[6BS] Season Preview

Inside the Hall looked at the upcoming year from several angles

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.

From a news perspective, it was a very quiet week for IU Basketball. As a result, Inside the Hall did several exhilarating previews for the upcoming 2024-2025 season. This involved the players, the schedule, the Big Ten as a whole, and recruiting.

Also, as usual, 6-Banner will conclude with weekly shows and other Hoosier sports. This week’s adventure outside of Indiana basketball involved the fall sports of volleyball and football ramping up.

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’s in this week’s edition:

• Player Preview

• Schedule Preview

• Big Ten Preview

• Recruiting Update

• Weekly Shows

• Hoosier Roundup-Volleyball and Football Preview

IU men’s basketball will play several games this upcoming season on Peacock and the women will play a few as well, making the streaming service essential 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! (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!)

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Banner #1: Player Preview

With the season approaching, Inside the Hall (ITH) took a look at the upcoming 2024-2025 year in several aspects. The first of these was previewing the expected top contributors.

This included the expected best player Mackenzie Mgbako whose ability to make a sophomore leap will be pivotal in Indiana’s ultimate fate. The Hoosiers also need big numbers from transfers Myles Rice and Kanaan Carlyle to return to the postseason as well as veteran Malik Reneau. ITH also did a mailbag that looked at the players among other topics.

Banner #2: Schedule Preview

As well as previewing the players, ITH took a look at a couple of things from a schedule perspective. This included a preview of the Winthrop game as well as the Battle 4 Atlantis. With a relatively soft non-conference slate, the performance in the Bahamas against some of the nation’s best will likely make or break the pre-Big Ten resume.

Banner #3: Big Ten Preview

After a down year, the Hoosiers look to make a jump in the conference standings. With the roster turnover (see above), IU is expected to make a massive improvement. ITH places Indiana a solid fourth behind Purdue, Illinois, and UCLA while Michigan State rounds out the top five.

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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?

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Banner #4: Recruiting Update

While the upcoming season is imminent, the Hoosiers are already looking ahead and recruiting hard for the summer of 2025. This week, On3 updated its rankings for that class.

As has been the case throughout Indiana’s courting of these players, several continue to be high up in these numbers. This is led by no. 3 Nate Ament and No. 5 Chris Cenac. Among top targets, Bryson Tiller is 14, Malachi Moreno 21, Jalen Haralson 25, Braylon Mullins 35, and Trent Sisley 148.

Banner #5: Weekly Shows

The Back Home Network was on-air twice this week. This included Austin Render’s Dribble Drive Podcast about women’s basketball, which featured USC radio announcer Eli Kleinmann. Also, Xs and Joes was newly released discussing the transfer portal.

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Banner #6: Hoosier Roundup-Volleyball and Football Preview

• Volleyball had a flurry of news this week. This included the release of single-game tickets, the TV schedule, the Big Ten’s media day, and two additions to the staff.

• Football had media availability as well as a few players receiving preseason recognition.

• More athletes with IU connections competed at the Paris Olympics this week.

• Men’s soccer opened preseason practice this week.

• Baseball had one of their key relievers receive recognition for his performance in the summer league.

• Softball had six scholar-athletes.

• Track and field’s legendary coach Ron Helmer was elected to the Coaches Hall of Fame posthumously.

• Men’s golf announced their schedule for the upcoming season.

• Men’s tennis is hosting an alumni event.

• A youth sports day was announced.

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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.