Junior forward Freddie McSwain Jr. scored four points on two shots. The Hoosiers shot 40 percent from the field for the game. Northwestern had 11 turnovers.
There are a lot of statistics I can throw at you, and honestly, they don’t matter.
We traveled to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for a basketball game, and we stayed for a proposal.
IU beat Northwestern on Saturday, but that was the least important part that night.
Senior forward Collin Hartman went through the motions after the game for his senior speech. He thanked different personnel around the athletics department, teared up a little and gave a salute to the fans that stuck with him over the past four years.
It seemed like it was going to be your run-of-the-mill Assembly Hall senior send-off. Some laughs, some tears and some hugs. Then Hartman said five words.
“All right, here we go.”
These five words began a monologue that lasted almost three minutes in which he spoke about the trials and tribulations of his courtship of IU senior cheerleader Hayley Daniel. It concluded with Hartman on his knee holding a ring and Daniel sobbing and nodding.
He had the proposal planned out for about three months. He had told only a few confidants, including IU Coach Tom Crean, a few of Daniel’s friends and a select group of teammates.
The win that preceded the speech may have been more important for Hartman than anyone else in the arena, but if the Hoosiers fell to Northwestern, the proposal was still happening.
“I had faith in my guys,” Hartman told the Indiana Daily Student at Buffa Louie’s. “We’ve had a rough season, but these guys keep fighting, and I had faith in them. Because we’ve got true love, and I love those guys like my family, my brothers. I knew they got my back.”
It’s been a topsy-turvy year for IU basketball, to say the least, but this instant brought us all back to reality. Basketball, as important as it may seem, doesn’t truly matter. What does matter are the people and the experiences we shared together.
We reasonably get irritated, screech and shout, call for changes and break down people as if they’re just computer-generated Sims, but, that one moment reminds us all that there are moments more important than what happened in the 40 minutes of game-time.
Perhaps the transcending moment was that of Hartman’s teammates losing it when he took the ring.
“Yeah, that was hilarious,” he said. “Those dudes are something else. That’s for sure.”
Late-night diners at Buffa Louie’s were greeted with an unexpected surprise when owner Ed Schwartzman announced that Hartman and his family would be arriving shortly to celebrate the senior’s IU career and new engagement.
Red and white balloons were tied along the staircase leading to the second floor of the restaurant, where family and friends were gathered to greet the happy couple with wings from an iconic Bloomington establishment.
It may sound sappy, but damn, if that proposal to put a close to the first season of the renovated Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall doesn’t make you feel things, then you’re a monster. It’s that simple.
Somehow Hartman, in possibly his last home game wearing the candy stripes, outshined a contest that was won on an and-one dunk in the final seconds.
“It’s been a crazy ride with this girl,” Hartman said seconds before getting the ring from his mother during his speech. “I love her more than I can explain. So, if you ...”
He never finished the sentence. The only word left that mattered was “yes.”
gigottfr@indiana.edu
@gott31
