Indiana assistant coach Ray McCallum has withdrawn his name from consideration for the head coaching job at Indiana State.

McCallum, in a phone call this afternoon to H-T reporter Chris Korman, said he still wants to go back to being a head coach at some point, but doesn’t feel this is the right time after being at Indiana just one year. He said he plans to stay at IU for now and try to win some national championships.

McCallum was reportedly a finalist for the Indiana State job.

Chris received McCallum’s call on his cell phone while returning from Louisville, where the McDonald’s All-American game will be played tomorrow night.

Chris plans to attend Indiana’s spring football practice with me late this afternoon, then write a story tonight from an interview he did today in Louisville with some kid from North Central that’s going to play for the Hoosiers next year. He’s supposed to be pretty good. What the heck is his name?

Eric Gordon didn’t have much time to rest after North Central lost in the Indiana State Final. He’s already in Louisville participating in the McDonald’s All-American game and all the stuff that surrounds it (which apparently includes more than just eating Big Macs and McNuggets.)

I’ll be talking with Gordon Tuesday afternoon and I had this crazy thought: maybe I’ll give you guys a chance to ask him the questions you’ve always wanted to ask. Through me.

So, send ‘em if you got em. I’ll try to squeeze them in and get back to you.

Three IU recruits played in their state championship basketball games this week, but only future Hoosier left the floor victorious.

Playing on one of the largest stages Indiana basketball has to offer, Eric Gordon and North Central fell to East Chicago Central in the State 4A Finals, 87-83. Gordon finished the game with 25 points on 8-16 shooting and six rebounds.

Although Gordon had his fair share of impressive plays, he was slightly overshadowed by the play of East Chicago’s E’Twaun Moore, who led all scorers with 28 points. Gordon will get an opportunity to avenge his state championship loss against Moore soon though — he is a future Boilermaker.

Gordon will be back in action Wednesday night in the McDonalds All-American game in Louisville, KY. Hopefully, Chris and I will be there to cover the action.

Also falling in their championship game was Chipola’s Jamarcus Ellis and DeAndre Thomas. The two IU recruits performed exceptionally, but were never really in contention, losing 91-75 to Midland CC.

Thomas had his best performance in weeks, finishing with 22 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes. The Chicago native was paticularly efficent, shooting 10-13 from the field and 2-3 from the free throw line.

Ellis, the Panhandle Conference’s Player of the Year, led his team with 28 points. The IU recruit was was 6-12 from the field and converted 12-14 free throw attempts.

Although the 2007 class was most likely left unsatisfied, the 2008 class was more fortunate, thanks to Bud Mackey.

The Scott County star led his team to their second straight state championship with a victory over Ballard, 56-50.

Playing in Rupp Arena, Mackey had 22 points, including 11 of his team’s 16 points in the fourth quarter.

Indiana assistant coach Ray McCallum, rumored to be a candidate for several of the open head coaching jobs in the region, is out of town this weekend (hmmmm…) and won’t be available until Monday.

The Tribune-Star has been all over Indiana State’s search for a new coach, and is reporting that McCallum is one of four finalists for that job. It also got the athletic director to deny an internet rumor that McCallum had already been offered the job.

Read the entire story here.

An interesting sub-story here is that while most of the Indiana athletic family will be happy for Ray to get another shot at being a head coach, fans of Bloomington High School North will be absolutely devastated. They’ll likely lose Ray McCallum Jr., one of the best players his age in the country.
Also, no word on A.J. Ratliff’s injured left wrist. He was scheduled to have an MRI Friday to determine what course to take. He may need surgery or he may be able to rehab.

We hope to have an update on Ratliff some time this week.

That’s what the Tribune-Star of Terre Haute is reporting.

Read the report here. 

I’ll try to track Coach McCallum down tomorrow. Enjoy your Friday night.

IU just sent out a short news release saying Lance Stemler underwent surgery today. Here it is:

Indiana forward Lance Stemler underwent surgery Thursday to correct a chronic left ankle injury that had been aggravated during the past season. He is out indefinitely.

The Columbia, Ill. native reinjured the ankle prior to the team’s Feb. 15 game at Purdue. Stemler returned for the Hoosiers’ final eight games. He finished the season averaging 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 23.8 minutes per contest.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE beats INDIANA to advance in WNIT:

Final Score: 60-53

Megan Vogel had 14 points to lead all scorers.

South Dakota State used 17 offensive rebounds to outscore IU 16-9 on second chance points.
The Jackrabbits also made 21 free throws to the Hoosiers’ 15.

Hoosiers finish the season 19-14 and SDSU (25-5) moves on to the quarterfinals against the winner of Oregona and Wyoming, currently at halftime.

Nikki Smith attempted 8 free throw attempts to give her 192 on the year, tied for second best single season with Kameelah Morgan (1998-99). Her 67 made 3s is the third highest for an IU season.

Kim Roberson’s 6 steals gave her 86 for the season, just four shy of the second best IU single year mark, and Whitney Thomas’ 12 rebounds gave her 280 for the year, two shy of Jill Chapman’s 2001-02 fourth best IU single season mark.

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Hoosiers have no reserves left on bench but must foul SDSU to stop the clock.

59-53 SDSU.

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1:00 minute
IU down 57-53.

Whitney Thomas and Kim Roberson have folued out, leaving Hoosiers with just five players.

Hoosiers lost a crucial possession when freshman Jamie Braun got trapped in a corner right by the IU bench. She slid out of bounds and tried to call timeout but was ruled out of play.

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about 3 minutes to go
Kim Roberson hits 1 of 2 free throws after earning a jump ball possession on SDSU inbounds pass. Indiana trails, 52-51.
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4:10 to go…Hoosiers down 52-48. Whitney Thomas and Kim Roberson both have 4 fouls.

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IU regains lead on Leah Enterline free throw with about 5 minutes to go. Kim Roberson has 4 fouls, but Hoosiers up 47-46.

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Hoosiers down two, 46-44 with 8 minutes to go.

Nikki Smith and Whitney Thomas both have 10 points, while Megan Vogel has 11 for South Dakota State.

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SECOND HALF:

Jackrabbits are outrebounding IU 33-19 and now lead Hoosiers 44-40 with 11:51 to go. Maria Boever has 10 boards for SDSU.

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SECOND HALF ACTION:

15:37 to go in game.

Sarah McKay hits a three pointer after missing twice and keeps Indiana tied at 38-38.

Still no double digit scorers.

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14 different players have scored after one half and none have reached double digits…Hoosiers lead Jackrabbits 31-28.

High scorer is Nikki Smith with nine points. Freshman Shanice Billington is the only one of IU’s seven available players that hasn’t scored.

Hoosiers outshot South Dakota State 44.4 percent to 29.6 and forced 14 turnovers (IU had 11).
Leah Enterline has 4 steals.

Hoosiers led by 13 at one point.

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Nikki Smith has three first half 3-pointers and 67 on the year. That is the 3rd most in a single IU season. 29-25 Hoosiers with 1:50 to go.

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IU timeout with 4:50 to go in first half:

SDSU now down just 4 after Andrea Verdegan three pointer, her first points of the game.

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South Dakota State trails IU by seven, but is 8 for 8 from the free throw line. They have 12 turnovers with a few minutes remaining in the first half.

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Nikki Smith hits second three and now six have scored as Hoosiers lead 20-11 with 8 minutes to go….

Roberson gets a steal and easy layup right after…24-11 with 7 minutes to go.

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Hoosiers are mixing it up, spreading 12 points among five players. Each team already has 7 turnovers with 11:20 to go in first half.

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Hoosiers decent start through first five minutes. Hold SDSU to one three pointer by leading scorer Megan Vogel.

Nikki Smith has a three, among eight total points as Hoosiers lead by five.

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Info on Indiana game tonight at 8 p.m. WNIT Third Round

Hoosiers (19-13) tip off in an hour at South Dakota State (24-5) in Brookings, S.D.

SDSU outscores opponents 72.0 ppg to 57.3
IU holds slim edge on opponents 67.7 to 65.3

The Big Ten is 5-0 against Independent teams this season. Next year, SDSU will join the Mid-Continent Conference.

This is the first time these two teams have played. Indiana is 2-3 in WNIT road games. They beat Indiana State by six points last season but lost by three at eventual runner up Marquette.

The Jackrabbits have won 13 games in a row and are 13-1 at home this year.