According to an article published tonight on IndyStar.com entired “Gordon: Drug Use Wrecked IU Season”, Eric Gordon said that a faction of players on Indiana’s 2007-08 team used drugs and created a separation among the team. The comments came during Gordon’s first visit back to the Hoosier State as an NBA player.

Gordon explained that he was not a member of the clique of players who were into drugs, and neither was D.J. White nor the players still at IU, which includes only Kyle Taber and Brett Finkelmeier. He said that former head coach Kelvin Sampson tried to stop the drug use, but “was just so focused on basketball and winning and everything.”

IU fans will remember a number of suspensions that were handed down by Kelvin Sampson last season. The reasons for the suspension, if I remember correctly, were never confirmed; and the rumor mill was ablaze with rumors that it was either grades, or more likely, drug use that caused the suspensions.

In a quote that could not be more indicative of what many IU fans saw on the court last year, Gordon said:

“Sometimes it felt like it wasn’t even a real basketball team because of all the turmoil that went on. I was just thinking about that the other day. It was so crazy that all that stuff threw off a good season and made it a waste, basically. It was really tough for us to be around each other all the time off the court because we were so separate.”

In another sad and telling quote, the IndyStar article quotes Indianapolis North Central High School basketball coach Doug Mitchell, who had three players on IU’s team last year including Eric Gordon. Mitchell said, “”I’m extremely disappointed in what appears to have been the lack of monitoring and supervision of the players’ behaviors.”

So apparently Kelvin Sampson tried to stop it, but, at least according to Mitchell, did not exercise enough oversight of the activities of his players. Hmm, sounds familiar. I think lack of oversight was basically an epidemic that plagued Indiana’s entire basketball program and athletic department last year.

I don’t want to get into quoting rumors and trying to name names in terms of who might have been involved in the drug use on last year’s team. All I will say is that a number of players who had eligibility remaining all left the program in the wake of Kelvin Sampson being fired. Those players include Jordan Crawford, Jamarcus Ellis, DeAndre Thomas, Eli Holman, and Armon Bassett. All transferred to new schools before the start of this season.

Armon Bassett transfered to UAB to play for the coach who recruited him to Indiana Mike Davis. Recently, Bassett left UAB among a swirl of controversy. The “official” stated reason for his departure, according to another IndyStar article I read, was to tend a family matter. However, members of a popular UAB basketball forum certainly are convinced, as you can read here. Bassett is one of four players who will not be eligible to play for Mike Davis at UAB in the second semester of this season. I mention this only because many IU fans are convinced that the seeds for the 2007 debacle in Bloomington were planted by Mike Davis, Kelvin Sampson’s predecessor.

I got to know Mike Davis a little bit personally during my time at IU, and found him to be a wonderfully nice and engaging man, so I don’t want to get into drudging up the past and blaming him for IU’s failures. But discipline in the IU basketball program has certainly been on the decline since the departure of Bob Knight (as has the consistency of the play on the floor), and Mike Davis has done nothing at UAB to assuage the concerns of many IU and UAB fans that he runs something less than a tight ship.

I appreciate the remarks of Eric Gordon, if for no other reason than it provides a little bit more closure to the horror of last season. Never before has a team I love and root for pulled the rug out from under me like last year’s IU team. From 17-1 and a top-10 ranking to first round exits in the Big Ten and NCAA Tourney, and then a cloud of controversy all off-season. And Gordon was not really breaking any news — all IU fans “knew” that drug use was a problem on last year’s team. But in a way, it is nice to have some confirmation and something a little more concrete as to why the team fell apart so quickly.

And the memories of last season, and of the end of the Mike Davis and Kelvin Sampson eras, only make me more excited about what we have going on now in Bloomington — despite the team’s 5-5 record this year and underwhelming collection of talent. What we do have is a fantastic, capable, and passionate coach in Tom Crean who is getting every ounce of potential out of an undermanned team filled with guys who are displaying oversized hearts every time out. I don’t know how many games we will win this year, but we are finally building a foundation that can lead to long term success at IU again. And that is something that has been missing for a while, really since the 1993 season — which was my favorite sports team of all time, and featured an immensely talented group of players who played together, with heart, and exhibited discipline in every aspect.

I continue to feel bad for Eric Gordon, in that he took so much heat for his decision to spurn his original commitment to Illinois and play for a snake like Kelvin Sampson. So much of the blame for last season got heaped on Gordon during the season, despite the fact that he was just a freshman, playing with a bum wrist, and embroiled in a tumultuous team situation with a coach who could not control it, or who did not really want to. I do think that as more stuff like his admission of the drug use on last year’s team comes to the surface, IU fans will retroactively adjust their impression of Eric Gordon and remember him more for the immense talent he displayed and the great individual season he gave us.

I feel bad for D.J. White too, one of my all-time favorite Hoosiers. He stuck it out in Bloomington through thick and thin and became a dominant player as a senior. He deserved to go out better than he did.

But most of all, I just feel a tremendous level of anger towards Kelvin Sampson and the players who did not appreciate the privilege of wearing the Cream and Crimson. I would have given anything to wear the candy-stripe warm up pants and play at Assembly Hall, and I would have done everything possible to honor the players, coaches, and fans who built the amazing tradition that IU basketball has. Unfortunately, Kelvin Sampson enabled a group of players who had no business joining the IU family, and will forever be Public Enemy #1 in Bloomington. It is a title that is well deserved and that he will never relinquish.

Kudos to Eric Gordon for being strong enough to be honest about his experience at IU last year. Sure, it’s old news; but it’s one more layer of closure on the darkest era in the history of IU, one of the brightest stars
in the grand tradition of college basketball.

And thankfully, the current steward of that great IU tradition, Tom Crean and Crimson, appears to hold it in the proper esteem; and, most importantly, appears to have the integrity, coaching acumen, and leadership ability to return IU to prominence.

With the much heralded and controversial move that involved several court battles in Seattle and Oklahoma City, Bennett decided a change in scenery, along with a new name would hopefully change the fate of the storied franchise.

The move eventually cost Bennett $45 million dollars to break free from the remaining two year contract at Key Arena but hopefully with the frenzied fans, and fresh start that OKC offers it will be money well spent for years to come.

The Thunder look to try to improve on a 20-62, the teams worst season in franchise history with some fresh legs from this year’s sophomore core, and new faces taken in this year’s draft.

Even a minor improvement over last year’s mark will be a welcome change for management who has already conceded that expectations will not be high according to Bennett.

The bright spot this season will again be highly touted sophomore guard Kevin Durant, who led the club in scoring with 28.2 points, and a respectable 20.3 ppg average throughout the season.

Durant, a 6’9” guard played just one season for Rick Barnes and the Texas Longhorns before coming out as the second pick in last season’s draft. In his first year playing with the big boys Durant grabbed NBA Rookie of the Year honors.

He can go to the hole and drive the lane at will, but can be erratic and overwhelmed on the court forcing ill-advised shots more often than not for head coach P.J. Carlesimo. Despite his lack of awareness on the court Carlesimo has put the weight of the team squarely on his broad shoulders giving him the fire away from anywhere on the court.

Russell Westbrook looks to bolster a less than stellar point guard position after being picked as the number 4 overall player in this year’s draft. The team also tried to improve on its physical prowess by trading Walter Sharpe and Trent Plaisted to the Detroit Pistons for D.J White

The Thunder look to again be the doormats of the Western Conference, but instead of Seattle fans suffering through what looks to be a rebuilding decade, Oklahoma City will get a taste of what it will be like to back an upstart franchise that if truth be know Seattle would of gave away for nothing.

Another top prospect for the Thunder is rookie forward D.J White out of Indiana. All White did last year for the Hoosiers was average 17.4 points, while hauling down 10.3 bards per game on his way to claiming Big 10 Player of the Year honors. White’s bruising style should lend some credence to the power forward spot for the Thunder

Prediction: 5^th Place 17-65

[tags]kevin durant, okc thunder, nba, d.j. white, seattle sonics[/tags]

D.J. White, who played his college ball under the Sampson fiasco (regime) at Indiana University, earned Big 10 freshman of the year honors, and then matched that with Player of the Years honors as a senior, along with being named to the 2008 2^nd team All-American squad.

White not only brings athleticism to the OKC Thunder, but the team will also benefit by his eagle-like wingspan that should reek havoc on defenses throughout the league.

White should be able to step in and relieve forward Chris Wilcox, who looks to get most of the playing time while White learns the system. After the learning curve of the NBA, the roles should be reversed in the favor of the Indiana rookie.

White’s wingspan should be an added plus on the boards where he averaged a double-double in his senior year in the rough-and-tumble Big 10 last season. The rookie’s strongest suit might possibly be in the half court game where he has developed a strong 10-15 foot mid range jumper and can take it to the hoop if needed.

The only drawbacks to White’s game can be a lack of explosivess off the ball, and aggressiveness in the paint. His awkward style of bringing the ball up the floor limits his ability for an up tempo game that the Thunder looks to run.

With a little time and patience White can, and will lead the OKC Thunder to a better record than last season with his scoring in the low post and his patented baby hook from just outside the basket.

White’s patience should be rewarded early on due to Wilcox coming down with flu-like symptoms just before the start of the pre-season for the Oklahoma City Thunder who open against the Dallas Mavericks October 8^th at a neutral site. D.J. White is favored to start if Wilcox can’t answer the bell in the next couple of weeks. White has proved to head Coach P.J. Carlisemo what he can do in practice so can be a surprise start for Oklahoma City.

[tags]d.j. white, indiana hoosiers, oklahoma city thunder, nba[/tags]

Anyway, there was one note of interest I found regarding the basketball program, and it dealt with a player who no longer wears the cream and crimson: Eric Gordon. It seems as if last year’s Big Ten Freshman of the Year has injured his ankle and will be out for a couple of weeks. Luckily for Gordon, the injury does not appear to be too serious and should not set him back too much as he prepares for his rookie season.

I haven’t posted much about IU basketball yet on Midwest Sports Fans, but that will definitely change once basketball season rolls around. Reading the article about Gordon reminded me of the frustrating memories of the last year of being an IU basketball fan. It still boggles my mind to think about what a quagmire of awfulness last year became after such a promising start to the season.

The two players I felt the worst for were Eric Gordon and D.J. White (who seems to be getting involved and off on the right foot with his new team: the Oklahoma City Thunder). Both of these guys were having unbelievable seasons before the entire program began to unravel thanks to the malfeasance of selfish jackass and shameless liar Kelvin Sampson. I am pretty sure that D.J. White left IU with the full appreciation and adoration of IU fans. His commitment to the program during his five years in school was great to see, and his consistent improvement was a testament to his work ethic and attitude.

But something tells me that the feelings of IU fans towards Eric Gordon are probably pretty mixed; and I think that’s a shame. With so much hoopla (and controversy) surrounding his arrival in Bloomington, and his blazing start, I think that the bar of expectations was probably set at unrealistic levels. The injury to his wrist did not help, and obviously there was only so much Eric Gordon could do when the lack of discipline and direction sunk the program on and off the floor during the second half of the season.  (What did you expect?  Everyone knows that IU basketball players are hardasses. Wait a minute…)

Had Eric Gordon been a senior last year and displayed similarly poor ball handling and shot selection, perhaps frustration with his play could be understood. But for a freshman, Eric Gordon was remarkably consistent (in terms of effort, though not with his shooting unfortunately) and in hindsight played with pretty respectable intensity and commitment night in and night out considering the circumstances of the program. A lot was placed on his shoulders, and I think he did about as well as could have been expected, if not better. It can be easy to take the talents of great young players for granted sometimes, and forget how young they are. As fans we sometimes focus on the few things these great players are struggling with or not doing, as opposed to truly appreciating all of the things that they are doing.

I always felt that Jared Jeffries was never properly appreciated for his time at IU. He came in with the billing of a superstar wingman, bu ended up settling into a role as a very good player who dictated IU’s offense with his superb passing from the post. He was a valuable member and the most talented player on a great 2002 squad that was a team in every sense of the word and advanced to the championship game. But Jared Jeffries did not take over games, could not score at will, and never quite lived to the “superstar” status that everyone expected. Regardless, he was the best player on one of the ten most memorable IU teams ever. Still, he is overshadowed by other players from that team like A.J. Moye and Tom Coverdale who were more fan favorites than Jared Jeffries. It can be easy to forget that many of the openings they found on the offensive side of the ball were a result of the attention paid to Jeffries in the post, and his ability to make passes that got the ball into the right place for his teammates to score.

Jared Jeffries and Eric Gordon were two of the most celebrated recruits to come to IU during the 20 years I have been closely following IU basketball. Neither stayed long, and neither completely fulfilled the promise and expectations placed upon them by the IU faithful. But they should both be appreciate and admired for the contributions and results that they did produce, and I am looking forward to following Eric Gordon in the NBA. I certainly hope he can find more stability than he had during his one year at IU, and I am anticipating that he will blossom and become a very good NBA player, if not a star.

I was frustrated by the disappointment that tinged many of the comments by IU fans about Eric Gordon’s play last year. I think he was treated somewhat unfairly, and that most of it was a function of the IU fans’ general frustration and disappointment with how last year’s team turned out. As we move away from the wreckage of last year, I hope that IU fans who harbor any negative thoughts about Eric Gordon are able look back at his short time in Bloomington and appreciate the one year we had with him. There is not one sane and rationally thinking IU fan that would not take him back on campus in a heartbeat; but now that he has left campus, I sincerely hope that he has the full support of IU fans everywhere as he embarks on his professional career.

[tags]indiana hoosiers, college basketball, eric gordon[/tags]