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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports

COLUMN: IU has a chance to prove its greatness Friday

Freshman center Thomas Bryant, senior guard Yogi Ferrell, and Senior guard Nick Zeisloft laugh answering questions during the post practice press conference on Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center. Tomorrow, the Hoosiers will play the Tarheels in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA Tournament.

PHILADELPHIA — The debates around IU are 
changing.

No longer are people wondering if IU is for real. It’s proven it. No longer are people clamoring for IU Coach Tom Crean’s job. He’s the Big Ten Coach of the Year and has the Hoosiers in a third Sweet 16 in five years.

IU can lose Friday and all will be well. The season will have satisfied a lot of people.

But now a new debate is surrounding the Hoosiers. As IU faces off with No. 1 seed North Carolina, it has the chance to prove it’s great.

Hold the horses, I know. I have no idea if this team is great. The point is IU isn’t on its heels attempting to prove itself anymore. It’s now on an attacking path with nothing to lose and so much to gain.

North Carolina is supposed to win this game. When it’s clicking, like it has been for the past month, it’s probably the second best team in the country behind Kansas.

When Crean was asked about keys to beating the Tar Heels, he kept going and going with a laundry list of things this team does so well. They’re really good.

IU defeated Chattanooga and a very good Kentucky team. Nobody can say this is a bunch of guys who don’t know how to win in March now. But it’s up to them to prove if they are great.

The firepower is there. When a team has a floor-general star like senior guard Yogi Ferrell, it’s in the running. When a team has the depth and shooting IU has, it has a chance.

And if IU does pull it off Friday, it will have a very winnable Elite Eight matchup. It would play the winner of Notre Dame and Wisconsin, two teams IU has beaten this season.

But greatness is that extra step. It’s flourishing when the opponent across from you is playing at the top of its game as well. That’s the next step.

IU has proven it can grow through adversity. Story after story has been written about the improvements since Dec. 2, 2015, and overcoming the loss of sophomore guard James Blackmon Jr.

As all of us wrote that the sky is falling, Crean sat in Cameron Indoor Stadium and repeated time and time again “it’s December 2nd.”

He knew a team can’t be judged by December basketball. He made a comment Thursday about how he doesn’t know if there’s been any team held as accountable for basketball before Dec. 2, 2015, as IU.

IU has proven it can play well when things go wrong. The Kentucky win Saturday was the best example.

Sophomore guard Robert Johnson and freshman forward Juwan Morgan both went out for the rest of the game. Freshman forward OG Anunoby was out for a stretch. The Hoosiers were shooting poorly. IU won 
by six.

It’s passed most major tests put in front of it. People have bought in and people believe.

If the season ends Friday, it’s a good season. No doubt about it. If IU wins Friday, it’s a great team.

I don’t throw around the word great. It should be saved for the best of the best. But If IU finds a way to beat North Carolina and advance to the Elite Eight, it’s a great team.

Let’s find out.

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