Greg Heban

Classroom

Heban graduated in May of 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science. He is working on a second degree in nutrition science. Heban is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and is expected to earn the recognition for a fourth time this fall. In 2011, he was a member of the Capital One Academic All-District V team and received the IU Football Academic Excellence Award.

Character

• Heban started his IU career as a pitcher for head coach Tracy Smith’s baseball team. After dominating the 2009 intramural flag football season, Smith urged Heban to give football, one of three sports he played at Delta High School in Muncie, Ind., along with basketball and baseball, another shot. He arrived at preseason camp in 2010, made the team, worked his way up the depth chart and eventually started four of the team’s final five games at cornerback and played in all 12 contests. Head coach Kevin Wilson awarded the now fifth-year senior defensive back a scholarship prior to the 2011 season. After starting his career as a walk-on, Heban has a team-high 26 starts since the beginning of the 2011 campaign and he leads all Hoosier defenders with 193 tackles, 132 solos, 12 tackles for loss, six interceptions, six interceptions, 19 pass breakups and two fumble recoveries in his career. He was a captain this spring and is one of the Hoosiers 12 command leaders.

Community

•Heban was named Indiana’s Teammate of the Year in 2012 and is one the most active IU student-athletes in the community. Here are some of the organizations he has been involved with:
- Boys & Girls Club - For the past four seasons, Heban and the team have hosted members of the Bloomington Boys & Girls Club at Memorial Stadium.
- Jill’s House - Heban was one of the first Hoosiers to partake in a new initiative in 2012. The football team visited patients at the Bloomington Jill’s House biweekly. Jill’s House provides affordable, temporary housing in a home-like environment for caregivers and patients receiving medical treatment for physical illnesses at area health care facilities.
- Read Across America - Heban and his teammates have visited local schools in the Bloomington community and participated in Read Across America.
- Coach Hep Indiana Cancer Challenge - Greg served as a volunteer at the event, which honors the late Indiana University head football coach Terry Hoeppner, who died on June 19, 2007, after an 18-month battle with brain cancer.
- Indiana University Dance Marathon
- Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Competition

Heban leads all Hoosier defenders with 193 tackles, 132 solos, 12 tackles for loss, six interceptions 19 pass breakups and two fumble recoveries in his career. The Muncie, Ind., native started all 12 games at cornerback in 2011 and led IU with two interceptions, shared the top spot with six pass breakups and was third with 62 tackles. Heban moved inside as a nickel back for the first five games of 2012, where he started three times, before making his first career start at safety against Ohio State and starting the final seven games at safety. He led the team with 91 tackles, 68 solo, three interceptions and eight pass breakups (tied) and added one sack, seven tackles for loss (24 yards) and one fumble recovery. Heban finished 12th in the Big Ten with 7.6 tackles per game, tops among defensive backs, tied for fifth in interceptions and tied for 11th in passes defended. He recorded three double-digit tackle games, reached eight stops six times, led the team in tackles six times, received honorable mention All-Big Ten, was named Indiana’s Teammate of the Year and received Academic All-Big Ten for the third straight year. Despite being just 6-foot-1, he can dunk a basketball from standing flat-footed and can throw 90 mph, as he pitched 1 1/3 innings for the 2010 IU baseball team.