The UIndy football team recently competed in their annual Spring Ball game, according to UIndy Athletics. The Spring Ball game is held every year, and UIndy players compete against each other, according to a past article from The Reflector. This gives the team time to practice and refine their skills to prepare for next season, according to the article.
Head Football Coach Chris Keevers said the Spring Ball game marks the end of the team’s five-week, 15-practice period. The team works hard during the spring and the Spring Ball game is their reward for all of their hard work, according to Keevers. He said it is a fun event for both players and fans so he’s excited for the Spring Ball game because the team is good and they get to compete for another day.
“We get a lot of people to come out,” Keevers said. “We have a junior day where we have over a hundred recruits here, and then we have our recruiting class, which will have 38 guys come. So we get a good crowd. And the most important thing is our players really enjoy themselves.”
Sophomore slot receiver Markez Gillam said he is looking forward to the Spring Ball game. Gillam said the team has a powerful offense and defense with many guys that are capable of accomplishing a lot of things.
“I’m just enjoying the time with my boys, having a good time, making sure that everybody’s getting better,” Gillam said. “Not just myself or just our group of receivers, but the whole team in general, making each other work.”
Keevers said the team is preparing for next season by working hard and focusing on the fundamentals of the game. He said the team focuses on caring, supporting and communicating with each other when things go badly. Gillam said as he goes into the next season as an upperclassman, he plans to lead by making sure he and his teammates are doing the right things at the right time. He said this would include making sure they are studying game notes, watching film and doing the little things right so that the team can be a successful group.
“We have high expectations in terms of effort and enthusiasm,” Keevers said. “Because of that, we keep getting better. The whole point of spring ball is you have 15 practices, you need to improve your team and get ready for the season.”
Gillam said the team has some unique attributes that fans can look forward to seeing. Particularly, they are returning several talented players from the offensive side, he said.
“I feel like we’re very explosive,” Gillam said. “We have a lot of guys that were All-Conference, conference player of the year, like the First-Team GLVC for running back, we have a lot of guys that can play.”
Keevers said some notable players Hounds fans can look forward to watching are quarterback Gavin Sukup, safety Mike Brown and linebacker Clay Schulte. He said he would encourage everyone to come out and support the team next season.
“We finished the season last year in the top 25,” Keevers said. “We won the championship, we went to the playoffs and we’ve got a large number of guys back. We’ve got an opportunity to be a really good football team. We’ll be explosive on offense. We’ll be physical on defense. We’ve got special, special teams, they [fans] want to come because it’s going to be fun and we’re going to win.”
