Congrats again to those outstanding local athletes who did so well in the Outdoor Nationals track meet at Philadelphia. Greensburg’s Emarie Jackson put the shot 47’3 ¼”, good for 3rd place among girls nationally, and she finished 5th in the discus, heaving it 153′ even. And boys’ high jumper Ayden Eckstein of Batesville, who’d cleared 6’10” to make the nationals, couldn’t quite get past his state height of 6’6″ in Philly, but he still did well nationwide, placing 14th among 57 competitors. Ayden’s also recently been named an Indiana All-Star.
Great work by high school hoopsters Cole Henry from South Ripley and Cade Kaiser of Batesville– they were seen by lots of coaches in the Indiana All-Star Basketball Classic at Anderson University last weekend. They’re both also going to be playing in the Top 100 Underclassmen game a week from tonight, Friday the 28th.
Rising Greensburg senior basketball star Leah West has made the big decision about her hoops future. After graduating next year, Leah has verbally committed to play her college basketball at Belmont University in Nashville.
It turns out highly-sought-after men’s college basketball recruit Kanon Catchings won’t be playing for Purdue after all. WRBI’s Travis Lecher reports that just over 2 weeks ago, on the 6th, Catchings was released from his national letter of intent by Coach Matt Painter’s program. This week, on Thursday the 20th, Painter succinctly explained what went into that decision, saying in these words, “I want people that want to be here.” Painter adds about Catchings, “he was concerned about his role, and just wanted out of his letter and then kind of went back the next day and said everything was good. And it just was like, ‘This is probably better that we part ways if you’re questioning things before things start.'” Painter used Zach Edey and as an example of someone who wasn’t guaranteed a starting spot as a freshman and had to compete for it. Meantime, Catchings landed in Utah, committing to Brigham Young Tuesday.
The WNBA Indiana Fever chalked another win Wednesday, topping Washington 88-81. This evening, Caitlin Clark & company are in Atlanta to take on the Dream. The Fever’s won 3 games in a row, and 5 of its last 7.
The men’s pros, the NBA Pacers, appear ready to pay one of their stars bigger bucks. Power forward Pascal Siakam is reportedly palling to sign a 189-and-a-half million dollar offer to play the next 4 seasons in Indy, once the off-season moratorium ends next month. This past season, Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton were key in the Pacers making the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Reds are back in Cincy tonight, hosting the Boston Red Sox in the first of a 3-game series. Andrew Abbot starts on the mound for the Reds, against Kutter Crawford. Join us for the broadcast beginning at 6:40, on the Sports Voice, 103.9 WRBI.