Marian head coach Scott Heady excited for the experience at Assembly Hall

Indiana will see the floor for the first time this season with their first exhibition game versus Marian University (Indianapolis) on Saturday. It is a chance for Indiana to compete with someone other than themselves like they have all offseason in what is basically a glorified practice game.

While it is easy for many to only focus on Indiana here and pay attention to them, this is also a chance for Marian University to work on team things as well. It gives them the opportunity for them to compete against an opponent unlike what they will see at anytime this upcoming season at the NAIA level.

TheHoosier.com contributor Caleb Knost was able to speak to Marian head coach Scott Heady about Saturday's exhibition matchup.

"Well it’s the experience for our players," said Scott Heady. "That’s why you do it. Obviously they’re really really good. They’re a team that’s going to be competing for a Big Ten championship, and possibly a National Championship.

"To be able to not just go play in Assembly Hall and take in that environment, but you know to play that kind of team, I think that’s another thing that’s going to be a tremendous challenge. But it’s experience for our guys, kinda see where we are and how we’ll battle."

After winning two state championships at Carmel High School (IN), Scott Heady took over as Marian University head coach in 2017 where currently sits at a 124-38 record having made the NAIA National Tournament five times and winning the Crossroads League Tournament once (2021).

This is also not the first time that Heady has led a Marian team to play at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as in 2017 losing to then head coach Archie Miller and Indiana 93-62. What was crazy was this was both Heady's and Miller's first year as head coaches for both of the Indiana schools.

Looking at this year's Marian roster, Heady has brought in a three Division 1 guys that transferred in including Jackson Ames, Josh Bryan, and Taeshon Cherry. Getting guys like gives Marian a major boost not only when competing against Indiana, but for their season as well.

"Basically lost our top 4 players, probably 45 or 50 points, and probably close to 20 rebounds," said Heady. "So we lost quite a bit of production, and just good guys, guys that have been in the program and won a lot. But we do have a core of guys back, that were in rotation - I’d say 6 or 7 guys that played a decent amount of time."

"Taeshon Cherry was at Arizona State for three years and then went to Grand Canyon, so he’s a 5th year guy. He’s been out for like 3 or 4 weeks, just got back and cleared yesterday, so he’s just got to get in shape and get a good feel."

"Jackson Ames, you mentioned him, he's had a really good preseason in the first three or four weeks here of practice. Big, strong, plays hard. Going to give us some size that we were kind of lacking last year."

"Josh Bryan’s the other transfer from Ball State, he started out at UIndy, he’s 6’5” and gives us some length on the wing that we needed. He can shoot it...."

Even though Marian is at the NAIA level, recruiting out of the transfer portal is still an option for Heady. It may be the sub D1 level, but Marian has a lot to offer for players.

"Well, the good thing is we give full scholarships, so a lot of our guys are on full scholarship," said Heady. "So that’s the first sell. The fact that we’ve been fortunate to be winning at a high level, you know played in the National Tournament the last 5 years, being located in Indianapolis, in a major city, all of those are key recruiting points. And I think our conference - Crossroads League - ranks as one of the top NAIA leagues in the country. The top 3 or 4 teams in our league every year, those are basically lower Division 1 level teams."

"Obviously, we start in our backyard, Indianapolis area and Indiana, that’s where we wanna start. The guys we go after, it’s changed a little bit, and I’ll be honest, before the transfer portal you’d have your top guys, and you recruit those top guys, maybe some will go Division 1 and make other decisions, but if you don’t get them you go to “Okay, who’s next.” Now, we’re gonna go after a certain guy. We try to do our homework, and we’re recruiting those guys that are getting Division 1 interest. They may not have Division 1 offers, but they’re getting the interest."

Like Indiana, Marian will be focusing on improving in certain areas and see where they stand as a team thus far. One area that Heady will be focusing on with his team tomorrow is on the defensive end. They will look to guard the perimeter while also trying to slow down Indiana's frontcourt attack.

"I think, one, you gotta get back in transition because they’ll push the ball, said Heady. "With their size and athleticism they’re really gonna try to push the ball. That’s number one, you gotta get back. I think, two, our big guys are gonna have to be physical and try to keep them away from the block as much as possible."

"On the perimeter, I don’t really know their new guys, we actually have a game this Thursday that we’re preparing for, so we won’t even probably talk about anything until Friday as far as their personnel. I’m sure they’ve gotten better on the perimeter. That was something that maybe they struggled with last year. I’m sure they’ve brought guys in to help with that, and I’m sure the guys they had last year have improved. I think we’re just gonna have to defend in all areas - in the post, on the perimeter, try to keep them out of the paint because they’ve got some athleticism and they’ve got some guys that can really beat you off the dribble."

Speaking of the frontcourt, Heady knows that they will have their hands full with Trayce Jackson-Davis however, the Marian head coach thinks his frontcourt guys will be ready to compete.

"Well obviously, he’s (Jackson-Davis) really, really good," said Heady. "I mean he’s gonna be an All-American, I’m sure he’s gonna be playing in the NBA. He’s just big and skilled, you know. Big and very skilled around the basket. Obviously I watched him some last year on TV, but from what I hear he’s improved his outside shot. He’s a challenge for anybody, even in the Big Ten."

"But we’ve got some big guys that can bang a little bit, but he’s gonna be a load. That’s just where it starts - you look at their roster, from him all the way down - even their second group is going to be really, really good. They’ve got shooters, big guys inside, athleticism, they defend really well as a team, they did last year - they were really good defensively - they got a lot of pieces, that’s for sure."

When looking at the Marian roster, 8 of the 13 players are from the state of Indiana so it is pretty cool to see those local players getting a chance to compete inside the historic Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The entire team may be excited for this opportunity, but Heady knows his guys will compete until the final buzzer.

"For us, our guys are gonna compete, there’s gonna be a lot of possessions that don’t work out, but as long as we’re trying to do the right things, that’s the way you’ve gotta look at it. How many good possessions did we have on both ends. Were we trying to do the right things, because when you’re playing that kind of talent, length and athleticism, you can do everything right but they’re still going to make a play. So for our guys, it’s gonna have to be let’s just play, lock in each possession and try to be as good as we can each possession.

"Another thing is - we’re gonna play everybody. It’s an exhibition game, and so for us, I want everybody to get in and get some time - that doesn’t mean they’re gonna get equal time, but we’ll play everybody and try to get everybody in the first half and second half as well.

"Excited for the experience. We’re gonna let everybody play, take in the experience and compete. Just see where we are as a team, and I’m just looking forward to seeing how our guys can compete because I know it’s gonna be a challenge."

----

• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals

• Like us on Facebook.

FUTURECAST

2025Top Targets

No top targets for Indiana available at this time.