GBI Express

Gold and Black Express, Vol 24, EX 28

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GoldanDBlack express • volume 24, express 28 • 1 BY STACY CLARDIE AND KYLE CHARTERS P urdue's top two revenue sports didn't provide many highlights in the last year. But football and men's basket- ball did give plenty of storylines, from the trials of Darrell Hazell's first season to Ronnie Johnson's transfer to A.J. Hammons' decision to stay in West Lafayette. It was the Olympic sports that showcased the majority of Pur- due's highlights, from the track teams' performances at the Big Ten Championships to the surging men's golf and tennis programs. Here are Gold and Black's top 10 stories of 2013-14. No. 10: Back IN Black Purdue hadn't worn anything but gold helmets since 1990, but Hazell put a plan in motion last summer to change that. "It all comes back to pride and feeling good about yourselves, and it comes back to that image," Hazell said of the decision to add an alternate helmet. "These guys wanted it." Hazell waited until days be- fore Purdue's game against Ohio State on Nov. 1 to confirm there would be a new black helmet, even though he'd chosen the de- sign in July. He wouldn't say what the helmet looked like at that time, though. And then the team didn't wear the new helmets for warmups before the game, in- stead waiting until they took the field just before kickoff. The final look: A matte black helmet with a train track stripe down the middle and a gold "P." Purdue capped the new look by also wearing all black uni- forms — even Hazell altered his traditional white windbreaker ap- proach for a black version. "The guys liked them a lot," Hazell said afterward, a 56-0 loss to the Buckeyes. The Boilermakers also wore the helmets for the regular-sea- volume 24, eX 28 • may 23, 2014 Inside | Men's basketball notes 9-10 | Women's 12-13 Football notes 16-18 | Enekwechi feature 21-22 Tom Campbell In a long overdue gesture, first-year football coach Darrell Hazell updated the Boilermakers' look, adding matte black helmets to the rotation. It was a highlight in an otherwise down year for the program, which finished winless in the Big Ten. The sTorIes of The year Top-10 son finale against Indiana, and they'll be part of the rotation in 2014, Hazell said. — Stacy Clardie No. 9: schueTTe's sofTBall surge Perhaps no first-year coach at Purdue had better success than Kim Schuette. Though the softball team fin- ished 27-28-1, 10 of its losses and the tie were to ranked programs. But the Boilermakers battled with some of that top competition, too, showing signs the program could be ready for a resurgence. Purdue beat three top 10 teams in 2014, including knock- ing off then-No. 4 Michigan at home. The Boilermakers hadn't beaten a team ranked higher than that in their history, and they also beat No. 12 Minnesota in Big Ten play and No. 10 Texas early in non- conference season. "I think our program has come a long way," Schuette said before the team played in the Big Ten Tournament. "We've hopefully gained some respect in this con- ference, as well as nationwide, as a softball program. That was my goal coming in here as well as setting new standards of the pro- gram. I think that we have done a pretty good job of that. We played 10

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