The day after Indiana sprint coach Coley Stickels was announced as the new head coach at the University of Alabama, one of the school’s top sprinters entered the NCAA transfers portal.
All-American Morgan Scott will transfer after one season with the Hoosiers. She told SwimSwam on Wednesday that she would head home to Pennsylvania for the summer while she figured out her next move.
As a freshman last season, Scott earned Big Ten titles as the leadoff leg on Indiana’s 200 medley and 400 medley relays. She was actually the fastest leadoff at the Big Ten Championships on the 400 medley with a 52.21 backstroke leg and the 2nd-fastest on the 200 medley with a 24.21 backstroke leg.
*In both races, the fastest 100 yard backstroker in history, Beata Nelson, swam the butterfly legs for Wisconsin.
Individually, Scott finished 4th in the 100 free at Big Tens (48.84), 6th in the 100 back (52.33), and 7th in the 200 free (1:45.84). She wound up swimming only the 100 backstroke individually at the NCAA Championships, scratching the other 2 races. She also swam 3 relays at NCAAs.
With the loss of Scott, Indiana will be without the front 3 legs of its medley relays from last season: the country’s best breaststroker Lilly King graduated, as did Indiana’s top butterflier Christie Jensen. Medley anchor Shelby Koontz was only a junior last season. The Indiana 400 medley relay was the NCAA runner-up last year, while the 200 medley relay placed 4th.
Scott also swam on the prelims 400 free relay, which she led off in 49.26. That relay finished 21st to miss an evening swim, and it too will lose 3 swimmers (Scott, Jensen, and Bailey Andison, who is also out of eligibility).
The Hoosiers will reload their sprint group next season, with Alexis Doherty (23.05/50.79), Ashley Turak (22.10/48.72), Cora Dupre (22.46/48.96), and Grace Pangburn (23.34/51.07) all committed to Indiana in the class of 2019. They will, however, be without both sprint coaches after both Stickels and his sprint assistant Kirk Grand left the program in the last month.
Proof that one year of stability gives way to the long history of vast defectors from IU’s program for a decade.
Won’t they want to sprint for Jonty?
Arizona State is now on the clock…
Indiana is a revolving door
Agree but no studs are leaving?!?
From what I’ve heard and witnessed on my recruiting trip there (albeit over a decade ago), the studs get all of the coaches’ attention. If you aren’t a star, the coaches don’t really care about you. IU also carries relatively large rosters–34 women and 39 men for the 2018-19 season, so it’s probably pretty easy to get lost in the shuffle.
That’s how it should be in D1 athletics. Coaches don’t get to keep their jobs Bc the 20th best athlete got a best time. They keep their jobs scoring at NCAA’s. If you want more attention, get faster or go to a school where you can be competitive. There are lots of options and teams that in sure you could swim for besides IU.
My comment did not imply that there is anything wrong with operating a team that way. Clearly it works well at IU, but that may be why people are transferring (which is the topic of this story).
I trained in the breaststroke group one summer with Ray, and he gave me almost as much time as he did Cody. I was trying to make my breast passable for a 400 IM, and he got me there in one summer. I started out slower than the women, and went a lifetime best 100 breast in practice. Ray is quirky and kind of odd when he’s trying to be inspirational. Other than that, I have no complaints about Ray. I was fighting for a travel spot my senior year and barely made the Big Ten squad, so it’s not like I was a stud.
Good to hear! I’m glad I was wrong.
Lightning rods in swimming
1) ray looze
2) texas diving
3) nc state fast boys
has anyone ever made any kind of more deep dive in transferring? seems that most of the comments are more subjective and axes are grinded when there is not that much of facts …
You forgot Teri McKeever.
And University of Arizona since 2010
Despite having a great coaching staff, I haven’t heard much good about the culture of the Indiana team, and the amount of transfers seems to be reflecting that
If the culture is not good though, what does that really say about the coaching staff? Culture is always top to bottom.
Agree 100%
We don’t know the whole story. Remember Hannah Foster…
turned out to be academic related.
She already knows where she’s going. It’s not Bama. Bank on it.
right cue, Indiana keeps up with the transfers…
Why are they leaving
*cough cough* Ray Looze *cough cough*
A child on the team might be awkward. Some parents are great coaches. Some fail.
Sorry awkward…college is about inclusiveness part of the coaching job
Can someone elaborate what makes Ray so difficult to deal with?
I would like to hear concrete first hand experiences not
“I heard…” The negativity on this site astounds me. We would not appreciate someone doing this to us.
As a concrete first hand experience swimming for Ray and Indiana was very tough, rewarding, and easily one of the best decisions I ever made. Wouldn’t be the person I am today without him, the staff, and IU.
He’s very very difficult! I’ll leave it at that.
Definitely!