Hoosier

[Wayne23]

Hoosier

I’m Joe Indy and I’m a Hoosier. Don’t ever plan to leave Indiana, and hope and expect to wind up, eventually, as the head coach at Indiana.

I’m 35 years old and I’ve come up one step at a time. Just took the head coach job at IUPUI, here in Indianapolis, in the Summit conference.

I can’t wait to start!

We’ll go with Princeton and Triangle, as well as the man offense, and on D we’ll go 50-50 between man and 3-2. We’ll only press when we need to.

4/30: Red Lucas, Indy Times: Hey sports fans, IUPUI has a new head coach, thank goodness. After 7 losing seasons, the last two being real disasters, the school has chosen to go in a new direction. Joe Indy has never been a head coach, but he’s been an assistant at Indiana ST and then at Ohio St for two years. He has the credentials, and I think he’ll wake this program up. Joe is a no nonsense guy, a strict disciplinarian, strong on academics, and he knows his basketball. Looking for good things to happen at IUPUI, but give him a chance. It will take him a couple of years to put his program together and to attract players. All the best to the new coach!

[Wayne23]

5/1: I spent a little more on assistants than I wanted to, which leaves me with only $32,00 for recruiting. Hopefully we can get a budget increase in the spring.

6/26: We need to fill 5 scholarships.

8/21: We offer to 3 PGs, a PF, a C.

9/18: No recruits yet. Soft schedule. I want wins.

9/25: Got one, lost one. Got a PF, #65. He was #1 on our list.

10/2: We get 2, a PG, #170, and a C, #384. 2 to go- I hope!

1st day of practice. We’re picked 8th in our 9 team conf. Although my A. D. gave me only 2 goals- win 10 games, don’t finish last, I plan to do better than that!

10/9: We get one, lose one. We get a PG, #73.

11/6: 9 man rotation:

Junior Adam Hold starts at PG, subs at SG. Senior Syr Doll starts at Sg, subs at PG. Soph Scot Jack subs at SG.

Soph Ram Lane is at SF. Senior Jay Brad subs.

Senior Josh Free starts at PF, subs at C. Frosh Jul Thom and Brad Hamm sub at PF.

Soph John Mars is at C.

Red Lucas, Indy Times: Hey hoops fans, it looks like IUPUI has themselves a real go getter in new head coach Joe Indy. I've been at a couple of practices, and he has his boys working their butts off. There's not a whole lot of talent, but there sure is some hustle! Oh, and the talent is coming. Joe has verbal commitments from two top 75 players, and a couple others who might develop. Still one scholarship to fill but Joe says he's close with that one. I predict a bright future for the Jaguars, but again, be patient; it may take a little time.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 1-1 start. Split 2 road games. As expected, we are NOT deep. Bench has scored a total of 6 points in 2 games.

All 4 recruits sign. Chasing one more.

11/27: Red Lucas, Indy Times: IUPUI has started the season at 2-2. Big deal you say? It kind of is when you remember that last season they started 0-7, and the season before it was 0-9. We’ve said before that Coach Joe Indy doesn’t have a lot of talent, but he has his boys hustling their butts off, and it’s paying dividends.

Center John Mars is getting 19.5 a game. Last year he led the team with a puny 11.9, but Coach Indy has the team running plays that free Mars, and the rest of the guys up. All 5 starters average 10 or more a game. The team has a very short bench. After SG Scot Jack there really isn’t anyone contributing. But two blue chip recruits, and two others are coming in next year. I hope for a .500 season and look for great things next season. Check out the Jaguars. You’ll like their style!

12/11: 5-3, RPI #53, which is way too good; we’re playing very weak teams, and right now we’re in the midst of a 5 game home stand. But I’m getting wins, and that’s what I want in this first season. Wins will hopefully attract decent recruits, especially if I dump a few guys at the end of the season. I may do that if there are good recruits available. It’s worth the hit.

12/18: Red Lucas, Indy Times: The IUPUI Jags are at 6-4. Last year they won 7 games. The year before they won 8. And the conference season hasn’t even started yet. Coach Joe Indy is using his limited talent very wisely. His boys are staying out of foul trouble most games, which allows them to play tough D at the end of close games. Soph Center John Mars has found himself this year and gets 23.6 per game, tops among Summit Conf. players. Things will be more challenging when Summit play starts, but these Jaguars could have their first winning season in nine years. Exciting times!

12/25: 7-4, RPI #124. +2.8 PPG, +4.2 RBs, +1.8 TOs. Mars gets 23.5 PPG.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2019: 8-5, 1-1, RPI #126. The first two conf. games were more challenging than the games out of conference. We won at home and lost on the road, both 8 point games. Actually, .500 in conf. would be great!

1/8: Red Lucas, Indy Times: The IUPUI Jags are the talk of the town. They are sporting a 10-5 record, 3-1 in Summit League play, and tied for 1st play. Now it’s early folks. Reality could set in at any time, but barring a complete collapse they look to have their best season in a decade. Hoops fans in Indianapolis are singing Coach Joe Indy’s praises.

1/15: 12-5, 5-1, RPI #109. In a 2 way tie for 1st, 1 ½ up on 3rd. But we’ve played mostly the weak teams in conf. Still, I couldn’t be happier.

1/29: 14-6, 7-2, RPI #100. Still tied with South Dakota ST for 1st, 2 up on 3rd. +5.7 PPG, +3.9 RBs, +2.4 TOs. Mars is getting 22.6.

2/5: Red Lucas, Indy Times: The IUPUI Jags are alone in 1st after splitting a pair of games this week. They lost in OT on the road in a game where the refs made all the difference. College hoops would be the perfect game if they did something about the nearly always inconsistent officiating. Anyway, the Jags are now 15-7, 8-3, RPI #99. It is now mathematically impossible for the team NOT to finish above .500. Amazing!

2/12: 16-8, 9-4, RPI #103. Alone in 1st with 3 to play.

2/19: Red Lucas, Indy Times: The IUPUI Jaguars remain in 1st place after a road win. They have a 2 game lead with 2 to play. Center John Mars continues to be the go to guy, getting 23.5 per game.

2/26: We end the regular season 19-8, 12-4, RPI #74. We win the Summit by 3 games. Mars averages 23.6 and 7.4.

+6.3 PPG, +3.9 RBs, +2.7 TOs.

[Wayne23]

2/28: We play #8 seed North Dakota ST, 13-14, 7-9, in the quarter finals. We won by 7 both times we played.

3/1: 107-83 and a 20 win season! 41, 9 for Mars, 17 each for starting guards Syr Doll and Scot Jack.

#5 seed South Dakota ST, 11-17, 8-8, in the semifinals. They beat us by 1, then we won by 6.

3/2: 88-98. Horrible D. 22, 9 for Mars, 26 for Doll. I’m disappointed. I felt we could have and should have won this tournament. 20-9, 12-4, RPI #86. Will we go somewhere? Hoping.

3/12: Going to the CHI. #2 seed in the East. We play #7 Incoherent Word, 19-10.

3/14: 85-83. PG Syr Doll took it down on the final possession, worked a screen to get open for a brief instant, launched a 17 footer and drained it as time ran out. Happy to win but not happy with the way we played, especially on D. 22, 7 for Mars.

#3 Monmouth, 19-10, in round 2. They’re a 3.5 point favorite. We’ll see.

3/21: 87-81. 30, 7 for Mars, 15 each for our guards, Doll and Jack.

#5 seed GA Southern, 18-14, in the semifinals. Looks close on paper.

3/27: 91-83. 30 for Mars, 18, 12 for PF Josh Free. We’ll play #2 seed in the West Nevada, 19-14, for the title. They’re favored, mostly because they’ve played a much stronger schedule.

3/29: 85-100. Our poor D did us in, but what a great season. 26 for Mars, 17 for Jack.

Red Lucas, Indy Times: The IUPUI Jaguras came one step short of the CHI title. But what a great season, 23-10, 1st place in the Summit, made it to the CHI title game. Leading scorer and rebounder John Mars, and two other starters plus the first two off the bench are back, and there are some promising looking new players coming in. Can’t say enough about Head Coach Joe Indy!

4/3: #5 ranked North Carolina is the national champ.

4/4: Awards: John Mars is Summit POY and 1st team along with senior guard Syr Doll. Senior forward Josh Free makes the 2nd team. I get COY. It’s a great honor considering this is my first year as a head coach!

Red Lucas, Indy Times: I asked IUPUI Head Coach Joe Indy if he’d be back next year. I got “I can tell you that I don’t plan to leave the state of Indiana.” I hope he comes back. He’s really lifted the program.

4/9: Butler is the only Indiana school that is interested, but their program is in lousy shape. After giving it a lot of thought, I’m staying. I think I owe it to IUPUI for giving me my shot. Next year it may be a different story.

4/23: I ask for money. We have even less recruiting money than we had last year due to my assistant coach hires. We get $4,000, which puts us about where we were last season. I’ll take it.

23-10, 12-4. Great first season!

[Wayne23]

5/1: #41 recruiting class. Pretty good! We can’t afford to buy any reports.

6/5: No transfers that interest us.

6/26: 4 scholarships. We need guards.

8/21: We offer to 3 PGs and an SG.

9/18: Weak schedule again this year. Wins draw recruits.

9/25: We get one. Lose one. We get an SG, #61.

10/2: 1st day of practice.

11/6: 8 man rotation:

Senior Adam Hold is at PG. Frosh Nick Will starts at SG, subs at PG.

Juniors Scot Jack and Matt Stew sub at SG.

Junior Ram Lane is back at SF. Juco junior Greg Hand subs at SF and PF.

Frosh Ahad Rega looks like our best player. He starts at PF, subs at C.

Junior John Mars is back at C.

11/13: Red Lucas, Indy Times: The IUPUI Jags are ready to start a new season, the 2nd under Head Coach Joe Indy. Indy will have to skate fast to match the success of last season, but he just might have the players to manage it. Freshman Ahad Rega looks like the real thing. He’ll be up front with last year’s best player, John Mars. Ram Lane is back at Small Forward. Coach Indy says he really likes the looks of his starting guards, Adam Hold and Nick Will, and he feels that his bench is much stronger. The Jags are picked 6th in the 9 team Summit, but whoever came up with that needs a white cane and a service dog. Looking forward to a great season!

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start, with a one point road win. Inside players Mars and Rega led the way in both games.

Our only recruit signed. Still chasing three others.

12/4: 4-2. We’re not rebounding well at all, and I don’t understand it. Keep working on it, I guess.

12/11: Red Lucas, Indy Times: The IUPUI Jags seem to be putting it together. They’re at 6-2, and after a poor season start in rebounding, they’re definitely getting better in that area. Bench play is WAY better than last year. Rookie Ahad Rega, whoi was highly touted, is playing well, but it doesn’t look like he’s totally gotten to where he’s expected to be. He’s getting good numbers, 10.1, 8.4, but I’m predicting he’ll get even better in time. Junior John Mars is the best player on the team to date, as he was last season. Guard play is WAY better, +2.5 assists, +5.3 steals, and only 11.0 TOs per game (+6.4). Keep up the good work, Jags!

12/25: We finish pre-conf. play at 8-3, RPI #112. +7.8 PPG, -1,3 RBs., +6.0 TOs. Mars gets 18.1 PPG. Rega gets 11.5, 9.7. SG Nick Will gets 13.8.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2020: 9-3, 1-0, RPI #99.

1/15: 13-3, 5-0, RPI #89. Alone in 1st, but it’s early.

1/29: 16-4, 8-1, RPI #65, 1 game lead on 2 teams. +10.7 PPG, +2.5 RBs, +4.8 TOs. Mars gets 20.0.

Red Lucas, Indy Times: Been too long since we’ve devoted column space to the IUPUI Jaguars. They’re having a great season- 18-5, 10-2, in

1st place by 1 over Denver, who comes here next week, and 3 or more over the rest. Center John Mars gets 20.6 and 6.5. Guard Nick Will gets 13.7, and PF Ahad Rega gets 11.0, 8.0. The team scores lots of points- #9 nationally, and they take care of the ball- #22. Rebounding could be better but they’re +1.9. Post season is just around the corner.

2/26: 21-6, 13-3 at the end of the regular season. RPI #52. We win the conf. by 3 games. +10.2 PPG, +2.2 RBs, +4.9 TOs. Mars leads us with 21.1. Rega gets 8.3 RBs, PG Adam Hold gets 6.1 assists.

[Wayne23]

2/28: We play 8th seed IFPW, 8-19, 5-11, first.

3/1: 99-94. No D at all. We outscored them, but not by much. 5 guys with 11 or more. PG Adam Hold had 15 assists. He’s #1 in conf., and #9
nationally.

#5 seed North Dakota ST, 15-13, 8-8, in the semis. We won by 30 at our place but lost by 10 there. We’re the better team but we can’t play like we did today.

3/2: 83-86. Our D let us down again. I’m NOT happy. ND ST shot 59.3%, which is completely unacceptable. This will send us to a minor tournament instead of the big one. No upside to this.

22-7, 13-3, RPI #62.

3/12: NIT. We’re #5 West. We play #4 Southern Utah, 21-9.

3/14: 74-66. We worked the D in practice every day for almost 2 weeks. It helped! 31, 9 for Mars.

#8 seed Washington, 19-12, upset the #1 seed, so they’re next in round 2. They’re strong inside. Mars and Rega will need to step up.

3/16: 77-87. Well, the fix on D didn’t last. Their bench beat us, 32, 16 to 11, 9.

Good season. I just wish it had lasted longer.

4/3: #5 Alabama wins it all.

4/4: Awards: John Mars is Summit POY and first team, along with Ahad Rega. I get COY.

4/9: Going to Butler. Huge rebuilding effort. They won 6 games this season, and 6 last season.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase. No.

23-8, 13-3. Overall, 46-18, .719.

[Wayne23]

5/1: 3 guards on the squad. None of them are PGs.

We buy national basic.

6/5: 2 transfers we really like.

6/12: No luck.

Red Lucas, Indy Times: One of our favorite coaches, Joe Indy, has moved across town, leaving IUPUI, and signing on with Butler. The Butler program hit the skids a while back and Indy faces a major rebuilding job, but if anyone can do it, Joe can. All the best to him!

6/26: 8 scholarships. We need- everything!

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs, an SG, 4 PFs, a C.

9/18: Got one, lost one. Got a PF, #158. Lost an SG. We are desperate for guards.

Hawaiian Shootout vs. Marshall. Very soft schedule, wins attract recruits and help with RPI. Not sure we’ll get many wins in conf., so…

9/25: Got a PG, #138, lost a PG. Not a good tradeoff.

10/2: Got a PG, #92, a PF, #230, lost a PG. Well, we have 2 PGs. Like to get at least one more.

1st day of practice. We’re picked to finish last in the Big East. My A. D. wants me to finish in the top half.

10/9: Lost 2.

10/16: Lost 1.

10/23: Lost one.

11/6: 10 man rotation to start. We have a strong starting 5. After that it goes downhill fast:

Senior Stan Daws is an SF but he’s spending all his time at PG, where he starts.

Senior Mo Zien starts at SG, backed by Senior Jan Mish.

SF is a mish mosh. Senior Jal Gile starts, senior Vern Bows, sophs Dev Nure and Ad Jora, and frosh Ryan Cary sub.

Senior Vern Bows starts at PF, subs at C. Gile subs at PF.

Frosh Carl Will is at C.