It came near the end of the pep rally yesterday evening.\n"One more year, one more year."\nAs the IU men's basketball team was presented with season trophies, the crowd of about 5,000 started in on Jared Jeffries, urging the sophomore forward to stay at IU instead of opting to enter the NBA Draft in June.\nA laugh and smile was all the fans got from the 6-foot-9 athlete, but his answer will come soon enough.\n"I'm going to have my announcement on Monday," Jeffries said, prior to the pep rally. "It'll be (at Assembly Hall), but I'll let everyone know on Monday. (I'm not leaning) no where right now. I'm going to get a better feel for what's best for me and my family."\nIf he chooses to listen to the basketball fans at IU, he'd know exactly where Hoosier fans think is best for him.\nWhile Jeffries avoided giving a definite answer about his decision, IU men's coach Mike Davis cleared up a rumor that had been circling for the past week.\nDavis was quoted in various newspapers expressing interest in coaching for an NBA team. But when he took the podium at Assembly Hall in front of thousands of IU basketball fans, he set the record straight.\n"I'm the Indiana basketball coach," he told the fans, after he was greeted with "We like Mike" chants and a standing ovation.\nHis proclamation was met with more raucous cheers that filled Assembly Hall for nearly an hour.\nThe fans began lining up outside nearly an hour before the the 7:30 p.m. pep rally began, and prior to the event, the crowd was entertained by the pep band and IU cheerleaders.\nBut as rowdy as the crowd was while waiting, when the lights went down and a broadcast of both the IU women's championship game in the Big Ten tournament and the men's Oklahoma game were played, the crowd was on its feet.\nFirst the women's team, clad in Big Ten Championship T-shirts were announced one-by-one into the dark hall as a bright spotlight followed them to the stage waiting near the front, and the men followed behind, in the same fashion.\nThe women's team was celebrating its first ever Big Ten title, which they received following their upset victory over Penn State. The women also made it to the NCAA tournament as a No.9 seed. It was their first trip to the Big Dance in seven years.\n"Isn't it great being a Hoosier?" women's coach Kathi Bennett asked the crowd. Bennett thanked her team and showed her admiration of the men's team.\nThe women's team shared the stage with the men's team that finished the season with 25 wins, the ninth most in team history. The men's team won a share of the Big Ten title for the first time since 1993, and made it to the first NCAA championship game since 1987.\n"I hope everyone enjoyed the ride, because we sure as heck did," senior guard Dane Fife told the crowd. "This is the main reason we do this -- people like you who are there for us, win or lose."\nSenior Jarrad Odle joined Fife onstage to tell the fans how appreciative he and the team was for the warm welcome they received yesterday after returning home from Atlanta. Despite the loss Monday night to Maryland, fans still made it to Assembly Hall yesterday to greet the weary players.\nThe hour-long ceremony also included speeches from IU President Myles Brand, Indiana Governor Frank O'Bannon and Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez, who declared April 3, 2002 IU Basketball Day.\nAnd despite not bringing home the national title, the men's players agreed that their welcome home was similar to those in the past.\n"A lot of people were congratulating us (today back at school)," junior Tom Coverdale said. "It's how our fans have been all year. They were great. It was no different today"
One Last Celebration
Crowd comes out to welcome back, celebrate teams' accomplishments
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