This episode was recorded on Thursday, September 17th.

In this episode of The Assembly Call, Andy Bottoms, Ryan Phillips, and Brian Tonsoni break down Indiana’s newly released Big Ten schedule and debate whether it gives the Hoosiers a favorable path through conference play. They also discuss IU’s newest recruiting commitment and share early impressions of the football team.

The schedule appears manageable early, but the closing stretch is another story. The guys explore:

• Where Indiana has its best opportunity to build momentum

• The road games that may be tougher than they look

• Why playing the Big Ten’s best teams at home matters

• Whether IU can withstand a brutal finish

Also, Ryan offers an initial scouting report on Indiana’s new seven-foot commitment, while the crew considers what the addition says about the program’s recruiting strategy. They also touch on preseason Big Ten projections and strong starts across IU Athletics.

The show closes with early reactions to Indiana football’s 2–0 start, including Josh Hoover’s encouraging play and the questions that remain before conference competition begins.

It’s a great time to be a Hoosier. Brian Tonsoni is joined by Ryan Phillips and Bob Moats to break down Indiana basketball’s newly released non-conference schedule, sort through the latest eligibility questions, and get ready for the defending national champion football Hoosiers to open the 2026 season against North Texas.

• Sam Alexis’ eligibility remains unresolved, sparking a broader discussion about the NCAA, professional contracts, Summer League participation, and where college eligibility rules should ultimately draw the line.
• Victor Oladipo is attempting an NBA comeback, while a new documentary celebrates longtime Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer.
• Indiana volleyball earns a huge five-set victory over defending national champion Texas A&M, while IU men’s soccer continues its strong start.

The guys dig into a schedule featuring five power-conference opponents, including neutral-site matchups with Syracuse, Arkansas and Kentucky, plus home dates against UCF and Missouri. Add exhibitions against Butler, North Carolina and Western Kentucky, and IU will have plenty of opportunities to learn about itself before Big Ten play.

• Why the Arkansas-Kentucky back-to-back could provide an early measuring stick.
• How marquee games at Madison Square Garden and Lucas Oil can help Indiana build its NCAA Tournament résumé.
• Why the schedule feels appropriately ambitious for a veteran roster—and why the Big Ten alone can’t be counted on to provide enough quality opportunities.
• The overlooked value of games against teams like Bellarmine and Tennessee Tech, whose styles could give IU useful early-season tests even if they aren’t marquee opponents.
• And what would constitute a successful record in those five biggest non-conference games.

Finally, attention turns to Memorial Stadium as Curt Cignetti and the defending national champions begin another season. Expectations have changed dramatically: IU has reloaded, the entire home schedule is sold out, and simply getting to six wins feels like ancient history.

The guys discuss what to watch against North Texas, why nobody should overreact to the first game, and how football success is changing the entire Bloomington experience—from ticket demand and hotel prices to the atmosphere surrounding every home Saturday.

In this episode of The Assembly Call, Jerod Morris and Ryan Phillips take stock of where Indiana basketball stands in mid-August after the Peru trip, Sam Alexis’ return, and the first real glimpses of this rebuilt roster.

They dig into the reasons for cautious optimism, what this team’s identity could eventually become, and which questions still need to be answered before the games start counting.

• Why Sam Alexis’ return may matter more than a typical late-offseason roster addition—and what it changes about Indiana’s frontcourt options.
• What Bart Torvik’s early projections say about Indiana and a Big Ten that already looks brutally deep.
• The biggest lesson from Peru wasn’t any individual stat line, but what the roster suggested about how these pieces might fit together.
• What could define Indiana’s identity on both ends of the floor—and why this roster may offer Darren DeVries more ways to attack than he had a year ago.
• Which freshmen have raised expectations, which veterans may be getting overlooked, and how much we should really trust anything we see in August.
• A closer look at whether Indiana’s supposed depth is actually different this time—and why developing the back end of the rotation early could matter later.
• Does IU football’s incredible success take pressure off the basketball program… or quietly raise the standard for what fans will tolerate?

Jerod and Ryan also work through listener questions about pace, rotations, roster fit, player development, and how this group compares with some of the recent Indiana teams that looked promising on paper.

And with football season almost here, the show closes with some well-earned IU football talk, including what Ryan trusts most about the defending champs—and the biggest question he still has entering the season.

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