, you can walk around the grounds with your drink. But strict guidelines will be in place for purchasing a drink.
“Actually, we’ve never had any issues. Because we card everybody, so we take that seriously. We also got the ID guides so we can identify the different types of IDs,” said Sheal Dirck, Treasurer of Kosciusko County Fair.
The Kosciusko County Fair already have guidelines in place, so this was an easy transition for the fair.
They will be the only vendors selling alcohol, which will make it easier to control distribution.
The sales will also bring in more revenue.
“Hopefully it allows to keep our ticket prices where they are because right now, insurance, utilities and everything else is going sky high and it’s hard to make ends meet,” said Dirck.
However, some fairs cannot participate because of the July 1st start date, like the Pulaski County Fair, which is going on right now. Pulaski County officials said it is on the agenda for next year. Whereas other fairs are choosing to sit this year out.
“We wanted not spend some time to, to see what that really means for us. It was not a decision we wanted to rush into. But we are happy for the option of it,” said Shelly Steury, GM of Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds.
Leaders at the St. Joseph County and Elkhart County Fairs said neither of them are selling alcohol.
The Kosciusko County Fair is the only fair that will sell alcohol in our area this year.
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