6-Banner Sunday: IU to open exhibition play at Tennessee this afternoon
Welcome to another edition of 6-Banner Sunday, a joint production between The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall, where we highlight the five most essential IU basketball stories of the past week, plus take a look at how the other IU sports programs are doing.
The basketball season is here as the Hoosiers kick things off today with a charity exhibition game at Tennessee. Also, Indiana lost out on another big-time recruit.
Beyond these stories, we’ll dive into info about former IU players in the NBA, football starring with College Gameday in town and weekly shows. We will, as usual, conclude with a look at other Hoosier sports, led by men’s soccer continuing its red-hot October.
When it comes to brief information, Inside the Hall posted a few more interviews from media day.
Here is what is in this week’s edition:
• IU opens exhibition play today against Tennessee
• Indiana misses on five-star Braylon Mullins
• Hoosiers in the NBA
• Football beats Washington with College GameDay in town
• Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
• Hoosier Roundup
IU men’s basketball will play six games this season on Peacock and the women will play five contests on Peacock, making the streaming service a must-have for IU basketball fans. Sign up for Peacock using Inside the Hall’s link to help support the site and also enjoy Big Ten hoops all season long! In total, over 70 men’s and women’s games featuring Big Ten teams will air on Peacock this season (The link is an Inside the Hall affiliate link, so a commission will be paid to ITH if you click and subscribe to Peacock.)
Banner #1 – IU opens exhibition play today against Tennessee
The Hoosiers’ 2024-2025 season will finally arrive today with a bigger challenge than normal. While it won’t count for anything, IU will face Tennessee in a charity exhibition contest that could tell a lot about how good the team is.
The game begins at 3 pm on SEC Network Plus (which is a free online stream for anyone whose cable company carries SEC Network). Head coach Mike Woodson had media availability this week to discuss the matchup.
It is a critical year for Woodson and the Hoosiers to get back on track after missing the NCAA Tournament last season and hitting a home run with multiple top players from the transfer portal. Many publications have Indiana highly ranked including slotting in at No. 18 in the prominent USA Today Coaches Poll. Fox Sports’ John Fanta shares this optimism after watching a recent team practice.
Banner #2 – Indiana misses on five-star Braylon Mullins
While the optimism for 2024-2025 is high, the program’s long-term stability remains a question after another prominent recruiting miss. While Woodson has thrived by bringing in prospects from the transfer portal and high school players in the spring, he struggles with long recruitments.
The latest top target to spurn the Hoosiers was five-star in-state guard Braylon Mullins, who will take his talents to Storrs Connecticut. Despite an elite class from the state of Indiana, IU only managed to land Trent Sisley and will likely need to turn to the portal and late signees once again to fill out the roster.
While the men have missed out on top talent, the women got a commitment from a 2026 player. This pledge came from the Louisville area and was in the form of Ashlinn James. While she has no ranking just yet, this city has been good to the squad in the past, as two of the all-time program greats, Grace Berger and Jaelynn Penn, hail from the derby city. James also appears to be another athletic guard, which has been in short supply in Bloomington.
Turning to more immediate times for the women, they are ranked in the coaches poll to open 2024-2025. They check in here at No. 24 which keeps a very long streak alive of having a number in front of their name.
Banner #3 – Hoosiers in the NBA
With the NBA season opening, seven former Hoosiers have found their way onto a roster. These players include O.G. Anunoby, Thomas Bryant, Eric Gordon, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Kel’el Ware, and Cody Zeller.
Of these guys, Anunoby and Jackson-Davis will play the most significant roles for the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors, respectively. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia 76ers’ Gordon has the longest current tenure in the league, having broken in back in 2008.
Banner #4 – Football beats Washington with College GameDay in town
Turning away from basketball, football is having what could well be the best season in program history. They are off to an 8-0 start and one victory away from matching the most ever in a single year.
After struggling to fill Memorial Stadium for so many years, Indiana has completely sold out their last two home games while having Fox’s and ESPN’s well-known pregame shows in town. The final two regular season games are already sold out.
Under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers have won every game easily by double figures, including yesterday’s 31-17 triumph over Washington. As a result, they have risen to No. 13 in the rankings and will likely go even higher when the new polls come out today.
With just four games left in the regular season, a Big Ten Championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff are within reach. Their next challenge is this coming Saturday when they head to Michigan State.
Banner #5 – Podcast on the Brink and Back Home Network shows
Podcast on the Brink was recorded this week. It featured CBS’ Jon Rothstein discussing IU’s upcoming season.
The Back Home Network was on-air multiple times this week. Bison Chat, multiple Crimson Cast episodes, Doing The Work, Dribble Drive, and Xs And Joes all had episodes in the last few days.
Banner #6 – Hoosier Roundup
• Men’s soccer continued its undefeated October by knocking off UCLA to take the lead in the Big Ten and move within range of a national seed in the NCAA Tournament to host games. As a result of its nearly perfect play, a couple of Hoosiers were honored by the conference.
• Volleyball was beaten by an elite Wisconsin squad.
• Women’s soccer fell to Minnesota.
• Field hockey came up short against Stanford and Ohio State.
• Women’s swimming and diving beat Notre Dame.
• Wrestling competed at the Wrestle-Offs.
• Women’s golf finished seventh at the Ally.
• Baseball was featured in a D1 Baseball publication.
Thanks for your continued support of The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall. We’ll be back next weekend with a new roundup.
Now go enjoy yourself a 6-banner Sunday.
Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor
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