Every July, Query & Schultz catch up with former prominent Indianapolis and/or Indiana athletes, coaches, and influential figures in their "Catching Up With" series! Hear those players, coaches, and other luminaries look back on their time in Indiana, share personal stories from inside and outside the locker room, and get you up-to-date on what they're doing now.
When talking about the biggest shots in Pacers' history, Travis Best's game-winner in 2000 doesn't get mentioned enough. The diminutive guard saved the Pacers from a disastrous first round series loss to the Bucks with his last-minute three-pointer, and Indiana went on to their only ever NBA Finals appearance that same summer. Best talked about that shot, his icy relationship with Isiah Thomas which led to a trade demand, members of his family making their home in Indianapolis, and a cameo in the 1990s film "He Got Game".
Indiana University has had a long list of great running backs, and although he's rarely mentioned, Levron Williams absolutely belongs on that list. The Evansville Bosse star formed a dynamic offensive duo with Antwaan Randle-El, accruing 4,000+ total yards in his time in Bloomington. The former Hoosier talked about his football life - how he ended up at IU, that six-touchdown afternoon in Wisconsin (still a school record), Cam Cameron's interesting personnel decisions, etc. But, most importantly of all, how he was able to cope with and overcome the tragic murder of his mother at right at the end of his senior season.
Everyone knows about Purdue's heralded Cradle of Quarterbacks, but just how far back does that tradition go? Samuels, the oldest living member of the elite signal-calling fraternity, first stepped onto campus in West Lafayette in 1949. The second member of theCradle of Quarterbacks- the late Bob DeMoss, Samuels' quarterback coach, was the first (1945-48) - talked about how he ended up at Purdue, the Boilers' epic upset of #1 Notre Dame which ended the Irish's 39-game winning streak in 1950, and how he still remains a Boilermaker fan today.
Most of our Catching Up With guests played sports, but Marc Summers never did. Growing up on the northside of Indy, Summers wanted to be a magician or stand-up comic, but a random audition with Nickelodeon resulted in the "Double Dare" hosting gig and a 40+ year television career. He talked about his path from Indy magician/comic to Double Dare/Food Network host, and what his hometown still means to him today.
The Northwest High School standout left the state to become a star at Memphis under John Calipari and an NBA First Round draft pick. Although his NBA career was short-lived, he's played professionally all over the globe. He talked about his extensive travels - Query grilled him on basically every country he's played in - and why Indiana is still home.
Chappell was the first athlete Schultz was "paid" to see at Bloomington South HS in 2005. The Hoosiers' third all-time leading passer's five-year tenure at Indiana saw the tragic passing of Terry Hoeppner, the hiring and firing of Bill Lynch, and the rise and fall of trouble talent Kellen Lewis. He talked about all of that, plus gave us an update on his life after football in Denver.
The Carmel native led Purdue to one of the best three-year runs in school history (1978-80) and left as the NCAA's all-time passing leader, but it was mostly dysfunction and frustration when he played in two separate stints with hapless Colts.
Unlike every one of our previous "Catching Up With" guests, Douglas has no Indiana ties, but the man who stunned undefeated Mike Tyson in 1990, is back in his hometown of nearby Columbus, Ohio, teaching kids the sport he loves. Buster talked about the high highs and lowest lows of his professional career and the fulfillment of working with youth. Oh, and he also made Query a promise about meeting up later this month when Jake is in Ohio with the IndyCar series.
A.J. Moye never made an All-American or All-Big Ten team, but you'd be hard pressed to find a more beloved Hoosier sports figure in the 21st century. The diminutive forward (yes, he actually played forward) looked back back on his time in Bloomington, going in-depth on where his relationship with Mike Davis soured - he said it's non-existent today, and also discussed how bullish he was on Archie Miller and the program's future.
Bräck won the Indianapolis 500 during an era when many fans feel like the victory was cheapened - it was post-split and when Ganassi and Penske drivers weren't involved - but that doesn't bother the former series champion. He looked back on that 1999 win, his current dealings with his own rock band, and discussed surviving one of the worst crashes in IndyCar history in 2003.
The Terre Haute native may be this state's most overlooked basketball star. Three All-American nods at Purdue, three NBA All-Star Games, and an an Olympic Gold Medal in 1960, playing alongside Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson and Jerry West (that squad was inducted into Springfield together in 2010) are among the laundry list of basketball accomplishments for Terry Dischinger. However, amazingly enough, he's just as decorated as a renowned orthodontist in Oregon, a place he's called home since retiring with the Trailblazers in 1973.
The former Cathedral star and two-time Indiana state champion's family/personal story is even more compelling than his athletic endeavors. Kiwanuka chronicled his family history, which included his grandfather becoming the first prime minister of Uganada. However, tragedy struck as he was assassinated by brutal dictator Idi Amin, and Kiwanuka's parents fled to Indianapolis to raise Mathias and his siblings. His mother worked three or four shifts to afford to send him to Cathedral, where his play led to an All-American tenure at BC and two Super Bowl rings during a nine-year NFL career with the Giants. Oh, and did we mention he saved his brother's life following a horrific motorcycle accident?
Indiana's last conference player of the year, White took home the honor after a terrific individual senior season, but the 2007-08 campaign is better remembered for the fallout of the Kelvin Sampson era amid NCAA rules violations. In fact, White's time at IU was mired by two different coaching stints coming to an end (Mike Davis resigned after his sophomore season) and three total coaches in four years, with interim coach Dan Dakich overseeing his final games as a senior. The former All-American looked back on his tumultuous time at IU, the off-court troubles that plagued some of his teammates, and how his pro basketball life is going overseas in Turkey.
From the outside looking in, a decade-plus NFL career should be a dream come true. However, for Jeff Herrod, certain aspects of his life today have become a bit of a nightmare. The linebacker, who spent ten of his eleven NFL seasons in Indianapolis (1988-98) to talk about some of the negative after-effects of his long football career - twenty (!) surgeries, physical limitations, constant therapy, etc. - that come with putting your body on the line for all of those years.
Nored didn't have the college or pro career that Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack did, but his impact on Butler's back-to-back Final Four teams was huge. The two-time Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year looked back on his time as a Bulldog, but more importantly, speak about his promising career as a coach. Despite being just 28 years old, Nored has coached at every level - high school, college, G-League, and now NBA - and is looking to take advantage of his most-recent opportunity in Charlotte.
After Kelvin Sampson's cell phone scandal and the serious NCAA fallout in the Spring of 2008, it would've been easy for Tom Pritchard to get out of his letter or intent and go elsewhere to play college basketball. Instead, the Cleveland product stuck with it, and after dealing with three tough rebuilding years from 2008-11, was rewarded with the team's breakthrough campaign as a senior in 2012. Pritchard looked back on that memorable senior season for the Hoosiers, his decision to stick with Indiana, and after a brief stint working for the Pacers, what he's doing back in Ohio now.
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Hear our past Catching Up With interviews here...
2017 Catching Up With: Jim Mora, Seth Morales, Matt Howard, Ray Buchanan, Mark Patrick, Fred Jones, Buddy Rice, Curtis Painter, Bob Kevoian, Lyndon Jones, Freddie Lewis, Herb Williams, Kyle Taber, Gary Brackett, Willie Deane, Greg Graham.
2016 Catching Up With: Vinny Sutherland, Delray Brooks, Clarence Verdin, Dale Davis, A.J. Graves, Roosevelt Potts, David Teague, Roberto Guerrero, Ricky Calloway, Chad Austin, Billy Knight, Kirk Haston
2015 Catching Up With: Chandler Thompson, Bill Mallory, James Banks, Bill Brooks, Purdue's "Three Amigos" (Troy Lewis, Todd Mitchell, Everette Stephens), Tom Coverdale, Joe Tiller, Steve Stipanovich, Razor Shines, Raheem Brock, Sen. Richard Lugar, Rylan Hainje, George McGinnis, Jeff George, Marco Killingsworth, Jeff Foster, Jeff Saturday, Chris Kramer, Dean Garrett