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 sports stories of the past week. 6-Banner Sunday is written by Ari Shifron.
Football took center stage this week with the conclusion of spring ball and a record number of IU players being drafted.
Turning to basketball, another non-conference opponent was revealed and Indiana is projected in the NCAA tournament field after its portal haul.
Here is what is in this week’s edition:
• Record eight IU football players drafted, spring practice concludes
• A fifth non-conference opponent was revealed for the IU basketball schedule
• Early bracketology for the 2027 NCAA tournament includes IU
• IU women’s basketball updates
• Back Home Network shows
• Hoosier Roundup
Banner #1 – Record eight IU football players drafted, spring practice concludes
Spring football came to a close for the defending national champion Hoosiers with the annual scrimmage as Curt Cignetti’s third version of his squad gets set for this fall. However, the biggest part of the practice was not what occurred on the field, but instead what happened at the same time about 400 miles to the east in Pennsylvania.
This is where the NFL draft took place and IU had QB Fernando Mendoza taken with the No. 1 overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders. Mendoza was not the only player taken in the first round that night, as WR Omar Cooper went No. 30 to the New York Jets.
The run of Indiana players continued in subsequent days, as CB D’Angelo Ponds also went to the Jets and RB Kaelon Black was taken by the San Francisco 49ers on Friday. The final day of the draft doubled that number to eight total.
The four to hear their names called on Saturday were Elijah Sarratt to the Baltimore Ravens, Riley Nowakowski to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pat Coogan to the Tennessee Titans and Aiden Fisher to the Houston Texans. The eight players drafted were the most Hoosiers ever taken in a single year.
Also, six undrafted guys signed free agent contracts, including Roman Hemby and EJ Williams joining Mendoza in Las Vegas, Mikail Kamara joining Black in San Francisco and Devan Boykin joining Nowakowski in Pittsburgh. Finally, Louis Moore inked a deal with the Miami Dolphins and Mark Langston signed with the Buffalo Bills.
Banner #2 – A fifth non-conference opponent was revealed for the IU basketball schedule
Another non-conference matchup was revealed for IU’s 2026-27 schedule. The Hoosiers will reportedly host Eastern Illinois in their season opener on November 2.
The Panthers finished last season 13-20 overall and ranked No. 324 in KenPom. Indiana has won all three previous meetings, most recently in 2024.
This game becomes the fifth piece of the puzzle for the pre-Big Ten portion of the schedule. It joins previously announced contests against Bellarmine, Bowling Green, Kentucky and Syracuse.
Banner #3 – Early bracketology for the 2027 NCAA tournament includes IU
After seemingly hitting a home run in the transfer portal last week, the projections for next season appear to be much brighter now. The six committed prospects from last week (Markus Burton, Darren Harris, Bryce Lindsay, Jaeden Mustaf, Aiden Sherrell, Samet Yigitoglu) all come in relatively highly in the national rankings and is also amongst the best portal classes in the country.
This infusion of talent moved Indiana into the projected top-25 for 2026-2027. How it plays out on the court remains to be seen, but the Hoosiers are certainly expected to end their three-year NCAA tourney drought and make March Madness.
Banner #4 – IU women’s basketball updates
The IU men were not alone in making a splash in the portal. The Indiana women also made significant additions here.
It was not the entire roster overhaul of their male counterparts. This is because the women return three starters and bring in the sixth-ranked high school class in the country.
As a result, the portal is more about filling in around the edges for them. After adding Iowa State’s Alisa Williams the day the portal opened and Nebraska’s Jess Petrie later, two more key additions were made this week.
These players coming to Bloomington for 2026-2027 both have extensive starting five experience for power five squads in positions of need. One is knock-down shooter Kenzie Hare from Iowa State, while the other is USC point guard and defensive specialist Malia Samuels.
Banner #5 – Back Home Network shows
The Back Home Network has many shows. As a result, it was on air many times this week with programming.
Banner #6 – Hoosier Roundup
• Softball had another solid week, knocking off Valparaiso and traditional power Michigan as they continue to cruise towards a fourth straight NCAA tournament berth. They did, however, fall to the Wolverines as well as a solid Iowa squad.
• Baseball beat Ball State and Abilene Christian out of conference. However, they lost a series at home to Iowa and are now in danger of missing the Big Ten tournament for the first time in 15 years.
• Men’s tennis fell to Michigan but still qualified for the conference tournament, where they defeated Oregon before falling to Michigan State.
• Men’s golf finished 12th at the Hoosier Collegiate Invitational.
• Track and field competed at the Clark Woods Invite.
• Rowing competed at the Big Ten Invite.
• Wrestling has 10 Hoosiers competing at the U.S. Open.
• Finally, the annual Little 500 saw the Black Key Bulls win for the third straight year in the men’s race, and Alpha Chi Omega take the women’s race.
Now go enjoy yourself a 6-Banner Sunday.
Aaron (Ari) Shifron
Assembly Call Contributor
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