Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis to host 2025 NIT Championship, announces new committee members
INDIANAPOLIS — The semifinals and championship of the 2025 National Invitation Tournament will remain in Indianapolis and be played at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse for the second consecutive year.
Indianapolis will also host the 2026 NIT semifinals and championship as part of the combined Divisions I, II and III Men’s Basketball Championships previously announced.
The 2025 semifinals will take place Tuesday, April 1, with the championship game set for Thursday, April 3. Butler University and the Indiana Sports Corporation once again will serve as hosts for the event.
The 88th NIT will continue to feature a 32-team field with the first round, second round and quarterfinals played at campus sites. For the fourth year, the 2025 NIT will seed only the top 16 teams (top-four teams in each pod) and place the remaining 16 teams selected into the bracket geographically where possible.
In the 2024 NIT, both the semifinals and championship game were sold out at Hinkle Fieldhouse with more than 9,000 in attendance over both nights.
Additionally, the NIT added former men’s basketball coach Phil Martelli and Conference USA Associate Commissioner for Basketball Clifton Douglass to the NIT committee starting with the 2024-25 season.
A legend among Big Five coaches, Martelli is the winningest coach in the history of Saint Joseph’s men’s basketball. With an all-time record of 444-328 during his 24 years as head coach of the Hawks, Martelli led Saint Joseph’s to the NCAA tournament seven times and to six NIT appearances. In 2003-04, Martelli’s team reeled off 27-straight wins finishing the regular season undefeated and ranked number one in the country before being upset in the Atlantic 10 Conference quarterfinals. That team then won three NCAA tournament games before losing to Oklahoma State in the East Rutherford Regional final.
Douglass joined the Conference USA staff in 2016 and became associate commissioner for basketball in 2021. In addition to his responsibilities with both men’s and women’s basketball, Douglass also provides oversight for women’s soccer and women’s golf and served as chair of the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee for two years. As a student-athlete, Douglass was a two-year captain of the men’s basketball team at Alcorn State.
Martelli and Douglass will join an NIT committee that will be chaired by Tim Duncan, vice president of athletics and recreation at New Orleans. Other members of the 2024-25 NIT Committee are Morgan State Vice President and Director of Athletics Dena Freeman-Patton, and former Division I men’s basketball coaches, Bob McKillop, Gary Waters and Bob Williams.
All NIT games will be broadcast live across ESPN platforms. For more information on the championship visit ncaa.com/NIT.
Indianapolis, IN
Katherine Legge Will Attempt to Make History With Indianapolis 500, NASCAR Double in Same Day
Katherine Legge will look to make motorsports history this month by competing in IndyCar and NASCAR Cup Series races on the same day.
According to ESPN, Legge’s BRANDed Management announced Wednesday that she intends to race in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on May 24, which is a feat known in racing as “the double.”
The double has been attempted 10 times by five different drivers, but Legge would be the first woman to do so if she pulls it off.
Speaking to USA Today‘s Mitchell Northam regarding her ambitious plan, Legge said, “It’s another groundbreaking thing that I can showcase to the world really that, if you set your mind to things, you can do anything, and you can do things that maybe you never even dreamt of before.”
Legge, who is a 45-year-old motorsports veteran from England, has competed in the Indy 500 four times, and she has run in eight NASCAR Cup Series races over the past two seasons.
Her best Indy 500 finish to date was 22nd in 2012, while her best result in a NASCAR Cup Series race was 17th last season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Kyle Larson was the most recent driver to run the double, doing so last season. He previously attempted it in 2024, but a rain delay during the Indy 500 caused him to miss the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Larson have all run the double, but the only driver to ever complete every lap of both races in the same day was Stewart in 2001.
No driver running the double has ever won a race as part of it. Stewart’s finishes of sixth in the Indy 500 and third in the Coca-Cola 600 in 2001 are the best results in the double to date.
Regardless of where she finishes, Legge will etch her name in motorsports history forever if she is merely able to qualify for and compete in both the 2026 Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600.
INDIANAPOLIS — Opening day for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 featured six hours of practice around the famed 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Noblesville native Conor Daly finished among the top three on the speed charts, recording a best lap of 225.838 mph.
Daly returns for his 13th Indianapolis 500 start, driving the No. 23 Chevrolet for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. The race marks the team’s lone IndyCar entry of the season, and Daly’s first Indy 500 appearance since spending 2025 as a full-time driver for Juncos Hollinger Racing, where he finished 18th in the championship standings.
“Just a good Day 1,” Daly said. “I’m very happy with the mechanical balance in the car right now.”
Much of the early session consisted of single-car runs, with pack drafting not becoming common until later in the afternoon. Even then, traffic remained manageable, and the day unfolded without major interruptions.
Despite limited drafting throughout most of the session, Daly said he was pleased with the early feel of the car and believes the team has a clear direction moving forward.
“We definitely know what we want to do for tomorrow,” Daly said. “We identified a couple things that we want to reevaluate tomorrow.”
Wind conditions also became a major factor throughout the paddock, adding another layer of challenge for drivers trying to find consistency.
“The wind is really making things interesting,” Daly said. “It seems like the last couple of years that’s changed the race a lot.”
Still, the opening day remained relatively clean despite the high speeds and steady track activity. The only significant issue came for defending Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou, who spent much of the session in the garage after reporting a problem in the rear of his car.
Palou returned to the track in the closing minutes and quickly jumped to the top of the speed charts, posting the fastest lap of the day at 225.937 mph.
Jessica Garcete is an IndyStar sports reporter. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
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