Hunter Tickel: GRAY & BLUE VIEW: Five former Sycamores enshrined in Hall of Fame
Feb. 9—The Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame has expanded by five members.
At every level, covering this prestigious honor is a moment I'm humbled to witness.
I've only been in Terre Haute covering the Sycamores for a month, but I feel like I'm being quickly being brought up to speed.
That's what makes discussing the legacy from this fabulous five part the reason why I came to this campus and this beat.
The likes of Mike Blackwell, Jake Odum, Lauren Podolski, Royce Waltman and Amy Cohee make up the 2022 enshrinement.
Blackwell was a two-sport athlete on the gridiron and the diamond. The Vigo County native returned punts and recorded four interceptions in football from 1969 to 1970.
His contributions to the athletic department ensued after graduating in 1971.
The former Sycamore baseball player and his wife, Mary, established a baseball scholarship and made significant financial contributions to the renovation of the newly named Bob Warn Field in 2009.
Lastly, the Blackwells were major donors for the Mike & Mary Blackwell Sports Performance Center, which was a 10,000-square-foot facility that was up and running in the summer of 2017.
The late Waltman, who passed away from cancer in 2014 after a lengthy battle, outside of Larry "Legend" Bird, might be the most influential name in Sycamore hoops folklore.
He brought ISU back to the Big Dance for the first time post Bird, as a coach in 2000. In the team's second tourney, he guided the 13-seeded Sycamores to an upset of No. 4-seeded Oklahoma.
The Sycamores have only been dancing once since then, making him the only coach to earn two NCAA tourney bids. His 134 wins is second on the charts, and he coached seven all-Missouri Valley Conference players.
Waltman played for Slippery Rock in Pennsylvania and Pittsburg before he was an assistant at Indiana and head coach at DePauw and ISU, sandwiched between Indianapolis' stints.
My first day in the practice gym was on Tuesday, and I saw quotes from him and Bird quoted on the gym walls — the words of ISU icons.
Odum (2014) is the most recent grad. The two-time first team all-conference player was a part of the 2011 team that won the school's last Valley tourney.
He eclipsed 1,500 career points while leading the team in scoring as a junior and senior. He spent time as a grad assistant at ISU and currently coaches at Coffeyville Community College.
Podolski (2007) was a trailblazer on the soccer pitch. She burst onto the scene when the program was getting off the ground.
She left with three first team all-conference nods. She bagged 25 goals and set up 20 goals to set the program bar.
I'm stoked to cover college soccer, a sport I know a couple of things about, and see the direction of Year 23 of the beautiful game on campus.
Cohee (1995) paved the way for the school's first MVC cross county team title and long distance track runner with a laundry list of accolades.
She was an all-centennial MVC with competition, dating back to 1983.
She finished with seven conference titles across the two sports.
Hunter Tickel can be reached at hunter.tickel@tribstar.com or 812-231-4272 or on Twitter: @byhuntertickel.
