Putting a Happy Face on Another Horrible IU Loss: A Tribute to IU’s 2008-09 MVP Kyle Taber

The last year or so of Indiana basketball has been filled with its bad 24-hour periods. I’m not exactly sure where the last 24 hours falls for the majority of IU fans, but it’s probably in the Top 20 worst from my perspective.

Add it up: another phone call violation (even though it was “minor” and self-reported); my publishing of a regrettable post filled with overreactions and hyperbole that I had to edit later; and, just a little while ago, Indiana being completely non-competitive at home in a double-digit loss to Northwestern — the first IU loss to the Wildcats in Bloomington since 1968.

Damn.

Obviously today does not rival the worst days of Coach Snake’s final season in Bloomington, but the events of the last 24 hours have still been pretty discouraging.

But that is the last negative sentence I am going to write tonight. Instead, I am going to focus on one of the very few positive lights I can see shining through the dense and dreary fog of what is now the twilight of the 2008-09 season.

And that positive light is Indiana senior forward Kyle Taber.

Tonight, during the Hoosiers’ defeat at the hands of Northwestern, Kyle Taber scored a career-high 12 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and blocked two shots while playing only 18 minutes because of foul trouble. Taber’s contributions tonight were solid, but not the most meaningful of his career; nothing for me tops his performance against Purdue last year when he scored 6 huge points, grabbed 5 rebounds, and had 2 assists plus a steal in an IU victory.

But the fact that Taber scored his single-game career high in the his second-to-last home game seems fitting. Kyle Taber is all about perseverance and improvement.

On Tuesday, March 3, Kyle Taber will take the floor of Assembly Hall as an Indiana basketball for the last time. He will do everything he can to help lead Indiana to an upset victory over the mighty Michigan State Spartans, and then he will participate in one of my all-time favorite Indiana traditions: the Senior Day speech. Kyle seems to be a man of few words, a guy who quietly goes about his business in a hard-working and diligent manner, so I don’t anticipate him talking very long.

However, what I do anticipate lasting very long — what I hope will last very long — is the standing ovation that Kyle Taber will receive from the Indiana faithful. I will not be there in person, but I will be standing and cheering from my spot in front of the TV (or computer, if I have to switch over to a radio feed to hear Kyle’s speech).

Kyle Taber is what Indiana basketball is all about. Check that — Kyle Taber is what Indiana basketball used to be about, and what we all hope that it will be about again under Tom Crean in the very near future.

As mentioned above, Kyle Taber has persevered and improved throughout his Indiana career. He has also achieved in the classroom, shown dedication to his team and school, and set a tremendous example for what a student-athlete should be about.

(By the way, the thought is occurring to me that I’d like to slap myself for wasting so much time last night writing that angry rant about the self-reported minor infraction. Sometimes in the daily to hourly search for story ideas, both bloggers and the mainstream media treat negative stories like bees treat honey, which is why guys like Kyle Taber don’t get more of the press and recognition they deserve.)

Consider the tumult that has enveloped Kyle Taber’s basketball career at Indiana. He walked-on as a Hoosier in 2005 during Mike Davis’ tenure after graduating from Evansville Central High School. Davis was later fired and replaced by the coach to whom I do not refer by name on Midwest Sports Fans. Once said coach was relieved of his duties for showing flippant disregard to the prestige and pride of the Cream & Crimson, Dan Dakick took over to end last season. Then Tom Crean became IU’s head coach before this season, the fourth head coach under whom Kyle Taber has played.

Before I go on, I do want to recognize our former coach who is now employed by the Milwaukee Bucks for one thing. In the Fall semester of last year, he awarded Kyle Taber a well-deserved scholarship. There is not much good that I or anyone can say about Kelvin Sampson, but I suppose he does deserve to at least be acknowledged by name one time for rewarding Kyle Taber for his contributions to IU basketball.

Throughout the five turbulent years that Kyle Taber has proudly donned the Cream & Crimson, he ostensibly has never lost sight of the most important reason why is attending Indiana University: to be a student.

Kyle was named Academic All-Big Ten as a freshman, as a sophomore, and as a junior; and I don’t doubt that he will make it a four-year sweep and be named Academic All-Big Ten yet against this year. For a program that became defined by academic problems in the aftermath of last season’s collapse, Kyle Taber stood tall as a 6′8, 220 pound vestige of what once was special about basketball players at Indiana Unversity but had become just a distant memory.

At the end of last season, Kyle Taber was named Indiana’s Most Improved Player. The honor was well deserved as Taber went from playing 14 combined minutes as a freshman and sophomore to playing 247 minutes for a team that many people thought at one point could challenge for a Final Four berth before collapsing. He started 4 games last season, shot almost 78% from the field (11-14) and grabbed 2.5 rebounds per game.

This season, Kyle Taber deserves to be named Indiana’s Most Improved Player again — and not just because he is one of only two returning players from last year. Taber has started all 27 games, and heading into tonight’s contest was averaging a career-high 4.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while playing 23.8 minutes per contest and shooting 50% from the field. All of those averages will receive a little bit of a bump when tonight’s stats are added in.

But in my opinion, Kyle Taber deserves more than to just be named Indiana’s Most Improved Player. Kyle Taber deserves to be named Indiana’s Most Valuable Player.

We all know that Kyle Taber is not the best player on this year’s team, and he certainly is nowhere near the most talented. He does not have the best stats, has not played the most minutes, and very well might lose to every other Hoosier but Tijan Jobe in a game of one-on-one. However, I cannot fathom an argument that could dissuade me from the thought that Kyle Taber is the Hoosier most deserving of being called the 2008-09 Most Valuable Player for IU.

Winning the Team MVP award would be a culmination of Kyle’s perseverence through five of the strangest and most trying seasons in Indiana basketball history. A Taber MVP would be a proclamation that Indiana basketball truly still does stand for character, integrity, hard work, improvement, dedication, academic achievement, and the perpetual placement of team above self.

Kyle should be named Indiana’s 2008-09 MVP not just because of a dearth of worthy candidates, but precisely because Taber is a worthy candidate in the truest sense of the phrase “most valuable.”

Tom Crean said from the beginning of this season that his goals were to build a foundation of accountability, heart, and work ethic. He knew, and we knew, that wins would be few and very far between. Unless we can walk away from this season knowing that we began laying the bricks for a return to Indiana’s foundation of excellence in each of these areas, then the 2008-09 season was a complete and utter failure.

I do not think this season was a failure by any metric other than the scoreboard. This team may not have won many games, but they have helped to develop the foundation of a program that will win again and win the right way. And there is no player who did more to help further the development of that foundation this season than Kyle Taber.

And all he did was continue doing what he’s done for his entire IU career.

Kyle Taber went from being a bench warming walk-on under Mike Davis, to the team’s most improved player under Coach What’s His Name, and now has become a legitimate Team MVP candidate under Tom Crean. Kyle Taber won’t show up in any IU record books, his number will not be retired, and he will never be considered among even the top 200 players to wear an Indiana uniform.

But if anybody ever asks for the personification of Indiana basketball, in my mind you can give them one name and sum up what it means to be a Hoosier: Kyle Taber.

Kyle helped us bridge the gap from a forgettable era of upheavel and destruction to the new era being fostered by Tom Crean that is aimed at delivering a return to a greatness. We may have begun this season with less experience than almost any other team in basketball history, but at least the experience we had provided a link in the form of Kyle Taber that allowed us to harken back to the good old days, while looking forward to the good new days that are forthcoming.

Presence and quiet leadership by example can absolutely provide significant value. Kyle Taber’s quiet leadership by example, in my opinion, was the most important presence on this year’s team. That’s why he deserves to be named IU’s Team MVP for 2008-09, and why he will forever go down as one of the truest Hoosiers in the great and proud history of IU basketball.

IU Self-Reports Minor Recruiting Phone Call Violation by Tom Crean, Staff

(Full Disclosure: My initial post on this subject probably went a little overboard, proving true my original first sentence, which read: “I should probably take a night to sleep on this before declaring my thoughts publicly.” Well, it didn’t even take a night to realize I was slightly overreacting.

This blog clearly needs someone to edit the editor every now and again.

After doing a little more reading of words perhaps more informed and reasonable than my own, I’m not quite as worked up as I was when I originally posted this. I am still disappointed, and I still think there needs to be some public accountability, but I’m not ready to jump off a bridge as it probably seemed when I first posted. So I have edited this post somewhat from its original version. Here ya go.)

According to a report posted Tuesday night at IndyStar.com by Mark Alesia, Indiana University self-reported an impermissible phone call made by assistant coach Roshown McLeon to 2009 IU signee Bawa Muniru. As a self-imposed punishment, Tom Crean and his assistants did not make any phone calls for a week in December. Here is an excerpt from the rather brief story by Alesia:

According to the report, when assistant coach Roshown McLeod left a voice mail for Muniru on Oct. 25, it was the school’s third call to him in a week — exceeding the NCAA limit by one.

Coach Tom Crean, who normally makes one call per week to recruits, placed two to Muniru — the Sunday and Wednesday before McLeod’s call on a Saturday.

The report said Crean “simply made a mistake,” thinking his Sunday call had counted against the previous week’s allotment. The athletic department’s compliance department discovered the violation.

There is no confirmation of when the compliance department discovered the illegal call. My assumption would be that it was in December during a routine check of the phone records and that the penalty was imposed immediately. Regardless, there are a couple of key questions that come to mind for me immediately:

1. If the impermissible call was, in fact, found out about in December, it would have to have been at least five weeks after the call was made. Considering the catastrophic effects of illegal calls under the previous coach, why would Coach Crean and the compliance department not be doing constant audits of the phone records to ensure compliance?
2. If the basketball program is conducting real-time audits of the phone records, and the impermissible call was caught immediately after it happened, then why did the self-imposed ban wait until December? Conveniently that would have pushed it to after the November signing period.

(Update: New post over at the Hoosier Report appears to clear these questions up some. The post provides a link to the self-report form. Seems like the Hoosier Report actually engaged in legit journalism, unlike me who just flew off the handle and published statements I later had to tone down. Here are the basics, according to the Hoosier Report:

“The report indicates that on October 25, Roshown McLeod made what was the third call of the week to Bawa Muniru. Tom Crean had made a call on that Sunday, and again on Wednedsay. Because of IU’s practice schedule, he thought the Sunday call had been made the previous day. IU found the violation on November 21, reported it on December 10, and imposed a sanction of no calls for a week in December. It sounds as if the staff has a good system for preventing these sorts of issues–the head coach and the responsible assistant each make no more than one call a week to a recruit–but it failed in this instance because of a misrecollection by Crean as to the date of the first call. McLeod made what he thought was his one call of the week, but he didn’t have it. Expect howling from the usual quarters, but I don ‘t think this is a major concern, just a major annoyance.”

Either way, I find it difficult to look the other way or play the “it’s only one call” card after what we went through almost exactly a year ago. An impermissible phone call? Seriously? For obvious reasons, of all the minor/secondary violations that could occur, this one is truly the most major of annoyances — at a minimum.

I know that it sounds worse that it probably is in reality, but “honest” mistake or not, I still think it’s unacceptable and I don’t understand why we are only hearing about this now.

The illegal phone call reportedly took place on October 25th and the program served its self-imposed suspension in December. It’s now February 24th, and according to the report by Alesia they obtained the report through a public records request. I would expect Tom Crean to explain this with full disclosure the moment he found out that an error had taken place. And to all those who say that these types of violations happen all the time, I say fine; but how often do they happen the year after a school sees its entire program crumble because of the same violation (albeit in a much higher quanity)?

That’s why I think there is ample reason to warrant an explanation from Crean.

Based on the circumstantial evidence, it sounds to me like Coach Crean and the basketball program hoped this would stay under the radar. I have read many message board posts tonight that suggest exactly what the IndyStar article says: that college basketball programs report minor recruiting violations all the time. Perhaps this is so, and I’m a little out of touch. Still, I just think that considering the circumstances, Crean and IU should been out in front of this one, even if they thought it would stay quiet.

I’m glad I decided to stay up and edit this because my original post does seem a little unreasonable now that I’ve gotten over the shock of seeing “Indiana”, “Tom Crean”, and “recruiting violations involving phone calls” in the same story. I am just quite passionate about the integrity of Indiana basketball and the continued rebuilding of the reputation and commitment to rules and ethics that defined IU athletics under Bob Knight and Bill Mallory while I was growing up. In fact, I care about that much more than winning, and I believe that we must repair our basketball program’s broken code of ethics before we can even think of rebuilding the proud tradition of excellence on the floor.

I have been firmly in Tom Crean’s corner every second of his tenure so far. I have kept my expectations in check for wins and losses this year, and have been vocal in staying positive and upbeat during the least successful on-court season in the history of the program.

But I will not keep my expectations in check for integrity.

IU fans and non-IU fans can rationalize this “just one call” any way they like and say it’s not a big deal. And in the grand scheme of things, maybe it’s not. Shoot, for all I know little slip-ups like this may very well have occurred under Coach Knight. As the IndyStar article says, “schools routinely turn themselves in for minor violations of the NCAA’s complicated rules.”

Well guess what? Most schools in most seasons are not struggling to tread water in the wake of a horrific ethics scandal that rocked the foundation of their once proud and integrity-filled program; but that is where Indiana’s basketball program currently finds itself. And it means there is a different level of accountability, in my opinion.

The combination of time, location, and circumstance implore an unyielding and impermeable commitment to airtight intregity. Based on this report, a violation slipped through. I don’t think anything happened that is egregious or that Tom Crean should be tarred and feathered for; and, as some over at Peegs have suggested tonight, Crean and IU perhaps should even be getting some amount of credit for reporting the violation in the first place.

Under normal circumstances this would not really be a huge deal to me considering the realities of college basketball recruiting, but I still think that given the circumstances of the last year, even a violation this “minor” should have been followed by explanation and full disclosure at the time. I am probably in the minority in thinking this, but so be it.

What do you think?

Is the report that Tom Crean and his staff made an extra phone call a big deal?

• No
• Yes

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Luckily I didn’t fall asleep before I could edit what was probably not a very well thought out post originally. I’m still disappointed that even a minor violation had to be reported, and I believe that Tom Crean should address this soon — hopefully after an IU win over Northwestern tonight. More than anything, I think I’m just still pissed at the ass clown who was coaching here before, the one who created the mess that made me cry wolf as my first instinct upon reading the IndyStar story tonight.

My main source of excitement all year long has been the promise of moving forward and closing the door on the immediate past. What I read tonight immediately swung that door back open and brought everything from last year right back to the forefront of my mind. Hopefully with time that knee jerk reaction will subside.

All I want is to believe beyond any doubt that IU is back to playing completely by the rules and taking steps each day towards banner #6. For a moment tonight that belief was shaken, for what I really hope is the last time.

Crean v Painter I – What We Learned About Purdue’s Present and IU’s Future

This morning, because I’m insane, I woke up at 5:30 and went to the office. I did get some actual work done, but quickly decided to pop open the trusty blog and do a preview of today’s Indiana-Purdue game, the first meeting in what should be a great rivalry between Tom Crean and Matt Painter.

The game is now over, with the Boilermakers winning 81-67. My prediction was a 4-point win for the Boilers, I think they were favored by 22, and it ended up at 14. I guess that sounds about right. Here is the IU-Purdue box score if you’re interested.

While I am never happy about a loss, especially to Purdue, I think Indiana represented itself it well by playing hard, looking competent for stretches on the offensive end, and not allowing Purdue to ever run away with the game. Until E’Twuan Moore’s three-pointer with about 3:30 minutes left, the Hoosers were hanging around between 6-10 points down, just a few quick threes away from making it a game. But Moore’s three was a dagger that pushed the Purdue lead to 12 and effectively ended IU’s hopes of a comeback.

Here are a few observations and things we learned today:

1 – It is an absolute travesty that IU and Purdue are only playing once this year

This point is really too obvious to spend a lot of time worrying about. Does the Big Ten conference just stick its head up its own rear when it decides on the schedule? Certain rivalries should always be played twice a year, end of story. Indiana should always play Illinois and Purdue twice a season, no questions asked. I’m not even saying anything else because it is the one thing that IU and Purdue fans can agree on. There should be a meeting in Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers might not win, but they certainly could make it a competitive game. Now that this game is over, the fact that IU and Purdue are only playing once this year is really starting to piss me off.

2 – If Purdue shoots well in March (and Hummel is healthy), they can make a tournament run

I am impressed with this Purdue team. They struggled out of the gates in the Big Ten season but are playing really well right now. They play suffocating man-to-man defense and have solid continuity on offense. And when E’Twuan Moore is shooting the ball well from outside they become especially difficult to defend. The big caveat is Robbie Hummel’s health. I don’t think they have enough multi-dimensional players to compete with the top teams in the nation if Hummel is out, as evidenced by their 1-3 Big Ten record without him. With Hummel in the game, however, he provides that one guy with size who can do a little bit of everything.

3 – JaJuan Johnson is talented, but will never realize his potential until he learns how to focus

Full disclosure: This is the first full Purdue game I have watched this year, so Boiler fans can correct me on this one if I am wrong; but JaJuan Johnson really seems to lack focus. He played a very good game today though. 14 points, 10 boards, and 5 blocks. He showed range on his jumper, obvious athletic ability, and has undeniable talent. Yet, he made some really careless turnovers and got caught out of position a number of times on defense. And while I love Tom Pritchard and Kyle Taber, they are not in the upper echelon of big men that Johnson will have to face come March. If Johnson increases his ability to focus, he could be a monster as a junior and senior. He’s so talented, he may be anyway.

4 – Indiana has a team full of role players, but two guys have emerged as pieces to build around for the future

Nick Williams, Devan Dumes, Matt Roth, and Malik Story all bring unique individual abilities to the floor, and all will be solid players in the cream and crimson for the next year (Dumes) or three (the others, all freshmen). However, on a good team that can contend for a Big Ten title, they should be bench players who fill specific roles playing 10-15 minutes a game. And I don’t think that is a knock on them at all. They are getting tons of playing time as freshman because IU had so little coming back this year, and will be better players because of it. But each has critical deficiencies that put ceilings on their potential:

• Nick Williams is too short to be a guy who lacks quickness and handle
• Devan Dumes is not consistent enough as a shooter and plays out of control with the ball
• Matt Roth is a non-factor if he is not getting open looks from 3, and lacks quickness to get open if defenses focus on him
• Malik Story is simply average from a skill standpoint and athletic ability standpoint

With all that said, all four of these guys have tremendous heart and because of it they have been more productive than their respective talent and skills would suggest they’d be. They have also continued to fight in the midst of an awful season and will forever have my appreciation and respect, as well as that of Hoosier fans everywhere. And while they will improve moving forward, these are the kind of guys who should be like Pat Graham, Brian Evans, and Todd Leary on the 1993 team: solid role players who are not asked to do more than they are capable of doing and who contribute to a winning team.

There are two guys on this year’s team, however, that are proving to be future starters that IU can build around: Tom Pritchard and Verdell Jones.

Pritchard has been pretty consistent all season, though his play dipped a bit recently. I thought he played well today though. He was active offensively, made some tough shots, did a solid job on the boards, and played well with fouls in the second half. He finished with 12 points and 8 boards, which I think will be a similar line to what he’ll put up as a senior when he plays Purdue. Pritchard has obvious deficiencies in foot speed, overall athletic ability, and free throw shooting — only one of which he can really do anything about. But he is a physical presence with decent skills and a high basketball IQ. He can be a Matt Nover-type contributor who you can pencil in for 10-14 points and 8-10 boards every night. He is almost that right now as a freshman.

In terms of improvement, no Hoosier has improved more from the beginning of the season to now than Verdell Jones. Honestly, at the beginning of the season I was wondering why we gave him a scholarship and why he was playing so much. He looked scared, he turned the ball over left and right, and had no physical toughness. Over the last few weeks, Jones has shown off his offensive abilities and become a much more poised leader with the ball in his hands. He still does not dribble especially well and makes lazy passes, and he simply has to get stronger, but 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in his first trip to Mackey is nothing sneeze at.

I thought Verdell was outstanding today. For the first time all season I thought he looked completely comfortable on the floor. He made some beautiful passes, did a great job of pulling up for the 10- to 15-foot jumpshot, and led an IU offensive attack that played pretty well, all things considered, against a team that really knows how to lock down on defense.

Verdell Jones also has one huge advantage that cannot be taught: height. At 6′5, he is a tough matchup for most guards in the Big Ten. He has gotten eaten alive though by shorter, quicker players this season when he is careless with the ball; but as his ball-handling and decision-making improves he is going to become a really tough matchup on a night-in, night-out basis. With talented players Maurice Creek and Christian Watford, among others, coming in at the guard and wing spots next season, this year’s freshmen will have more competition for playing time. Verdell Jones is proving that he has the talent to be a starter on a top-flight Big Ten team. If he can continue grow physically, as a ball-handler, and in the mental aspect of the game, we could be looking at a player who puts up stat lines like today’s on a nightly basis.

5 – The IU-Purdue rivalry is going to be really fun again

In the late 80s and into the mid-90s, the IU-Purdue rivalry was awesome. Calbert Cheaney against Glenn Robinson. Brian Evans against Cuonzo Martin. AJ Guyton against Chad Austin. And of course, Bob Knight against Gene Keady. Over the last decade or so, while the game is always exciting, it has lacked that extra bit of star power and top-level performance. A major part of it has been the two programs’ transition from legendary coaches to the guys at the helm now. Another part of it is a huge lull in the two programs’ ability to keep the top in-state talent at home. And honestly, it has been rare recently for both teams to be really good at the same time.

But I think with Tom Crean and Matt Painter settling in as the long-term stewards of Indiana and Purdue basketball, this rivalry is on the right track towards becoming one of the elite rivalries again on a yearly basis.

Painter has done a great job of building a solid nucleus around in-state players. Tom Crean is bringing some good Indiana kids in next year and supplementing them with top-flight national talents like Creek and Watford. Give IU one more year to settle in next season, and then I think these two programs are poised to be in the upper third of the Big Ten for the next decade. And with these two coaches we know that the games will be extremely physical and hard fought.

For once, I am not completely despondent after a Purdue loss. I have resigned myself to the pitiful fate of seeking moral victories in every loss. The state of our program demands it. Today, the Hoosiers showed that they have two starters and four solid bench players ready to go for next season. Assuming three or four of the new guys are ready to step in and contribute right away, we can look forward to a still young but much more talented team next season that should be ready to compete for a Big Ten title again in 2011.

And hopefully, God willing, moral victories will no longer be an option.

A New Era Begins With First Crean-Painter Matchup at Mackey Arena Today

Despite the fact that every rational thought in my head suggests that my beloved Hoosiers are going to get their asses handed to them today in Mackey Arena, I am pumped for today’s game and 1:00 (Dallas time) can’t get here soon enough.

Maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment, and perhaps I’ll feel differently if today’s game goes as every expert predicts it will go (read: blowout), but there is still always something special when Indiana and Purdue take the court together. Today is no different, and in fact is a little extra special because it is the first meeting in what should be a long and competitive rivalry between two outstanding coaches: Tom Crean and Matt Painter.

I am about to do something that I rarely do, and that may shock anyone who knows me. So brace yourselves. But I am about to give someone affiliated with Purdue a compliment.

I really, really like Matt Painter as a coach. Obviously I hate his guts because he coaches for Purdue, and I want to see him lose every game, but I respect what he is building in West Lafayette, and his teams embody what I am optimistic that Tom Crean can build in Bloomington (just better, of course). Painter has produced a team with many home-grown kids from the state of Indiana that protect their home floor, play tough and physical defense, and make every game a battle. They are not flashy, but they are solid and successful. And I can tell you this: I’m already penciling Purdue in for the Sweet 16 and the brackets aren’t even out yet.

(Pause. I am going to wash my hands now because I feel dirty and traitorous for having typed the previous paragraph.)

All that said, I wouldn’t trade Tom Crean for Matt Painter, and even though Purdue is better than Indiana this year, the fact remains that the ceiling for greatness in Bloomington is and always will be higher than in West Lafayette. At the end of the day, while Purdue has us 21-20 in Big Ten titles, the five national championships and 8 Final Four appearances dwarf the modest success that Purdue has had on a national level. Now that we have a coach who can build a winner the right way, and for the long-term, the Hoosiers should be able to elevate to the height of that ceiling once again.

And hopefully today is a step in the right direction.

A lot has been written over the past 36 hours about the frustration that Tom Crean showed after Thursday night’s loss to Wisconsin. He was not particularly amicable with Bo Ryan during the post-game handshake, and did not stay around long to answer questions with the media. Apparently, at least according to this forum thread, such behavior was his M.O. after particularly tough losses while at Marquette. Call me crazy, but I doubt IU fans will hold that against him. We have a little bit of experience with coaches who do not always display the height of their jocularity after losses.

To be perfectly honest, I felt the same way after the Wisconsin loss. I’ve stayed pretty positive all year, but that second half was pathetic. We looked tired, lacked focus, and did not even play up to our modest capabilities. We were terrible and non-competitive. I don’t think too many people realistically expected victory, but we all certainly expected a better effort than that. Tom Crean has stayed remarkably positive all season long in the face of some of the most dire circumstances and results any big-time college basketball program has ever experienced.

I’ll forgive him if every now and then the frustration boils over.

I hope and expect that the team saw every bit of that frustration in the locker room. If we play against Purdue in Mackey today like we played at home in the second half against Wisconsin, we’ll lose by 30 points. If we bring the effort and intensity we have brought all season long we can make it a semi-competitive game and at the very least not be embarrased. Like many, I will be rooting as hard as I can and hoping for the best, but I’d be shocked if IU pulled off a victory. It sure would be a beautiful thing, but while I hate Purdue with every fabric of my being, I don’t disrespect them enough to predict an IU win on their home floor. Not this season anyway.

I did say at the beginning of the year that if we went 1-15 in the conference, but beat Purdue, that I would consider the season a success. We already got our one win against Iowa and it remains to be seen if this year’s Hoosiers are capable of a second. But if somehow — by some combined stroke of luck, serendipity, and downright divine intervention — the Hoosiers are able to sneak out of West Lafayette with a win, it will erase an entire season of frustration and disappointment and make the whole ugly experience just a little more palatable.

I’m not holding my breath, but I’m certainly holding out hope.

Whatever happens today boys, just go out there and play hard and give your best effort. We have known all year as fans that we have to keep our expectations in check; but only for Wins and Losses, not for effort, focus, and heart. We left a lot to be desired in the second half of Thursday, but today presents a great opportunity to attone. Let’s send a message to Purdue and the rest of the Big Ten that we are not years away from competing. Go out there and compete today and show everyone that the pride of the cream and crimson endures, even in the face of tremendous struggle and frustration.

I’ll be in front of my TV cheering for all 40 minutes and believing every second that we’ll find a way to win (rationality goes out the window once the ball is tipped…always). I don’t ask for much, just to see that same effort and belief in you.

Go IU!

Official Game Info:

• TV: Big Ten Network
• Time: 2:00 ET
• Location: Mackey Arena in West Lafayette

Prediction: Purdue wins, but the Hoosiers make it a far more competitive game than anyone expects. 62-58 Boilers

Miss Indiana Katie Stam Wins Miss America Pageant, Immediately Accepts Scholarship Offer from Tom Crean

Who says Indiana can’t win anything anymore?

Mired in NCAA sanctions and perhaps the worst basketball season in school history, and on the heels of a complete collapse from the football program in 2008, fans of Indiana University have had little to cheer about during the past calendar year.

That all changed this past Saturday night when Miss Indiana Katie Stam became the first Miss America from the Hoosier State in the 88-year history of the pageant.

Her whirlwind weekend did not end Saturday night in Las Vegas, however. We have breaking news here at Midwest Sports Fans that Indiana University head basketball coach Tom Crean immediately called Katie Stam, a communications student at the University of Indianapolis, to offer her a basketball scholarship at IU. Stam, a native of Seymour, immediately accepted the offer.

“We are very excited to be adding Katie Stam to the basketball program here at IU,” said Tom Crean in a statement made up completely out of my own wandering imagination. “One of our goals is to rebuild the proud winning tradition here in Bloomington, and I am confident that having someone on the team who has actually won something will help us do that.”

Crean cited a FoxNews article titled “Indiana Student Crowned Miss America” as his inspiration for offering her a basketball scholarship. When told that the headline was false, and that Stam actually attendeds the University of Indianapolis, Crean appeared undettered — a probable manifestation of his desperation to just get a win…somehow.

Crean and the Hoosiers currently sit at 0-6 in the Big Ten conference after dropping a heartbreaking game to the Minnesota Golden Gophers at home on Sunday. While the difficult season was expected for the Hoosiers, who play 7 freshman, a junior transfer, and a former walk-on among their regulars, it does not mean that it has been any less difficult for IU fans to handle.

“Have I seen her play? No. Will she be eligible to play for us, considering she is a girl? I don’t know. Does she even have any basketball ability? That remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure, unless she he has both of her hands amputated between now and our next game, she should help us cut down on turnovers,” explained Crean.

“I’m sure,” Crean continued, “that Verdell Jones and Daniel Moore will take expection to a girl starting over them, but it will give them a chance to sit and learn a little bit. Heck, Ryan Finkelmeier won’t even play anymore now that we have another guard, but he sprayed his shorts when I told him who his new teammate would be, so at least he’s on board with it.”

Perhaps among the traits that attracted Crean to Katie Stam are the heart, desire, and toughness that she displayed in winning the grueling Miss America competition. Stam fought off a throat infection, laryngitis, and 51 other contestants to be crowned Miss America. She admitted to having trouble sleeping one night last week and even had to take medicine to help her fight the throat infection. Luckily, she got her voice back by Thursday and was able to drop dimes of wisdom like this, which helped her pull out the kind of W that has eluded this year’s Hoosiers:

During the interview portion of the competition she decried the use of performance-enhancing drugs among professional athletes and discussed the definition of glamour. “That beauty that you feel on the inside, it’s that confidence, that radiance inside of you, that’s what glamour is,” Stam said.

In addition, as the picture to the right clearly shows, the other contestants for Miss America (especially Miss Tennessee on the right) would have rather driven a stake through Stam’s muscular thigh than lost the Miss America crown to her. No doubt, Stam’s perseverence in the face of such competitive pressure is something that Crean feels Stam will add to the Hoosiers this season. Additionally, Hoosier legend Bob Knight would clearly be impressed by Katie Stam’s game face.

“Look, we’re getting desperate here. We all knew this season would be trying, but we keep coming so damn close and just can’t figure out a way to win. Katie Stam may not be able to shoot, she may be female, she may not even go to school at IU, but at least she’s won something. That’s more than we can say about our guys right now, and hopefully the winning attitude she displayed Saturday night will rub off on the team,” explained Crean.”

“Plus,” he continued, “I think Katie Stam and Mario Lopez may end up being a package deal, and what struggling sports team couldn’t use A.C. Slater?”

There is not word yet on when Katie Stam will join the Hoosiers, or if she will even be allowed to. One thing is for sure though: having her in the lineup certainly would not appear to decrease the Hoosiers’ chances of getting one Big Ten win this year, but it would at least give Hoosier fans like me something to smile about while mired in the muck of the Kelvin Sampson aftermath.

Photo Credits:

• Top Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images
  
• Bottom Photo: Isaac Brekken / AP

Former Indiana Hoosiers Star Eric Gordon Injures Ankle

I decided to make my bi-weekly perusal of Peegs.com today to check and see if there was any relevant IU basketball news from last week. (These visits become much more frequent once basketball seasons starts because Peegs is a great Indiana basketball resource.) Unfortunately, there isn’t much to read on Peegs during the football season, as the Hoosiers are fielding a pretty underwhelming team this season. I was happy to see them make a bowl game last year, but they are falling on hard times this year.

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.

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Indiana Hoosiers: 2009 Recruiting Class Draws Rave Reviews

by Jerod Morris

For the first time in a while, news regarding Indiana basketball is starting to become consistently positive.  Crean and Crimson indeed.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Indiana and Tom Crean recently received a verbal commitment from Christian Watford, a 6-8 small forward out of Birmingham, Alabama.  Watford is ranked anywhere from No.12 to No.34 by various recruiting services.  According to recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons, the commitment of Christian Watford moves Indiana into a tie for the top 2009 recruiting with North Carolina.

All I have to say is…hell yes!

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