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(04/30/21 9:29pm)
Once upon a time there was a 6-foot-7-inch power forward from St. Joseph High School in South Bend, Indiana. Forty-nine years, an undefeated NCAA basketball season, and a five-year NBA career later, Tom Abernethy is doing what he genuinely loves, shaping youth through the game of basketball.
In 1976 Abernethy and the Indiana University basketball program had one of the most historical seasons in NCAA history under legendary head coach Bob Knight. After Gonzaga’s loss in the championship game of the NCAA tournament earlier this year, the undefeated Indiana University team remains as the most recent team of only seven to ever have a perfect season.
In an interview with the Campus Citizen, Abernethy talked about what it felt like to play on such a historic and successful team while also giving insight into his thought process during the season.
“It was awesome… You know when you’re doing it, you’re not thinking about setting records, you’re thinking hey we got to do this today in practice and we have to do it in the game,” said Abernethy.
Abernethy received a First-Team All-Tournament nod as he played outstanding in the NCAA tournament up until he was sidelined with an injury in the tournament semifinals. He was one of four players from the team to be drafted in the ‘76 NBA Draft alongside names such as Scott May, who was drafted with the second pick by the Chicago Bulls, and the Indiana Pacers very own play-by-play announcer, Quinn Buckner, who was drafted with the seventh pick by the Milwaukee Bucks.
Abernethy was drafted to the Los Angeles Lakers where he went to the Western Conference Finals in his rookie season playing with NBA great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He continued for another season on the Lakers before he went over to the Bay Area when he signed to the Golden State Warriors for two and a half seasons until he was traded back home to the Indiana Pacers where he finished the season and then retired from the NBA.
After the NBA, Abernethy went into commercial real estate where he had a successful and profitable eight-year career before he realized that something from his life was missing.
“God used that [his career in real estate] to help me see my need to prioritize things in life,” said Abernethy. “During that period of time, I became a Christian and once I put my faith in Jesus, I looked at my job in real estate and looked at my experiences and what I came away with was you’ll need something to help manifest [build up] other people, especially kids.”
In 1996 Abernethy gave up his lucrative career in real estate to use his time and talents in basketball to help the development of the next generation of players by opening the Indiana Basketball Academy, or IBA for short. The IBA is located on the northside of Indianapolis and currently has over 450 active players in their various programs, a personal record for the gym.
The IBA is home to two different travel teams that play in some of the most competitive tournaments around the state and also hosts camps focused on player development and building character through the teachings of Christianity. Abernethy has spent 25 years attempting to help shape young athletes by giving them the support and attention they need to develop into not only better basketball players but more well-rounded adults.
“It’s God’s work, he brings all of the kids and families to the IBA and they come for different reasons, we are just there to encourage kids and we are all about encouraging them to be the best they can be,” Abernethy said proudly. “Basketball is a small part of a life and if they can use the things they learn in sports, and in basketball, and at the IBA to develop good character, then they will be ready to roll when they’re older.”
Abernethy currently doesn’t run the day-to-day operations of the gym and spends some of the year in Florida, but when camp season begins, he always makes sure to make time for some story-telling to the campers. One of the camps most unique qualities is the way that Abernethy can pass down his insight and knowledge about basketball through his immersive and fun story telling.
While Abernethy uses his stories and experiences to teach the fundamentals in basketball to help develop his campers as players and people, he also tells several stories to preserve the history of his generation of the NBA. The story he is probably most famous for telling at his camps is about the time his two front teeth were knocked out by legendary big man, Moses Malone.
Malone, who played for the Houston Rockets at the time, is described by Abernethy in a booming, deep tone as having “tree trunks for arms.” He uses his storytelling ability to illustrate the intimidating stature of the 6-foot-10-inch center, keeping the kids on the edge of their seat with each detail he describes to help teach them the rich history of his era.
With Abernethy stepping away from running the daily operations in recent years, Andrew White, a long time coach at IBA, has since taken over the reins. While Abernethy does not run the gym like he used to, his vision of a space for young athletes to come and be supported not only lives on but has thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What we did that was really neat, we did IBA Zoom advanced private training and the feedback we got from that was incredible, not just with basketball, but as you know everyone handled COVID differently,” said White. “For these kids to be kind of isolated, this IBA zoom gave them an outlet and helped their self-confidence, self-esteem, and anxiety.”
In mid-March of 2020, IBA was shut down by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though things were looking bleak for their industry, White and his staff kept a positive attitude and pushed through.
“I’m a pretty glass half full kind of guy by nature, so I was pretty optimistic through it all, and thankfully it wasn’t as long as what we anticipated,” said White. “I think June 19 is when the governor cleared live play and that was honestly sooner than I thought and that was a blessing through it all to be able to open up when we did.”
Although athletes were unable to meet in person for camps and practices, White and his staff did everything they could to figure out every viable way they could help the kids during this stressful time in a safe way that adheres to COVID-19 protocols.
Abernethy has also adapted by getting on Zoom calls to continue his mission of developing young athletes into successful adults… and to also tell the Moses Malone story.
“With my basketball background and experiences with the great coaches that I’ve had that coached me through the years in college, the NBA, and high school, I just felt like I was being led to build the IBA,” Abernethy said proudly. “That’s what really led me to do it, to use my unique gifts for not my glory, but God’s glory.”
With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to loosen as more individuals get the vaccine, White has his mind set on developing the gym’s new normal by focusing on the safety of their athletes.
“We are a Christian business, and even if we weren’t we would still want to protect our kids and families,” said White. “We’ve stayed really cautious and all of our coaches still wear masks for practices and games and we really just want to go above and beyond the call of duty.”
With summer right around the corner, Tom Abernethy, Andrew White, and all of the employees at the Indiana Basketball Academy are looking forward to another successful year of doing what they love, shaping youth through the game of basketball.
(04/27/21 9:17pm)
The IUPUI women’s soccer program finished their season earlier this month at third in the Horizon League Conference semifinals, losing to Milwaukee on the road 0-3. This was their second consecutive trip to the tournament and also marks the third time the Jaguars have reached it since it was formed in 2017.
While the loss in Milwaukee was a hard pill to swallow, the team had a great season, finishing 5-2-2, the highest win percentage since they won the Horizon League tournament and made the NCAA tournament in 2017. Even though this was the Jaguars shortest season, made even shorter because of two game cancellations due to COVID-19, it highlighted one of the team’s best qualities, resiliency.
“I can’t say enough about the players and how well they handled all of their ups and downs of the season,” said head coach Chris Johnson. “We came out and win our first game, then we had to sit two games because of COVID, after being off 10 days we had two practices and then had to play Detroit and we tied… then we beat Milwaukee, which was the first time anyone’s beat them in a long time.”
Johnson also mentioned how much fun it was for the team to be back out on the pitch after last season being cancelled because of the pandemic, and he wasn’t the only one.
When asked about her favorite moment of the season, senior forward Valentine Pursey discussed how much not only herself, but the team missed gamedays.
“Coming back after not playing a whole year, being able to go out there as a team after all the work we put in and all the ups and downs that we went on, just being able to be together and go out there, lace up again, and have some fun,” she said.
Pursey was the Jaguars leading scorer this season and has 26 total goals in her career at IUPUI. While she does graduate this semester, Pursey will be pursuing her master’s degree at a university in North Carolina and will be playing for their soccer program, however, she did not wish to disclose the exact school just yet.
Pursey makes the fifth starter and the seventh senior the team is graduating this off season as the Jaguars will be looking to their young core to potentially lead them to a third consecutive Horizon League Tournament. With this many players graduating, coach Johnson believes that the team’s next challenge will be finding the team’s next generation of leaders.
“There’s a lot of leadership in there [the senior class] that we have to find a way to fill, we had a practice the other day, you know [with] the returning players, and it was very quiet out there,” said Johnson. “The senior group, in addition to being a very strong group on the field, was a very strong group of personalities, and they really guided the team in the direction we wanted to go.”
Of some of the young players, Johnson had praise for first-year forward Carlie Werner. Werner produced stellar performances when the two keepers tested positive for COVID-19. Werner was the teams replacement and had seven saves in total over her two game stint as the keeper
“We had a freshman forward step up and play in the goal for two games against Youngstown State and NKU,” said Johnson. “She gave up one goal in 200 minutes of action and that was pretty fantastic resiliency and grit on the part of our players to kind of roll with the punches and keep stepping up and doing what we could do.”
Even though the team has big shoes to fill, coach Johnson has full confidence in his players to rise to the occasion.
“We got to find some new voices and some new players that are going to step up, and I think they will, I don’t have any doubt that they are going to do that.” Johnson said. “It’ll be interesting to see how that develops in the next four months so when we come back in the fall we are ready and able to get going forward.”
Coach Johnson isn’t the only one who believes the team will be able to find their leaders this offseason, Pursey also weighed in on the future of the lady Jags and stated how this season’s experiences will help the team going forward.
“I think you’re going to see a lot of people step up and just enjoy playing, I think the main thing is all of us just love being around the sport and just having fun,” said Pursey. “Obviously my class is a big class and has a lot of personalities both on the field and off the field, but I know they will work through it, especially having worked through so much together this past year.”
(03/30/21 4:37pm)
YOUNGSTOWN, OH-- IUPUI’s women’s soccer team continued their undefeated season as their game against Youngstown State finished in a 0-0 draw in extra time on Wednesday, March 24. This marks the team’s second tie of the season as their record extends to 4-0-2. This is also the Jaguars second away game that resulted in a tie this season as they managed to control both ends of the pitch throughout all 110 minutes of the match but were unable to capitalize to take the victory in extra time.
“Throughout the whole game we had control of the possession, control of the game, control of the momentum,” senior Valentine Pursey said. “We were getting a lot of shots, we had five shots on frame, so I think it really was just luck that wasn't in our favor. We had three shots hit woodwork, one hit the post, one hit the other post, and one hit the crossbar, just very unfortunate to not get that ball across the goal line, it was one of those games.”
On one end of the pitch, the offense, led by Pursey, put up 23 shots, with nine shots on goal. Youngstown’s keeper, Zeeyana Jivraj, came to play, saving eight shots fending off the Jaguars’ onslaught of shots from every end of the pitch for most of the game.
In the 31st minute of the game, freshman defender Jessica Jacobs had a free kick shot on goal that seemed to be headed for the back of the net but was stopped in the bottom left corner. This stop seemed to suck the momentum out of the Jaguars offense for the rest of the first half as they only put up one shot for the next 15 minutes, their second least number of shots in a 15 minute span in the entire game.
Even though the team finished the game in a draw, IUPUI dominated both ends of the field, keeping Youngstown on their heels the entire game. Even though Youngstown had 4 total shots, their first did not come till the 87th minute of the match. IUPUI’s head coach Chris Johnson believed the team executed well, but wasn’t able to capitalize on their looks.
“We hit the post a couple times and were just a little unlucky at getting the ball in the back of the net,” Johnson said. “Sometimes in soccer, you know that’s just how it goes, it’s not a real high scoring sport, you got to make the most of your chances.”
With two games left before the Horizon League Conference Tournament, Pursey spoke about the team’s mindset going into the rest of the season and her message couldn’t have been clearer.
Win.
“Win at all costs has kind of been our mindset going this whole season,” Pursey said. “You know it’s a weird season, half the games, only the top four make the tournament and our goal is to make the tournament, win the championship and continue to the NCAA tournament.”
IUPUI is currently ranked third in the Horizon League Conference, just behind Milwaukee, who has a 5-1 record. Though Milwaukee and IUPUI have the same win percentage on the season , Milwaukee has one more point than the Jaguars, sitting them in the second place spot with 15 total points on the season.
Even though Covid-19 did not allow for a 2020 season to be played, the delayed season seemed to bring this team together.
“We waited almost a year to play in a game, I think this team has just gone on a roller coaster together and it shows how it either makes or breaks a team...no matter what’s thrown at us, this team just leans on each other and gets through stuff together,” Pursey said.
The Jaguars next game is at home in Michael A. Carroll Stadium against red hot Northern Kentucky on Tuesday. Northern Kentucky currently sits on top of the Horizon League Conference standings as they look to continue their four game win streak after beating Purdue Fort Wayne on Wednesday 1-0.
(03/30/21 4:28pm)
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. -- After a 4-0 loss to Milwaukee on Wednesday, March 24, the IUPUI men’s soccer team found their season to be in disarray as the team learned some bad news.
Although the team was scheduled to play Oakland on Monday, March 29, their season has been cancelled due to the NCAA Covid-19 protocols to protect both staff and the team. Head coach Brian Barnett spoke on Friday, March 26, about the end of the season, but was unable to give to much detail.
“As the line continues to be in the media with the NCAA tournament, due to COVID protocols and concerns within the tier one personnel within our program we are unable to play the last two games of the season,” said Barnett.
Milwaukee came out firing on all cylinders as they put up three goals before the end of the first half. Milwaukee forward, freshman Logan Farrington, who scored the game’s first goal early in the 10th minute, had a pair of goals and set up his teammate, junior Paolo Gratton, for one of his own in the 20th minute.
This marked Farrington’s fifth goal and first ever assist in his collegiate career as he is currently second in scoring for Milwaukee. Gratton leads the team in scoring with eight goals on the season as their team is currently in fifth place in the Horizon League Conference with a record of 4-4, sitting one spot out of the tournament.
While the Jaguars were unable to find the back of the net, junior Riley Shives led the attack with three shots attempted, being the only Jaguar able to get off more than one attempt past the Milwaukee defense.
Shives was also the only Jag to put the ball on net with the team’s best chance for a goal being stopped by Milwaukee’s sophomore goalkeeper, Nick Chiappa. Shives had two back to back shots sail the net earlier in the first half in the 32nd minute, but put his shot on goal late in the 85th.
While IUPUI was unable to get a draw or victory on the season, they never stopped working hard and being optimistic, showing how much character they have in the locker room. Senior defender Tommy Patacca believes that the team has been doing the right things this season, but unfortunately have been unable to capitalize on their chances.
“I think all of us have a really good understanding of what our roles are and what our game plan is, it’s more of the execution portion that we seem to have trouble with,” said Patacca. “It’s not a matter of hard work or not knowing what to do, it’s a matter of making sure we guarantee that we actually complete it [the game plan].”
Even though this season is the second in program history without a win and the first ever without a tie, it is also the shortest season in the history of IUPUI soccer. This season comes two years after their last in 2019 due to the pandemic cancelling the 2020 season. With a return to normalcy and a regular offseason the Jags go into this summer looking to improve for next year.
“The biggest takeaway is that we have an incredibly resilient group of student athletes to think about and the number of challenges that they have endured,” said Barnett. “They continue to bounce back from any of those setbacks or challenges with an attitude or mentality that suggests that they are ready to work hard and improve...I think that that resilience in our student athletes is something I tremendously appreciate.”
(03/17/21 5:00pm)
The IUPUI women’s basketball team concluded their season last Tuesday, March 9, finishing second in the Horizon League tournament with a season record of 15-5. On Monday, March 8, head coach Austin Parkinson notched his 200th win in his 11th year, which took the team back to the Horizon League Conference Championship game for the second consecutive year but the Jaguars fell short to Wright State 53-41 the following day.
“I would say I’m really proud of our players to get themselves back to the championship game," Parkinson said. “We had a lot of challenges, to give ourselves that position, up two at half time, well I think six months ago we would have signed up for it.”
Senior center Macee Williams was close to averaging a double-double with 18.9 points per game, 9.8 rebounds per game, and finished the season with eight 20 point or more games as she was announced to be the Horizon League Conference’s player of the year for the third consecutive year. She finished as the conference’s leader in rebounding and shot percentage while coming second in total scoring.
As a team, IUPUI finished with the best winning percentage in the conference at .786 against conference opponents and .778 on the season. Along with being at the top of the stat sheet in wins, the lady Jags and their high powered offense went on to lead the conference in scoring and shooting percentage from the field and from long range, finishing top 10 in the NCAA in 3-point percentage while scoring 70.1 points per game on 44.9% shooting from the field.
Junior combo-guard Rachel McLimore helped fuel the offense, leading the team in assists, and finishing the season second in scoring on 13.9 points per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. She made 101 field goals this season, making her one of two players on the team to finish the year with 100 total field goals made.
The team played well on both ends of the floor this season as they finished in the top three in the conference in defense, according to the Horizon League Conference’s rankings, with an average margin of victory of 12.8. The defense made it tough on their opponents all season, holding foes to just 57.3 points per game on 39.6% shooting from the field and 25.8% from deep. They also led the league in defensive rebounds.
Williams and fellow senior center Morgan Allen announced their return for next season, choosing to use the new rule instituted by the NCAA allowing athletes another year of eligibility due to Covid-19. Even though the decision was announced shortly after the conclusion of the Horizon League Championship game, it seems as though Williams already had an idea about her future.
“I kind of had a discussion with Coach P before the season started when they announced there can be a fifth year for athletes,” said Williams, “I knew all this time.”
The short offseason was difficult for many teams around the country, including Williams and the Jaguars.
“I’m excited for Macee because she didn’t get an offseason last year and so she gets an off season to work on some things that I know she wants to," Parkinson said. "She wants to play at the professional level, she wants to improve her outside shot and work on some things that will just make her a more multi-dimensional player."
Parkinson further discussed how the short offseason was tough on the team.
“Basketball is about connection and teambuilding, there was so much isolation because of all the protocols,” he said. “One season felt like four seasons and for our kids to overcome the challenges they did and have the year they had says a lot about them.”
While it was frustrating not having a complete offseason this past year, Williams has decided to build her game by expanding her range and skillset.
“I really want to improve just being more of a threat outside of the block," said Williams, "Just kind of working outside of my game, working away from the post, kind of just more like a forward."
Williams and Allen’s return announcements, while only graduating three players (two starters) from the roster, leaves a bright future for the Lady Jags.
Hopefully next season ends with IUPUI back in the Horizon League Conference championship to make it the third year in a row with an appearance. Even though this season is over, bright things are on the horizon for IUPUI women’s basketball team as they advance into the offseason.
(02/13/21 3:10am)
Pacer fans can finally take a breath as Domantas Sabonis and company beat the Detroit Pistons 111-95 on the road to snap their four game losing streak. The Pacers record improves to 13-13 as the team has fought back to .500 on the season.
Sabonis finished the game as the Pacers leading scorer with 26 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, and shot 9/14 from the field. Pat Boylan, a reporter for Fox Sports, asked Sabonis about his perspective of busting out of not only a team slump, but a personal one as well.
“We just came out with a lot of energy,” said Sabonis, “W knew we had to win this game. [We had a] four game losing streak, it’s not fun. Especially on a team with a bunch of good guys, we just wanted to play for each other and today I feel like we did that.”
The Pacers and Pistons were tied 52-52 at halftime with Sabonis leading the Pacers with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists while battling Blake Griffin, who led Detroit or the Pistons with 11 points, 3 rebounds, and 5 assists. Sabonis shot 60% from the field in the first half, but most notably went 2/3 from three with one beating the buzzer at the end of the first quarter.
Jeremey Lamb provided a huge boost from the bench with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and shot a scorching 6/7 from the field. Lamb scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, including two three pointers during critical moments to extend the Pacers lead.
Malcolm Brogdon, Turner, and Sabonis scored all the Pacers points for the first nine minutes of the third quarter as they took control of the game. Myles Turner found his offensive groove and scored 8 points in the third quarter as the Pacers outscored the Pistons 30-18 to lead 82-70 after three. The Pacers kept the lead for the rest of the game after taking it at 59-58 with 8:18 left in the third quarter.
The only starter that did not play more than 30 minutes was Myles Turner who was in foul trouble early in the second half. Even though Turner did not play as many minutes, he finished an efficient 6-9 shooting from the field with 14 points, 8 rebounds, and a pair of blocks.
“Consistency,” said Bjorkgren when asked about what the team did well in the win. “When they made their runs, we didn’t let them last. I thought we bounced back from some of the lows over the course of the game. Lots of highs and lots of lows and I thought we were trying to fight through them a little bit better.”
The Pacers are 4-1 on the second end of their back-to-backs throughout the season so far and are looking to extend their new win streak on Saturday, February 13 against the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are currently the eighth seed, but in a competitive Eastern Conference, it’s possible for them to steal the fifth seed away from the Pacers in their upcoming matchup.
(09/27/19 5:06pm)
IUPUI’s Regatta has decided to double their money donations this year with the introduction of a new scholarship, the IUPUI Regatta Court Royalty Scholarship. The signature scholarship of the event has been included in efforts to strengthen the homecoming culture of the event.
The Regatta, being in its eleventh year, has continued to grow from the Stefan S. Davis scholarship fundraiser to a school tradition that has flourished in growing the entire student culture of the university. Originally, the Regatta began as a fundraiser run by Stefan Scott Davis, the Executive Director of the IUPUI Office of Alumni Relations and senior executive with the IU Alumni Association. The scholarship reflects Stefan Scott Davis because he was dedicated to making the Regatta an annual success in its early years.
The recipients of the scholarships were selected based on campus involvement in extracurricular activities, philanthropy involvement, and academic success. Throughout the years, the scholarship has provided much needed help to students at IUPUI. The Stefan S. Davis scholarship was the beginning of something that continues to grow every year.
Now that the Regatta is embracing a homecoming culture, the Regatta Court Royalty scholarship has been added to give students an extra incentive to become involved during the Regatta week. Being selected as a member of the Regatta Court Royalty means more than just a crown. Winners are also awarded a $500 scholarship.
Even though this is a new opportunity, student awareness has been lacking.
“We also have goals for the future that involve boosting the Regatta Royalty and Regatta Court because it seems that not a lot of students know about that opportunity,” said Natalie Given, the Regatta’s director of social media, in an email.
Natalie Given, the Regatta’s director of social media, stated in an email
Reflecting on the lack of student awareness about the event shows how important student interaction is in keeping this tradition alive and strong. Without student support, scholarships such as these cannot exist. This year, Emily Crowel and Bianca Marrufo were crowned as the first Regatta Royalty thanks to their interaction and involvement at IUPUI.
This year, the Regatta had more teams attend the event than ever before. An event with high expectations certainly lived up to the hype this year. In an email, Riley Gorden, the Associate Executive Director of Administration of the IUPUI Office of Alumni Administration stated,
“This year's Regatta certainly exceeded expectations, with a record number of teams competing in the event, including representatives from most IU regional campuses,” said Riley Gorden, the Associate Executive Director of Administration of the IUPUI Office of Alumni Administration, in an email.