[6BS] Hoosiers Announce Puerto Rico Trip
Bryant's Side Besting Anunoby's In Eastern Conference Finals So Far
Welcome to another edition of 6-Banner Sunday, a joint production between The Assembly Call and Inside the Hall, and presented by our friends at Homefield Apparel, 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 first chance to see this new-look IU squad will be earlier than usual. This is because the team announced a foreign tour this summer.
With little other news directly related to the current team, a couple of former Hoosiers continue their series in the NBA playoffs. Besides this, roster and recruiting updates. As usual, we will conclude with weekly shows and a look at other Indiana sports, led by baseball’s season ending more prematurely than expectations predicted.
The Assembly Call is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Here is what is in this week’s edition:
Hoosiers Announce Puerto Rico Trip
Bryant’s Team Getting Upper Hand On Anunoby’s To Open Eastern Conference Finals
Roster Updates
Recruiting Updates
Weekly Shows
Hoosier Roundup-Baseball’s Season Ends
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. Alex and the ITH team appreciate your support!)
Banner #1: Hoosiers Announce Puerto Rico Trip
For Hoosier fans wanting to get a peek at head coach Darian DeVries’ new-look squad, they will have an earlier chance than usual. This is because the team will take a trip to Puerto Rico to play a series of exhibition games between August 6 and August 11.
The opponents will be BC Mega and the Puerto Rico All-Star Team. More details will follow later but this is the first such trip since former coach Mike Woodson’s squad went to the Bahamas in 2021.
Banner #2: Bryant’s Team Getting Upper Hand On Anunoby’s To Open Eastern Conference Finals
The two former Hoosiers facing off in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals continued in their series. The players going head-to-head are O.G. Anunoby and Thomas Bryant.
Anunoby competes for the New York Knicks and is easily the more successful of the two who once donned the Cream and Crimson. He is a starter and averaged 18 points a game for his squad during the regular season.
However, Bryant is part of the team that competes in Indiana and is just up the road from Bloomington. While he is the backup center to Myles Turner, he plays a critical role off the bench for the Pacers at times.
Many Hoosier supporters are getting their ideal scenario with Anunoby playing quite well with 16 points in each of the first two contests, while the in-state Pacers have come out victorious in both matchups with the series shifting to Indianapolis. However, Bryant has only four points combined in the two games.
Either way, though, a former IU player will be playing for an NBA Championship in June, and right now the Pacers look like they will be the ones making their first finals appearance since 2000. If one of these squads is raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy, it will be the first time since the 1970s (and in the Pacers’ case, this was in the ABA).
In other news involving a former Hoosier player, a different one received an honor. This involved newcomer Kel’el Ware being named second-team all-rookie by the league.
Banner #3: Roster Updates
Once again, no new players joined the Hoosiers this week. However, there was still some news regarding the roster.
With player personnel now mostly set across the country, Inside the Hall looked at each Indiana player in detail. This included Trent Sisley, Tucker DeVries, Conor Enright, Reed Bailey, Lamar Wilkerson, and Jasai Miles.
With so much turnover, ESPN Joe Lunardi is not yet optimistic about IU’s outlook for next season. He has Indiana just barely outside the NCAA Tournament for 2026.
Banner #4: Recruiting Updates
With the roster for this coming season nearly complete, DeVries has turned to high school recruiting. DeVries has offered scholarships this week to multiple elite players for future years. They also have visits upcoming with a couple of prospects and another one has the Hoosiers as a finalists with his college decision nearing.
Presenting Sponsor: Homefield Apparel
Homefield’s annual Black Friday sale has already begun. Use the promo code BLACKFRIDAY at checkout to get 20% off your entire order.
The item of the week for this week is the new “Hurryin’ Hoosiers” snapback hat. Both
Jerod Morris and
Tony Adragna
have it, and can attest to its quality and fit.
Plus, how cool is it to have an item celebrating the great teams under Branch McCracken?
Banner #5: Weekly Shows
Podcast on the Brink returned this week. On it, Crimson Cast’s Scott Caulfield crossed over to discuss the DeVries hire.
The Back Home Network was also on air multiple times this week. Crimson Cast itself had several shows about a variety of topics over the last few days.
Refer a friend
Do you enjoy The Assembly Call? Please consider sharing our work with other IU fans in your life who you think would appreciate it.
Plus, you get perks (see here) when people sign up using your link.
Gift subscriptions
And if you want to get really generous, consider gifting a premium subscription to the extra special IU fans in your life.
We promise we’ll make it worth their while — and your hard-earned money!
Banner #6: Hoosier Roundup-Baseball’s Season Ends
Baseball was eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament after two games. As a result, their season has ended and they will miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022. This is despite coming into the year with expectations of being a national contender and two high round MLB draft picks. One of these was Devin Taylor who is a semifinalist for an award that goes to the nation’s top hitter. Also, a few other players were honored by the league.
Rowing finished fourth at the conference championship and was selected to their third straight NCAA Tournament. As a result of this success, one of their newcomers was honored by the league.
Swimming and diving had strong results at the USA Diving National Championships.
Softball’s Taylor Minnick was named an All-American.
Men’s golf had a couple of their athletes named amongst the best in the Midwest.
Thanks for your continued support for 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
The Assembly Call is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
T.Y. We appreciate your efforts...