Indiana football announces Big Ten Media Day representatives

As fall camp approaches, Big Ten Media Day is right around the corner. On Wednesday, the Indiana football program announced its three player representatives that will take part later this month.

The players include linebacker Aaron Casey, running back Jaylin Lucas and defensive back Noah Pierre.

Big Ten Media Days take place Wednesday and Thursday, July 26-27 in Indianapolis. Indiana will have its media day on Thursday.

Aaron Casey led Indiana last season with 86 tackles. That was 12 more than any other player on the Indiana football roster. Indiana lost nine of its top 10 leading tacklers from a season ago. Casey is the lone returner.

He also added 10.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

“He can process … Then he has athleticism to play in space and he’s got physicality to play in the box,” IU defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri said earlier this spring. “So to me, if you can do those things at linebacker, you check all the boxes.”

Lucas comes into the 2023 season after totaling 591 kick return yards last season. He averaged 28.1 yards per return which ranked No. 4 nationally.

He added 271 rushing yards and 82 yards receiving to total 994 total all-purpose yards on the season. He was named a Preseason Walter Camp All-American.

The speedster has been terrific already this offseason, having numerous standout plays in spring practice.

“He had two of the greatest runs I’ve seen in my life. It’s a shame they were behind closed doors,” IU offensive coordinator Walt Bell said. “He’s done a great job mentally of doing the things we need him to do … He’s playing all over the field … he’s now really become a true multi-purpose tool. We still have to continue to evolve and develop those tools, but if he gets it — enough time, we will be in every game … he was just making a lot of people miss, fall down. He has a really special gift and one of the better ball in hand players I’ve been around.”

Pierre returns to Indiana after totaling 39 tackles last season. He also added three sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He looks to be the leader in the secondary after IU lost a lot of its production from the past few years.

“(I’m trying to) push the younger guys to the best of their ability, making them believe in what we really have going onThursday. For the younger guys, they haven’t really seen the success in the past that we had.”

The Indiana football program went 4-8 last season. In the past two years, it has combined for a 6-18 record.

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