Georgetown transfer part of IU’s future

Doc Rivers had just finished restoring Boston’s rich basketball tradition when it hit him.

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Hours removed from guiding the Boston Celtics to victory against the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, Rivers sat with his oldest son, Jeremiah, in their hotel room. It was 4 a.m.; they had just finished watching the highlights on SportsCenter and they were hungry.

Unable to sleep, the two embarked on a late-night adventure across the street seeking sustenance.

“When we were in the grocery store, the store shut down, and people were clapping and everything,” Jeremiah said. “I just stood back and let my Dad enjoy it.
“To win a championship, that feeling, I only felt part of it because I wasn’t on the team, but to see it in the players’ eyes, it meant everything to them.”

Now Jeremiah Rivers hopes to bring that feeling to Bloomington, eventually.

Rivers, one of 11 new players on IU’s roster this season, will sit out this year per NCAA rules after transferring from Georgetown this summer. A 6-foot-4 defensive specialist, Rivers played 18.6 minutes per game for the Hoyas last season. But after spending the first half of the summer at his dad’s side throughout the NBA Playoffs, Rivers decided he wanted to transfer. He quickly narrowed his decision between IU and Memphis.

“The funny thing about that is, (Celtics guard) Sam Cassell was just begging me to go to Memphis. I don’t know why, I guess him and (Memphis coach John) Calipari are cool, he was like ‘you gotta go to Memphis, you gotta go to Memphis.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, I just don’t know much about Memphis.’”

He liked the school’s up-beat offense, but Jeremiah’s relationship with IU coach Tom Crean ultimately was the deciding factor. Rivers said he’s known Crean since the seventh grade, and as a youngster had the opportunity to play in open gyms at Marquette with Dwyane Wade and Travis Diener.

His comfort level with Crean led Rivers to commit to the Hoosiers in the dark.
“Honestly, I didn’t really know too much about Indiana,” Rivers said. The former Georgetown guard was aware of IU’s winning tradition but didn’t know too many of the specifics.

Now he finds himself leading a program he doesn’t know a whole lot about. Rivers is by far IU’s most experienced player, having played in the Final Four and logged serious minutes for a Division I school. But like everyone else in Bloomington, Rivers must now try and get to know new teammates and help the team gel together.

“We are trying to feel each other out and get ready, trying to understand how we’re going to play together, what’s going to work and what’s not going to work,” he said. “It’s been a good experience getting to know these guys; it’s been fun.”
Now comes the hard part.

Rivers said the players are probably further along than everybody thinks, but added it will be awhile before IU’s basketball tradition is restored.

The Rivers family has some experience restoring pride in a basketball community.
“Just like here, basketball has a heavy tradition there. And it hadn’t been restored in Boston in awhile,” Rivers said before pausing and looking up at IU’s five championship banners. “And a while here as well.”

No matter how long it takes. If Rivers is around for IU’s return to glory, you can guess how he’ll celebrate.

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