Football Friday: Weekly Notes & Quotes on What's Up at Indiana
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Welcome to our first installment of "Football Friday, where we'll take a quick look at three items in and around Indiana football every week. We'll have fun with it, opine a bit and get to voices from outside the program to give us some perspective as well.
This first week, we've got the perfect opportunity to do just that. When I was down in Mobile, Ala., in February covering Indiana's baseball team, I got to spend a nice, long weekend with the fine folks at the University of South Alabama. And with Indiana getting a commitment from tight end Khameron Taylor — a grad transfer from South Alabama — this week, it was a perfect time to dial up J.D. Byars, the voice of the Jaguars.
He had a lot to say about Taylor, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound tight end who's got one year of eligibility left. And the best way to sum up the kid? Byars said he's a perfect fit for Indiana — on and off the field.
"He's the most polite, selfless team player I've ever been around,'' said Byars, South Alabama's Director of Broadcasting. "He doesn't say a lot, but he does his job and he works hard.
"He's just a really good kid, with the type of personality you like having around. We're certainly sad to see him go, but I'm also glad that he's getting this nice opportunity at Indiana.''
Let's hear more from Byars on Taylor, catch up quickly with 2020 signee Luke Wiginton and laugh a bit at Stevie Scott's virtual moment of greatness.
1. Meet tight end Khameron Taylor
Byars said that Taylor is a great blocking tight end, which you might expect with that great size (6-4, 270 pounds). "He can put his hand on the ground and move people,'' Byars said. "And he was also very effective as something of a super back when they loaded up the backfield in short yardage situations.''
That's good to hear, especially since Indiana struggled in short-yardage situations a year ago, at least early in the year. South Alabama has produced several NFL tight ends lately, most notably Gerald Everett, who was a second-round choice of the Los Angeles Rams. They are well-coached in Mobile, he said, so Taylor should be able to hit the ground running at Indiana.
"He's sneaky effective in the passing game, too,'' Byars said. "He's got that size, which is great, and he's a good decoy a lot of times because he really does look like a lineman. But he runs good routes, he's got good hands and he's really smart. He makes good reads.''
Byars knows the type of kids that Indiana likes, and is well aware of the culture in Bloomington because Indiana defensive coordinator Kane Wommack used to coach at South Alabama.
That LEO mantra is all about recruiting good kids, and Byars said the Hoosiers are getting exactly that in Taylor.
"I can tell you a good story about how important good character is to Kane,'' Byars said. "One time, I had mentioned to him that this kid from my hometown area who was at Alabama was looking to transfer and that he should look into him. Right there, he told me about why the kid was looking to transfer and why Ole Miss (where Wommack's father was coaching) wouldn't touch him and why we wouldn't touch him either at South Alabama.
"Character matters to Kane, I know that. He wants good moral character in his players and they get that with Khameron Taylor. People at Indiana, they're going to like him.'
Former South Alabama tight end Khameron Taylor is coming to Indiana as a graduate transfer. (Photo courtesy University of South Alabama)
2. Luke Wiginton abbreviated start
Almost half of Indiana's 2020 recruiting class arrived on campus in January to get a head start on things, but this pandemic has turned their first semester in Bloomington upside down.
It's been that way for Luke Wiginton, a promising offensive lineman from Fort Wayne. He and his teammates only got four spring practices in before he had to head for home. Justin Prince of WFFT-TV in Fort Wayne caught up with the 6-foot-5 lineman, who said he's put on about 25 pounds in the weight room since coming to Indiana.
"The energy that's going in in Bloomington, It's just been incredible,'' Wigginton told Prince. "The older guys have been great. I'm learning still and picking up on the plays. I was really happy down there and I'm making a lot of good friends.
"It is what it is (the pandemic). You've just got to make lemonade out of lemons and focus on just getting better.''
3. Stevie Scott's brush with greatness, sort of
Indiana running back Stevie Scott has had two great years so far at Indiana. He gained 1,137 yards as a freshman and would have gone over a thousand again last year if he hadn't injured an ankle late in the year. He finished with 845.
Indiana's social media account had some fun with him, taking a clip from the much-acclaimed recent Michael Jordan documentary and working Scott — and legendary Indiana radio voice Don Fischer — into a funny Twitter moment.
It's a must-see.
Related stories on Indiana football
- A TOP-25 TEAM?: Indiana isn't in most preseason top-25 college football polls, but should they be? Sports Illustrated Indiana publisher Tom Brew has his take on what it all means. CLICK HERE
- BACK TO CAMPUS: The NCAA has lifted its ban on athletes being on campus, effective June 1. But they'll be coming back to something completely different, with unprecedented safety measures in place. CLICK HERE
- NO MEDIA DAYS: The Big Ten has postponed its popular Big Ten Media Days gathering in Chicago in July because of the pandemic. CLICK HERE
