All-American Linebacker Tegray Scales Announces Return for Senior Season

IU Athletics Release

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana All-American Tegray Scales will return to IU for his final year of eligibility in 2017, the junior linebacker announced Monday.
 
"Hoosier Nation, I will be staying for my senior year. I'd like to thank Coach Inge and Coach Allen for helping me through the process. Coach Allen, for what he brought to this defense and now the whole team. I'm excited to be playing for him one more year and I'm excited to be playing with this team. Go Hoosiers!"
 
Scales earned second team All-America honors from SI.com in 2016 and became the first Hoosiers linebacker recognized on an All-America team since Van Waiters (3rd team) in 1987.
 
"Having Tegray back with us is huge," head coach Tom Allen said. "He was a catalyst for our defense, not only on the field with his production, but really in the very beginning when I first got here and challenged our team to make changes in their mentality and the way they prepared. He's been bought in from day one. To be able to have him here with us in year two is tremendous for our program. I'm just so excited to have him back and for him to have a better senior season."
 
The 2016 Foster Farms Defensive Player of the Game led the nation with 93 solo stops and 23.5 tackles for loss, and he finished first in the Big Ten with 126 tackles (10th nationally). Scales now owns the second spot on the program's single-season TFLs list, shares ninth in total tackles and is ninth with 33.5 career stops for loss.

His nine double-figure tackle games in 2016 led the league and ranked third nationally. Scales added seven sacks, a pick-6 and one forced fumble.
 
The Cincinnati native put together a streak of six straight 10-tackle games during the regular season. It was the longest streak nationally, the longest streak in the Big Ten since 2012 and the longest streak at IU since at least 1990.