Category: SportsNews

Normal – Illinois State announced the hiring of new head men’s basketball coach Dan Muller on Tuesday afternoon. Athletic Director Gary Friedman made the announcement inside of Redbird Arena in front of a crowd filled with media and fans. Muller becomes the 19th men’s basketball coach in ISU history.

The 37-year-old Muller returns to his old-college stomping grounds where he played for the Redbids from 1994-98. He had a great career for the ‘Birds, scoring more than 1,400 points, earning the MVC Defensive Player of the Year twice and helped lead ISU to two MVC championships. He currently ranks no. 10 in career scoring at ISU with 1,445 points. In 2009 Muller was inducted into the Illinois State Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame.

Prior to being named head coach of ISU, Muller spent 12 years with Vanderbilt as an assistant under head coach, and former ISU head coach, Kevin Stallings. Since 2006 Muller held the responsibility of  recruiting coordinator for Vanderbilt and the school has seen some of the highest rated recruiting classes in it’s history. Muller was regarded as one of the top assistant coaches in the country.

It only took Friedman two weeks to fill the coaching vacancy left by Tim Jankovich, who left to take the coach in waiting job at Southern Methodist on Aug. 26.

Friedman said, “After talking with several basketball people across the country it was evident that Dan was the complete package, in terms of academics, recruiting, evaluation, player development, in-game coaching and game preparation. He also brings a strong coaching pedigree and a love for this institution and program. We are thrilled to have Dan back home to lead our men’s basketball program.”

Muller agreed to a five-year contract with a salary of $375,000 per year.

“It is an honor to be here today,” Muller said. “It’s good to be home. This is the ideal situation for me.”

Muller stressed winning championships, recruiting and graduating talented players and scheduling.

“We want to have an RPI that would put us in position for an at-large bid if we don’t win the league tournament,” he said. “We want to bring in opponents to Redbird that fans can be excited about and to go places where our student-athletes can have great experiences.”

ISU’s non-conference schedule has been among the weakest in the MVC under Jankovich. With games still needing to be scheduled for the 2012-13 season, Muller will have a chance to immediately come through on his promise.

Although Muller didn’t go into detail on what kind of  playing style he will implement, he did say they will run a “winning system.”

ISU will be returning all their players from a team that came up short in the MVC championship game last year. So, the expectations for next season are high and winning a Valley championship and heading to the NCAA tournament will be part of these expectations. Muller seems to be fully aware and prepared to fulfill these expectations.

NORMAL-Former Illinois State University basketball star Dan Muller will be introduced Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Redbird Arena as the new head basketball coach.

Muller played for the Redbirds from 1995-98 and will fill the vacant position left by Tim Jankovich, who took a position with Southern Methodist University. Muller has served as an assistant coach for Kevin Stallings, who coached Muller at ISU, the past 12 seasons. The last time ISU made the NCAA basketball tournament was 1998, Muller’s senior season.

The press conference on Tuesday will be open to the public.

It was announced Thursday that Illinois State Head Coach Tim Jankovich will be leaving the Redbirds for Southern Methodist University to become the coach-in-waiting behind Larry Brown.  Before Jank’ left 103.3 WZND’s The Red Zone talked about the former Redbird leader.

Make sure to tune into this year’s last The Red Zone this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on 103.3 WZND.

NORMAL- ESPN is reporting that head Illinois State basketball coach Tim Jankovich has accepted the head coach-in-waiting position under Larry Brown at Southern Methodist University.

The deal is worth around $700,000 per year and there is no timetable for Jankovich taking over the head coaching position, according to the report. ISU and Jankovich have yet to release a statement, but a press conference is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

This story will be updated as details emerge. Tune into 103.3 FM for more coverage.

Chicago — Former Illinois State standout defensive back Kelvyn Hemphill will rejoin the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League for the 2012 season, as announced by the organization Tuesday. Hemphill suited up for the Rush in four games in 2011, recording 19 tackles and an interception.

Hemphill joins former Redbird teammate and current Rush quarterback Luke Drone and former Redbird defensive lineman Xzavier Stewart on the roster for the Rush. Hemphill, who is currently pursuing his master’s degree in sport management at Illinois State, will join the team following the completion of the Spring semester.

A four-year letterwinner at Illinois State, Hemphill played in 42 career games with 36 starting assignments for the Redbirds. He collected 263 tackles during his four-year career, which ranks him 16^th on the all time list at ISU, and his 165 career unassisted tackles rank him 13^th on the all-time list. In 2009, he was tabbed as an All-Missouri Valley football Conference Second Team selection and was an honorable mention selection in 2008.

The Rush are currently 4-1 on the season and lead the Central Division of the National Conference. They return to the field Saturday, April 21, for a home game against the Milwaukee Mustangs at the Allstate Arena.

103.3 WZND’s Joe Brand got a chance to talk to former Illinois State quarterback Luke Drone.  Here’s what he had to say about his memories from Redbird Football on WZND’s The Red Zone.

Make sure to tune in every Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. for WZND’s The Red Zone.

Joe Brand, Andy Rzeczkowski, and Zach Bernard broke down their prediction of the MLB standings in honor of Opening Day on Thursday.  Here’s what they had to say on WZND’s The Red Zone.

AL

East (Zach)

1. Rays
2. Yankees
3. Blue Jays
4. Red Sox
5. Orioles

Central (Andy)

1. Tigers
2. Twins
3. White Sox
4. Indians
5. Royals

West (Joe)

1. Angels
2. Rangers
3. Athletics
4. Mariners

NL

East (Zach)

1. Phillies
2. Braves
3. Marlins
4. Nationals
5. Mets

Central (Joe)

1. Cardinals
2. Reds
3. Brewers
4. Cubs
5. Pirates
6. Astros

West (Andy)

1. Diamondbacks
2. Giants
3. Dodgers
4. Padres
5. Rockies

Tonight the two winningest college-basketball programs, Kansas and Kentucky, will collide together to play each other for the National Championship.

From a coaching perspective, this is a rematch of the 2008 national championship game. Kansas coach Bill Self was the victor over, then Memphis coach, John Calipari in a thrilling 75-68 overtime victory to collect his first national championship. That game saw, Chicao native, Mario Chalmers hit a game-tying three to send the game in to OT. It also featured Chicago’s Derrick Rose missing key free throws late and allowing Chalmers and the Jay-Hawks to stay alive and eventually win the game.

Now with Kentucky, Calipari will look to redeem himself and lead his highly favored Wildcats to their first national championship in over 14 years. Freshman-phenom Anthony Davis, another Chicago native, will look to finish his terrific season and award filled year with the biggest award of them all, a national title.

This much anticipated match-up between Kansas and Kentucky will tip-off at 8:23 p.m.

On Thursday’s The Red Zone Joe Brand, Sean Tipton, and Kevin Powell wrapped up the Redbird Basketball season one last time for the year on WZND.

Make sure to tune into 103.3 WZND every Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. for The Red Zone.

Multiple sources are reporting that New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton has been suspended for the 2012 NFL season because of bounties placed on opposing quarterbacks. Former Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams was suspended indefinitely and will be re-evaluated after the season. The Saints have also been fined $500,000 and will forfeit their second-round pick this year and next year. General Manager Mickey Loomis received an eight-game suspension and Assistant Coach Joe Vitt received a six-game suspension. Payton’s suspension goes into effect on April 1.