The Assembly Call

IU Basketball Podcast and Postgame Show

IU basketball podcast and postgame show

Aaron Shifron

Catching Up with Former IU Soccer Player Justin Rennicks

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Pure domination.

This is what IU’s Justin Rennicks experienced during his time with IU soccer.

During his two-year Hoosier tenure, Rennicks was on teams that went 38-4-7 and never lost a Big Ten game as part of a 27-game regular season unbeaten streak since late 2015. In addition, Rennicks was part of both a Big Ten regular season and tournament championship and two College Cup appearances.

Rennicks said he hopes next year’s team can keep the long conference unbeaten streak going and even without him the program is poised to keep getting strong results.

“That (Big Ten streak) is something I hope to pass on to all the new recruits,” Rennicks said. “We had a great year last year and I am sure we’ll have another great year this year.”

Rennicks, who came to IU as a highly ranked recruit in 2017, said the tradition was a big reason he picked the Hoosiers.

“I went on an official visit there and got my tour with (Hoosier head coach) Todd Yeagley,” he said. “I had a great time. I love the school and he took me to VIP places. It is an amazing school but it came down toward them having a great team and I wanted to go to a place that had a great coach and I thought Todd Yeagley was one of the best coaches in the NCAA.”

Rennicks, who scored 6 goals last year, saw his biggest moment as a Hoosier come late in his second season scoring a rebound goal against Michigan State to end Big Ten play undefeated and untied for the first time since 2002.

Rennicks, who immediately began celebrating by running and slapping his wrist, said this was a highlight of his career while wearing Cream and Crimson. He also said he had a reason for the unorthodox hitting of his arm.

“Definitely one of my best moments,” he said referring to that score. “The celebration was ‘ice in the veins’. I got a lot of questions about that. Scoring that goal to certify us going undefeated was great.”

Despite all of the success of the IU teams Rennicks was on, he never won the National Championship, even though the Hoosiers were right at the top of college soccer his entire career.

Rennicks said finishing on top is difficult and he hopes he can pick up a championship as a pro to make up for it.

“It’s tough not winning it but it’s a learning experience,” he said. “There will be more bigger titles coming up in my future life.”

After just two years at IU, Rennicks departed for professional soccer, signing a Homegrown Player Contract with the New England Revolution. While he has made the eighteen man active roster in every match so far, Rennicks has appeared in just two games and made one start tallying 106 minutes with three shots. Despite the minimal playing time so far he was named to the All Star Game for the Home Grown Team.

Rennicks said this year has been a learning experience and he is giving it all he can when given a chance.

“It’s been all over the place,” he said. “It’s been up and down, but when I am getting my minutes I am doing everything I can out there.”

Even though he does not have an official goal to his stats, Rennicks did score professionally in an exhibition match of the US Open Cup against Orlando FC on June 19. He said he was glad to have this tally to his name.

“It was a great goal,” he said. “I came in to make a difference and that’s what I did.”

Moving forward, Rennicks said he hopes to continue to get better and see increased playing time.

“Whatever is best for me,” he said. “Wherever I am, just the best position where I am getting minutes.”

Catching Up with Aaron Slegers

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Going to the College World Series is something only a select few college baseball players experience.

Former IU pitcher Aaron Slegers was one of these as a starter on the 2013 IU Baseball team that made it to Omaha. After injuries slowed Slegers down for the first two years of his Hoosier career, he emerged as a top starter that year.

Slegers said Omaha was a great experience and it was unique to be the first conference school in a while to make it.

“Being the first Big Ten team in a few decades to go that was really special,” Slegers said. “The support that it rallied around in Bloomington and across the state of Indiana was really something special.

The tall 6-10 righty was not the only pitcher to have a strong year as Joey Denato and Kyle Hart teamed with him to form the best staff in IU history. All 3 had ERAs between 2.04 and 3.01 in 2013 and were lead starters at some point in their Hoosier career.

Slegers said he was happy to be part of such a strong trio and that Denato and Hart made his job easy.

“No pressure on me because Joey and Kyle were established Big Ten starters,” he said. “I am glad I had some success that year.”

Before coming to IU, Slegers was recruited to be a Hoosier by former IU Coach Tracy Smith who gave him the chance he had hoped for.

“I love playing baseball and was looking for opportunities everywhere and Tracy Smith gave me that opportunity,” he said. “When (Tracy) called me and said he might have a roster spot for me it was the only opportunity I was ever looking for.”

At IU, Slegers saw the transition of his team from the old Sembower Field to Bart Kaufman Field and the rise in fan support during his tenure. He says he was proud to be part of the era that helped make IU baseball to what it is today and still has a sense of connection to the team.

“It is a big source of pride for me,” he said. “To be a part of that transition and to go back to IU and see what that baseball program has become and Indiana always feels like home.”

After his strong 2013 season, Slegers elected to forgo his senior season and was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round. After a strong start to his pro career and working his way up to the Twins by 2017, he was sent back down to Triple A where he continued to pitch solid with a 3.80 ERA in 2018.

However 2019 has seen struggles and multiple moves.

After being designated for assignment in January by the Twins, he was claimed by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In March, he was again designated for assignment by the Pirates and traded to the Tampa Bay Rays and put on their 40 man roster and sent to AAA affiliate the Durham Bulls. On May 16th he was again designated for assignment and reverted to the Durham Roster outright.

The 2019 season with the Bulls has been his toughest yet wth a 6.45 ERA in 19 appearances. Slegers said he is getting back to form in what has been the most trying season to date.

“It’s been a rough start,” he said. “Not what I expected obviously but I am making progress and turning in right direction lately.”

Returning this weekend though to the state he pitched in college to take on the Indianapolis Indians, Slegers said he was disappointed he did not get to throw but understands sometimes the rotation does not fall that way.

“You can’t control those things,” he said. “I would have liked to pitch here but it didn’t work out that way.”

More than anything though, Slegers said he hopes to get back to the Big Leagues and pitch again like the pitcher he knows he is capable of being.

“That’s always the goal to get back to the major leagues,” he said. “I am doing the best I can at it and trying to get better every single day.”

Femi Hollinger-Janzen Returns Home to Hoosier State

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Indianapolis-He’s part of the last team at IU to taste a National Championship.

Former Hoosier soccer star Femi Hollinger-Janzen returned to Indiana on Wednesday night with his Birmingham Legion FC team to face the Indy Eleven. However, before even getting to this point, it all started in 1993 when Femi was born in Benin, Africa.

After a rough early life that included a deformed leg and a jailed biological mother, Femi was adopted in 1999 by Lynda and Rod Hollinger-Janzen and one year later was brought to Goshen, Indiana by them. This is where his soccer career began that eventually led to IU.

After scoring 155 goals in high school the Hoosiers took notice.

“I attended the Indiana University Soccer Camp not really knowing who (IU coach) Todd Yeagley really was or what he looked like,” Hollinger-Janzen said. “My high school coach Hank Williams told me to go out there and play the best I can.”

This led to an IU offer where Femi would commit and have a standout career.

It all started his freshman season when the Hoosiers won the National title as a 16 seed getting hot after an up and down regular season. Hollinger-Janzen, who scored the game winning goal against the Creighton Blue Jays in the College Cup Semi-finals, said the team came together at the right time after the less successful then hoped season.

“Regular season obviously didn’t go as planned,” he said. “Then we got together as a team and we’re like ‘we’ve got to figure this out’, we went on that run and won the national championship. It was an exuberant feeling.”

For his four year career, Femi scored 22 goals playing both forward and midfield and had nothing but positive things to say about his time as a Hoosier.

“I loved my time at IU,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade it for any other four years anywhere else.”

Hollinger-Janzen then graduated and in early 2016 was taken by the MLS’ New England Revolution where he had a three year career making 32 appearances and scoring two goals. This has led up to this year, where Femi signed with the USL’s Birmingham Legion. Here he has played in 11 of 16 games with seven starts in 690 minutes.

Back in his home state in Indianapolis, he was brought in as a sub off the bench in the 56th minute where his team lost 3-0. Hollinger-Janzen said he was happy to provide energy when entering the game.

“Coming off the bench we were down 2-0 so I just wanted to bring a spark,” he said. “Also on the defensive end be sound back there and cover that outside winger.”

Hollinger-Janzen, who played both forward and midfield in his career at IU, said he is happy to cover whatever position is needed moving forward and enjoys being versatile.

“Being flexible is really important,” he said. “Being able to bring both sides to your team and help them out that way.”

Kyle Hart Returns to Indiana

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Indianapolis, Indiana

♬ Back home again … in Indiana ♬

Although this is a song used before the Indianapolis 500, former Hoosier pitcher Kyle Hart very much felt it on Friday night.

Appearing back in the state where he played college baseball for the first time since donning the Cream and Crimson, the left handed pitcher was dominant in a 4-2 win over the Indianapolis Indians at Victory Field.

After a rough start in the first inning, allowing three hits and two runs, Hart proceeded to completely shut down the Indians lineup the last six innings he pitched. He allowed just two hits and faced the minimum number of batters possible after the rough opening frame. His final line was seven innings, five hits, two runs, and five strikeouts.

Hart said he has always been a slow starter, even as a Hoosier, before settling in.

“I felt like coming out in the first inning, even going back to the college days, I’ve had some trouble coming out of the gate,” Hart said. “As we went I made some adjustments mechanically and started to get the ball down in the zone and the rest took care of itself.”

Hart also said pitching close to his hometown of Cincinnati was special and the first time people close to him got to see him throw.

“Your family, your friends are all here,” he said. “In Pawtucket everything’s just so far up there that a lot of your family and friends have never seen me pitch before. For them to get down here and support me was awesome.”

For Hart to get to where he is today, it all started back as a prospective Hoosier recruit prior to 2012. Back then his good friend and current Cubs star Kyle Schwarber had already committed to Indiana. Schwarber used this opportunity to push his companion to come with him.

“I ended up at IU because of Schwarber,” he said. “He had a lot to do with encouraging me to not only take a look at IU but seriously consider it. I was pretty much getting badgered by Schwarber every night ‘when are you gonna commit’. I just woke up one morning at a summer ball tournament and called (former Hoosier Coach) Tracy (Smith) and said I’m gonna play for you.”

This turned out to work out for Schwarber, Hart, and the rest of the Hoosiers as their time at IU raised the program to new heights. Both came to IU in 2012 where Smith was just turning around decades of mediocrity. This class has since cemented the Cream and Crimson as a regular postseason team, making the NCAA tournament six times in seven years since 2013, after just two prior appearances in school history.

Hart was a big part of this as a regular weekend starter from the get go in 2012. During that season he posted a 3.21 ERA which was the best among starters and third best on the team. This would help IU to a second place Big Ten finish and the Conference tourney final against Purdue where the Hoosiers would lose a close game to end the season.

This would lead to the breakthrough in 2013 and what to this day remains the best team in IU history with the opening of a brand new Bart Kaufman field.

Hart said while he realized immediately how much better the new stadium was from the Old Sembower Field, he did not comprehend just yet what the team was becoming.

“I remember practicing on Bart Kaufman when it was still being built and I was like ‘man this place is really nice’,” he said. “For us it was something that once I left IU, that’s when I truly realized what we had transitioned into.”

Playing in the new park, IU amassed a program record 49 wins, a Big Ten regular season and tournament title, as well as the school’s first ever appearance in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska after hosting the school’s first ever NCAA Regional.

This dominant team included a pitching staff led by IU greats Aaron Slegers, Joey Denato, and Hart himself who produced ERA’s of 2.04, 2.52 and 3.01 respectively. This led to a team ERA of just 2.64.

However, Hart was quick to credit the offense which was led by Schwarber and produced a team batting average of .301.

“Try not to give up seven or eight runs and you’re probably going to win the game,” he said. “We were just so good offensively you just had to keep the other team at bay.”

While IU did not return to Omaha, the rest of Hart’s career saw a lot of success. While he was out injured most of 2014, IU still produced another Big Ten regular season and tournament title and a second straight NCAA Regional at home.

Hart would return from injury midway through 2015 and lead the staff with a 1.21 ERA. This led IU to yet another NCAA Regional appearance where he pitched a dominant game in the opener in a 7-1 win over Radford. His senior year, he pitched full time again and was part of yet another high powered staff, where this time he anchored the Friday night role with a 3.29 ERA leading the team to a third place finish in the Big Ten.

After completing his eligibility in 2016, Hart was selected in the 19th round by the Boston Red Sox. Since that time, he has worked his way through Boston’s minor league teams, beginning in rookie ball with the GLC Red Sox. As of now he is at Triple A Pawtucket one step before the Major Leagues. Overall in his minor League career, he has a solid 2.93 ERA as he has moved up through the farm system.

Hart said he will keep playing his hardest where he is, but thinks he has the talent to play on the Red Sox once he is taught more in Triple A.

“I am just going to keep doing my best here,” he said. “Whether I’ll have an opportunity to play in the Big Leagues I don’t know. I really hope so. I think that I have the ability to become a big league pitcher but I feel like I still have a lot to learn.”