The Peegs Podcast

The Hoosiers' season opener is upon us, and head coach Tom Allen and QB Michael Penix are ready to take on Iowa this Saturday.

Come one and come all to hear from the latest member of our Hoosier fam... a Five-Star, 6'4" point-guard from powerhouse prep school Montverde Academy... Jalen Hood-Schifino!!! And if you thought you couldn't get anymore excited about our coaching staff's latest coup, just wait until you get to know this absolutely outstanding young man with an old soul. He's cool, confident, focused, mature, good-humored, and has more nicknames than you can shake a stick at. Whether you call him Fino, J-Boogie or our personal favorite, Pungy, after listening to this you'll be that much more overjoyed to know he's arriving in Bloomington next fall.

New basketball coach Mike Woodson continued his roll by earning a commitment from Class of 2022 guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, building on the positive momentum that has been growing. We also hear from IU head football coach Tom Allen as the Hoosiers prep for the season.

This week's episode breaks ground on two exciting fronts! Early on Brandon Straub joins the show, whose generous donation to the Hoosier Hysterics! NIL Collective had landed him the dubious honor of being the first ever "Hysteric! of the Week." And while being on the show with Eric & Ward is hardly a prize, Brandon did get to come back later in the episode and chop it up with the first ever current IU player to appear on the pod, Race Thompson! Few players have endured the hardships Race has faced since arriving in Bloomington. From redshirting his freshman year, to suffering a brutal concussion, to missing out on the NCAA tourney due to a frigging pandemic, to watching his head coach get fired, the hits have just kept coming. Fortunately, Race is tough as nails and mature beyond his years. He has not just survived, but thrived with his hardhat play and team first mindset, becoming a leader on the court and in his community.

We're joined by head coach Tom Allen and QBs Michael Penix and Jack Tuttle as the Hoosiers progress during training camp.

Eric, Holly, and Board Ward all happily left Los Angeles together, embarking to the Caribbean for every Hoosier's dream vacation. But for one of them... the dream became a nightmare. Surprisingly it wasn't Holly, who thrived in the island sun, chaperoning Eric as he ran amok, starting pep rallies and stalking anyone wearing cream or crimson. The coaches, players, their families, and even fellow fans... no one was safe. Especially Board Ward, who went on to meet with a mysterious and grisly fate. Coach Woodson and his basketball team fared much better, and we have the game footage to prove it! In what is certain to irk the Big Ten powers that be, step right up and get yourself an eyeful of our boys playing honest-to-goodness basketball. Witness for yourself... IF you are Peegs Premium Member... why Indiana's back-to-back beat downs of Serbia's BC Mega has all of Hoosier nation abuzz!

Head coach Tom Allen is excited to start training camp, and his enthusiasm is clear as he starts getting his ballclub into shape.

Tom Crean returns, proving that after nine seasons at IU his tolerance for insane Hoosier fans remains incredibly high. More importantly, he provides his open and honest perspective on the post-Cody & Vic years. Fascinating details abound. Coach Crean shares insight on how he helps his players' stock, right up until their name is called on draft night. He speaks to how Yogi became the unquestioned leader of his 2nd Big Ten Championship team, and about the meteoric rise of O.G. and Juwan. We learn about the super cool Leopard offense that took down UK in the tourney, and better understand the tragic events on Halloween night that led to Devin Davis nearly losing his life. Most importantly, get answers you've always wanted to burning questions such as: What really happened during the Kyrie Irvie in-home visit? And what the hell was in that green liquid he drank on the sidelines? All this and more on another can't miss episode of The Hoosier Hysterics!

We're not sure how this happened either. What was meant to be a singular conversation with everybody's favorite spice bomb, Coach Kenya Hunter, suddenly gave way to a 4x100 relay of the IU men’s basketball staff appearing on the podcast. After a great start with Kenya, he smoothly handed off the Hysterics baton to Coach Ya, who during a lively discussion informed us Kenya had, in fact, left the office and was getting in a work out. What?? Eventually Coach Ya had to depart and we were left all alone, on a Zoom, staring at Kenya’s empty chair. Before long the unsuspecting Director of Operations Benny Sander, and the Team & Recruiting Coordinator Brian Walsh, wandered into the office. Wise as he is, Benny insulted us and quickly left, but Walsh took pity and hung around to talk shop. Ultimately, however, he had to get on with his life, too. Fortunately, this IS our life, so we decided to stick around, wondering what might happen next. Maybe Kenya would finally return? Perhaps Dane will make a last second and overall disappointing appearance? Possibly both of those things?? Suffice to say, this madness resulted in not only a one-of-a-kind episode, but one jam-packed with first-hand insight to the seriously good vibes coming out of the IU basketball program under Coach Mike Woodson.

The IU football season is around the corner, and we hear from head coach Tom Allen, QB Michael Penix, and WR Ty Fryfogle from Big Ten Media Days.

Uninvited, unprepared, and totally unashamed, Eric & Ward fly back to Indiana in this buddy road trip edition of Hoosier Hysterics! Whether being booted off the West Baden grounds after crashing the IUMBB reunion, or being physically destroyed by the IUWBB staff, their pain is your pleasure. And when Cliff Marshall destroys them further, it only gets better. Special guest appearances by Tom Allen, Teri Moren, Dane Fife and more, as the boys recount a joyous and often humiliating journey back to the greatest place on Earth.

The summer of 1984 changed everything in sports and had a huge impact on culture, and we're joined by Bloomington native L. Jon Wertheim, author of "Glory Days: The Summer of 1984 and the 90 Days That Changed Sports and Culture Forever," to discuss those pivotal months.

Grace Berger is one of the most accomplished players to ever lace them up for the Indiana University Women's Basketball Team, and she isn't done yet. After a quiet freshman season she exploded onto the scene as a sophomore, routinely stuffing the stat line, winning Big Ten Player of the Week and being named to the All-Big Ten First Team. As a junior she made another seismic jump, averaging 15.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists while leading the nation in triple-doubles (3), being named to the All-Big Ten First Team, was on the Cheryl Miller Award Top 10 watchlist, and was an All-American Honorable Mention. And of course then there is the fact she was a shining star who helped lead the Hoosiers to an upset of #1 seed NC State in the Sweet Sixteen on their way to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history. Still want more?? Fine. Grace was then invited to play for Team USA where she made the AmeriCup Team and won a GOLD MEDAL for our country. How to top all that??? Well, Grace is back in Bloomington for her senior season preparing with her talented teammates and incredible Coach Moren to do something even greater yet... go to the Final Four and win a National Championship.

In this incredible conversation we get Coach Tom Crean’s take on the impact of N.I.L. on collegiate athletics, and then go back to hear how he fell in love with the game of basketball, thanks in no small part to Coach Knight and his undefeated 1976 team. From there we learn about his rise through the coaching ranks, and what it was like to marry into one of the great coaching families in all of sports, the Harbaughs. At last we get to Bloomington, where Coach Crean took the helm of an utterly annihilated IU basketball team, facing the biggest rebuild ever attempted by a blue blood college program. Undaunted after three years of intense struggle, in year four he delivered the greatest moment ever witnessed by an Assembly Hall crowd... the immortal Wat Shot. That watershed season ended with 3 wins over top 5 opponents and a thrilling run to the Sweet Sixteen, capped by Tom Crean being named ESPN National Coach of the Year. Finally we arrive at the 2012-13 season when Coach Crean brought Indiana all the way back with a beloved squad including Cody Zeller, Victor Oladipo, Yogi Ferrell, Jordan Hulls, Christian Watford, Will Sheehey and Derek Elston. Together they spent ten weeks as the #1 team in the country, winning the Hoosiers first outright Big Ten championship in 20 years and earning a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney.

Indiana football has enjoyed success on the field, and it continues to build momentum on the recruiting trail. We discuss Tom Allen's summer with Matt Weaver.