Midwest Fastpitch - keeptheboardcorrect@gmail.com

Midwest Fastpitch - keeptheboardcorrect@gmail.com
[ Midwest Fastpitch - keeptheboardcorrect@gmail.com ]

Hoosiers

Posted by Parent on January 20, 2026, 10:48 am

What happened in football is unprecedented and unique to the portal / NIL era. This is entirely possible in softball for a fraction of the cost. It would be seriously cool to see a program have a two-year rocket ride to a championship. Someone needs to start a GoFundMe.

Re: Hoosiers

Posted by Texas Tech on January 20, 2026, 11:35 am, in reply to "Hoosiers"

Isn't that what they are trying to do?

Re: Hoosiers

Posted by am i mistaken? on January 20, 2026, 11:21 am, in reply to "Hoosiers"

Didn't Texas Tech and Nebraska prove this (to different degrees) last year?

Re: Hoosiers

Posted by Correction on January 20, 2026, 11:06 am, in reply to "Hoosiers"

IU didn’t become great because of NIL, though that will certainly help sustain it going forward.

Cignetti is an elite identifier of talent, player developer, and game day coach. When he arrived, he didn’t have anywhere near the level of resources (rev share or NIL) that the top of the Big Ten had - and he still doesn’t. (You can’t outspend OSU and Michigan.)

So, the lesson is about the importance of having a great coach, using the opportunity the portal gives you to quickly pivot your roster and then, over time, build a war chest that allows you to compete for 4 and 5 star players.

Congrats to IU.

Re: Hoosiers

Posted by Credit where credit Due on January 21, 2026, 8:15 am, in reply to "Re: Hoosiers"

Cignetti did use the portal but he also brought talented players from his time @ JMU. What makes this so undeniably amazing is the things he did with the talent he brought to the program. Pat Coogan left Notre Dame to be one of the only 4 or 5 star players on the roster. The rest of the roster were at best two to three star recruits. Both lines on either side of the ball were giving up size and 50 to 60 pounds to the majority of teams they played. This season was literally a David vs Goliath season. And it all came down to a bad throw by a quarterback that will likely be relegated to an afterthought in the years to come. If Beck hit that wide open receiver as he should have we aren’t even talking about the game now. Cignetti proved two things, one he is a great coach and two the top rated talent isn’t always what wins the day.

Re: Hoosiers

Posted by Don't forget about the pitcher on January 20, 2026, 10:58 pm, in reply to "Re: Hoosiers"

Having 2 of the elite pitchers in the country helps. Ninja and Jordy

Re: Hoosiers

Posted by @correction on January 20, 2026, 6:49 pm, in reply to "Re: Hoosiers"

I guy named Mark Cuban, an IU graduate contributes probably a lot more than anyone knows

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