INDIANA STATE FOOTBALL ALUMNI NEWSLETTER NO. 15

INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL ALUMNI NEWSLETTER
Volume One, Number Fifteen
May 22, 2008
Editor: Tom James, TJames1475@aol.com
ISU Football Alumni Blog Page: http://isufootballalumni.blogspot.com/

INDIANA STATE ANNOUNCES/DISPLAYS NEW UNIFORMS AND HELMET DESIGNS FOR 2008

Check out the new look for Sycamore football uniforms (both home and away) as well as Indiana State Head Coach Trent Miles displaying the new look helmet. In case you can't read the writing over the numbers, it says Indiana State. Sort of a throwback to the type of jerseys worn by ISU players back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The Sycamores' new attire will be on display for the first time in the season opener on August 28 at Eastern Michigan.

SYCAMORES HONORED BY THE GATEWAY CONFERENCE

A pair of Indiana State football seniors, Chris Alexander and Bryan McCulley, highlight at total of 25 Sycamore student-athletes who earned academic honors from the Gateway Footall Conference for their performance in the classroom.The President’s Council Academic Excellence Award requires a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average (through fall 2007 semester), participation in athletics a minimum of two years, and the student-athlete must be within 18 hours of graduation. Receiving this honor for Indiana State were Chris Alexander as well as Bryan McCulley. The Sycamore duo were two of just nine student-athletes league-wide to earn the honor.Also, 61 student-athletes received the league’s Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award. That requires a minimum grade point average of 3.2 for the previous two semesters, a minimum 3.2 grade point average for the current term (Fall 2007), and participation in athletics. Freshmen are not eligible.Earning this designation from the league office for ISU were: Jack Byrne; Rodney Dedeaux; Russell Dedeaux; Brian Jackson; Josh Jones; Bryan McCulley; Gabe Mullane and Kyle Toney.In addition, the Gateway Conference has announced its Honor Roll, which recognizes academic achievement of football student-athletes. To qualify for the Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have recorded a minimum 3.0 grade point average for a specified term (Fall 2007), must have been a member of an athletics team, and must have a minimum of 12 hours of enrollment during the fall.A total of 25 Sycamores were named to this list including: Chris Alexander; Jack Byrne; Jacob Carpenter; Rodney Dedeaux; Russell Dedeaux; Warren English-Malone; Shonda Faulkner; Chris Johansen; Josh Jones; Jordan Lewis; DeAndre Lott-Hancock; Broc Miller; Daniel Millington; Eric Monroe; Kyle Monroe; Gabe Mullane; Evan Parker; Shane Parson; Matt Seliger; Chris Stepp; Kyle Toney; Corey Varnadore; Michael Williams and Michael Woods.

JERIMY FINCH TO TRANSFER TO INDIANA

According to a story on Thursday's (5/22/08) Indianapolis Star webpage, former Warren Central (Indianapolis, IN) safety Jerimy Finch will be transferring to Indiana University. It had been reported that Finch would transfer to either IU or Indiana State from the University of Florida.

Here is the story that ran on the webpage:

Three weeks after getting his release from his scholarship at the University of Florida, former Warren Central standout Jerimy Finch confirmed (Thursday) he will transfer to Indiana University to play football.
Finch told The Star he is currently enrolled in online classes, and will take classes in IU's second summer school session which begins June 13.
Finch will likely have to sit out the 2008 season before having three years of eligibility beginning in 2009. But he said there is still the slim chance he could be eligible right away.
"I've decided to transfer to Indiana and I'm looking forward to continuing my career there," Finch said,. "My plan is to write a letter to the NCAA and request to play right away this season. After that we'll just see how it goes."
Finch was ranked No. 37 overall in the nation by rival.com and was the top-ranked safety in the country coming out of high school in the spring of 2007.

FORMER INDIANA STATE GRIDDER STANLEY SAJKO DIES

I recently received an email from John Newton of the Indiana State Alumni Association about the recent death of former ISU football standout Stanley Sajko. Sajko played at Indiana State 1945-47. Here is John's email:

"Tom 3 weeks ago I attended the funeral of Stanley Sajko (psy cho , as he would explain it) Class of 1948 in New Albany IN . He was base ball coach and AD at NAHS for a combined 38 years .He was originally from Sullivan IN and after serving in WWII he played football at ISTC in 1945,46,47 . In 1947 he was most valuable player and "legend" has it he paid his way through ISTC by driving the team bus forCoach John Wooden . The funeral was exceptionally meaningful with many stories told . Following the ceremony about 30 of his former players lined the center aisle of the church and the organist played Take Me Out To The Ball Game."John Newton

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!!!!