A freshman's life is tough. Crowded dorm rooms, college classes and eating the same food time and time again, a freshman faces many challenges in and out of the classroom.\nIt's no different for the IU freshman-four of D.J. White, Robert Vaden, A.J. Ratliff and James Hardy. They're just regular freshmen. They go to class. They eat the dorm food. But unlike most freshmen, they face pressures on and off the basketball court as well as in and out of the classroom.\nThey play an integral role on the IU men's basketball team. To put it in perspective, IU is one of only six teams in the country to regularly start three freshmen with White, Vaden and Ratliff. Coming off the bench, Hardy is one of the Hoosiers' key contributors despite playing football this fall, which slowed his offensive development.\nBut just like all freshmen, the freshman-four learn as they go along.\n"We're getting a lot of experience," Ratliff said. "We're learning from our mistakes early. We're going to have a real bright future at IU."
"He's got to know I've got his back"\nOn the court, they're learning each day. Practice at Assembly Hall is almost finished. The team is getting tired. Assistant coach Donnie Marsh is getting on him. \n"A.J., talk on defense, talk on defense," Marsh implored the freshman in a not-so subtle fashion during a scrimmage.\nRatliff began screaming at the top of his lungs.\n"I've got help side, help side, help side," Ratliff yelled as the ball was skipped from one corner of the court to Ratliff's man, senior guard Ryan Tapak. As Ratliff closed in, Tapak passed the ball inside, but Vaden cut in front and stole the pass.\nJob well done for two freshmen learning on the fly.\n"You've really got to be like that during the game with over-exaggerating," Ratliff said about talking on defense. "When there's 17,000 fans screaming and you need an offensive possession, you got Vaden fronting the big guy, you've got to know that I'm behind him.\n"He's got to know that I've got his back."\nAlthough the freshmen are currently in their second semester of college, they each admit their personal expectations of the college basketball experience have evolved from what they were in the preseason. They've all adopted different roles.\nRatliff has been a steady shooter who leads IU in three-point accuracy, hitting 42.9 percent from behind the arc. His long arms give him a big advantage on the defensive end as the Indianapolis native is second on the team in blocked shots while standing only 6 feet 2 inches. White has had a starting position from day one and has impressive numbers to show for it. He leads all freshmen in the Big Ten in scoring, blocked shots and field goal percentage -- setting himself up for consideration for Big Ten Freshman of the Year. His 23 points each in the past two games illustrate his expanding offensive role.\nWhite said the game's difficulty is the biggest difference in his mid-season evaluation.\n"It's 40 minutes of a war. Every second counts, every play counts," White said. "You can't take one off. What I've gained from the beginning of the season until now is to go hard for 40 minutes. Everybody's coming at you so you've got to be on your toes. You've got to be ready for anything."\nHardy started off the season slowly because of his transition from football to basketball. He saw his first significant action of the year against Kentucky and began to show his full potential with seven points on the road against Purdue.\nVaden, like White, has been starting from the outset. He's third on the team in scoring at 9.7 points per game and has battled all year against bigger players underneath.\n"I didn't expect the Big Ten to be as tough as it is," Vaden said. "The guys are strong, they're physical and they didn't call as many fouls as they did in non-conference play. I didn't expect it to be as tough as it is."\nOn the court, the learning process continues.
"We're together like that all the time"\nOff the court, the freshmen are often together; two of them even sleep in the same room. \nWhite and Vaden are roommates. White said before the season that he and Vaden were like brothers. Things haven't changed.\n"A lot of people tell me that every time they see me, they see Rob," White said. "We're together like that all the time. As far as James and A.J., whenever we go out, if we have time to, we're all together."\nBesides playing against Big Ten competition, the freshmen have had to battle another tough opponent -- travel -- and the time it takes away from their school work.\nWhite said balancing traveling and schoolwork requires adjustments when returning to Bloomington with reading and quizzes to complete.\n"The tough part is when you get back, all of the catching up you have to do," White said. "This is my first semester really doing that. Last semester we didn't travel any, I don't think, while we were in school. I'm just trying to get used to it right now. Trying to focus on both academics and basketball." \nOff the court, the learning process continues.
"We just want to play for now"\nMany IU fans see this season as a building block. With the freshman-four, the addition of Auburn transfers Marco Killingsworth and Lewis Monroe, and newcomers Ben Allen and Joey Shaw coupled with the rest of IU's returning players, the future looks bright in Bloomington.\nWith the team standing at 9-9 coming into tonight's game with Penn State, the freshmen see the urgency they have to play with if they want to get back into NCAA tournament contention.\nFor the freshman-four, they aren't ready to give up on their first season. To accomplish their goals like every freshman at IU, they'll have to pass a few tests. \n"Everybody's talking about the future," Vaden said, "but we just want to play for now."\n-- Contact Staff Writer John Rodgers at jprodger@indiana.edu.
