BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Offensive line was a position of need for Indiana in the transfer portal, and coach Curt Cignetti addressed that by landing Ohio State transfer Zen Michalski.

The 6-foot-6, 319-pound offensive lineman has signed with Indiana, as first reported by On3, bringing Indiana’s incoming transfer class to 14 members. Michalski is the first offensive lineman to transfer to Indiana this offseason, and he joins the Hoosiers with one year of eligibility.

Michalski spent the last four seasons at Ohio State, where he played 260 snaps at left tackle and right guard and 208 snaps on special teams, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF).

He committed to Ohio State as a four-star recruit ranked No. 208 nationally, No. 21 among offensive tackles and No. 2 in Indiana among class of 2021 recruits, according to 247Sports. Michalski attended Floyd Central High School in Floyd Knobs, Ind.

In 2024, Michalski played 158 snaps at left tackle across eight games for Ohio State and made his first-career start against Nebraska. Among Ohio State offensive lineman, he had the ninth-highest grade for offense (61.8), second-best run-blocking grade (73.8) and 13th-best pass blocking grade (33.2), per PFF.

Michalski suffered an injury Oct. 26 against Nebraska and did not play the rest of the regular season. He returned for Ohio State’s first-round College Football Playoff game against Tennessee and played nine snaps, but he did not play in the Buckeyes’ win over Oregon. He was a backup offensive lineman for Ohio State from 2021-23.

Indiana offensive line coach Bob Bostad has a few key spots to fill going into the 2025 season. Indiana starting center Mike Katic and right tackle Trey Wedig are out of eligibility. Michalski’s playing time came almost exclusively at left tackle for Ohio State, but he could be a candidate to fill in for Wedig at right tackle.

Along with Katic’s departure, there is some uncertainty in the interior of Indiana’s offensive line. Starting left guard Drew Evans suffered a season-ending achilles injury before the Michigan game, and Indiana has not publicly stated a timetable for his return. Nick Kidwell was expected to start at right guard in 2024, but he suffered a knee injury during fall camp and missed the whole season. He would need a medical redshirt to return for an eighth collegiate season.

Indiana left tackle Carter Smith and Bray Lynch are two other offensive lineman returning in 2025 with starting experience. Bostad and the Hoosiers made significant improvements on the offensive line from 2023 to 2024, and now they welcome Michalski to the mix in 2025.

GARY, Ind. (WLS) — A family member in the Chicago area is remembering the life of 18-year-old Nikyra Dedeaux, who was killed in the devastating Bourbon Street truck attack in New Orleans this week.

Most of Dedeaux’s family lives in Mississippi except for her great-aunt Ahmyryah Israel, who has lived in Northwest Indiana for more than 30 years. She tells me she’s left to grapple with this tragedy weeks before her niece was set to start nursing school.

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Dedeaux’s high school graduation pictures are special to Israel, who lives in Gary, Indiana. But pictures of her niece now represent a promising future ripped away.

“She had her whole life ahead of her,” Israel said. “It’s just everything is lost, right now. She was going to start nursing school, because her mom is a nurse, to push the family tradition on.”

That tradition is now broken after Israel says the 18-year-old Mississippi native, who graduated high school last May, had went to New Orleans with friends to celebrate New Year’s Eve, against her mother’s wishes.

“It hurts me that… she went,” Israel said.

What was supposed to be a celebratory night, less than two weeks before the teen began nursing school, ended in tragedy.

Dedeaux became one of 14 people killed when, police say, an alleged terrorist plowed through holiday crowds on Bourbon Street in a speeding truck.

“Can you imagine you have a job, you’re an honor roll student, you kept your grades up, you’re up for the challenge, but you can’t beat this truck?” Israel said. “You can’t beat this truck that’s coming at you. What is that? Who does that?”

Dedeaux was supposed to start her nursing program at Blue Cliff College in Mississippi on January 13. Her family is now planning her funeral.

Nikyra Cheyenne Dedeaux’s death was originally confirmed to ABC News by her mother, Melissa Dedeaux.

Melissa Dedeaux remembered her 18-year-old daughter as a kind and outgoing young woman who was excited to attend nursing school this year.

“She was a sweet person. She was outgoing, she was very loved,” said Melissa Dedeaux, who said goodbye to her daughter for the final time Tuesday night.

Melissa Dedeaux said she begged her daughter not to go to Bourbon Street for New Years’ Eve like she had done the year prior. She said she was worried about the danger of the area, and she needed her daughter to pick her up from her overnight shift at work at 7:30 a.m.

When another family member picked her up from work, she said she sensed something was wrong. She said her brother-in-law broke the news to her once she got home.

Melissa Dedeaux said she hopes others remember her daughter as a kind person.

“She was a good person, and even though she was loved by many, it can happen to anybody,” she said.

ABC News contributed to this report

GARY, Ind. (WLS) — Leaders in Northwest Indiana reacted Friday after President Joe Biden decided to block Japan’s Nippon Steel from acquiring U.S. Steel.

The U.S. Steel smokestacks along the lakefront are a prominent landmark for the city of Gary. The company, with its more than century-long history in Gary, is the city’s largest employer with nearly 5,000 jobs.

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Gary Mayor Eddie Melton has been a big supporter of the proposed $15 billion merger between U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel.

“Gary has seen a significant downturn over the last 50 years,” Melton said. “As we are constantly rebuilding from within, we couldn’t risk losing one of our largest employers.”

The Gary mayor said during a visit last month, Nippon executives promised a $1 billion investment in the Gary plant, replacing the four blast furnaces over the next ten years. However, union leaders support President Biden’s decision to block the deal, citing concerns about the long term stability of the steel industry.

“The president took action to block the deal so U.S. Steel remains a proud American company, American-owned, American-operated by American Union steel workers and the best in the world,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Northwest Indiana congressman Frank Mrvan also agrees, saying in a statement, “It is absolutely right to prevent a foreign company with proven trade abuses from controlling our domestic steel production.”

The companies, however, are vowing to fight the President’s decision, saying, “Blocking this transaction means denying billions of committed investment to extend the life of U.S. Steel’s aging facilities and putting thousands of good-paying, family-sustaining union jobs at risk. In short, we believe that President Biden has sacrificed the future of American steelworkers for his own political agenda.”

Gary’s mayor agrees.

“Yesterday we had a potential deal in hand. Today we have nothing,” Melton said. “So it’s uncertain what the future’s gonna be.”

A White House spokesperson said the president’s decision has nothing to do with Japan, a close ally of the United States.

In the meantime, a spokesperson for U.S. Steel says they do intend to pursue their legal options, but it’s unclear exactly what that means.