While Ryan and Eamonn mingled in the press room, I stayed above ground to catch everything that was happening on the court. Here's the rundown of tonight's events:
10:08 p.m. - The crowd got a first glimpse of some of the Hoosiers when D.J. White and a few other members of the men's team emerged from their locker room tunnel and peered out at the Assembly Hall crowd. Queen's "We Will Rock You" resounded through the stadium as the group of Hoosiers began dancing and cheering.
10:18 - The IU pep band began playing, with the cheerleaders on the court and the crowd on its feet. Assembly Hall's main level was nearly full as the IU fight song began playing. When the music ended, 'Er-ic Gor-don' chants echoed through Assembly Hall. The recruit stood up, cracked a smile and waved to the crowd, causing one of the loudest uproars of the night.
10:20-10:35 - D.J. White, Rod Wilmont, Earl Calloway, and Errek Suhr spoke to the media in the press room, along with coach Legette-Jack and several members of the women's basketball team.
10:52 - The lights dimmed down, and the scoreboard lit up as the women's team was introduced. When new IU women's basketball coach Felisha Legette-Jack was announced, she ran onto Branch McCracken Court, leaping up and down as she greeted her team. The Hoosiers huddled together at half court with the spotlight focused on them. Coach Legette-Jack took the microphone and asked the cream and crimson crowd for its support throughout the season. "We will bring championships to IU," she told them.
11:07 - The women's team's shoot-around ended and the three-point shootout began. Once again, 'Er-ic Gor-don' chants resounded through Assembly Hall. The contestant's included senior Carrie Smith, freshman Jamie Braun, senior Sarah McKay and junior Nikki Smith. Nikki Smith dominated the contest, making 15 shots in the first round and 14 in the final round.
11:24 - 'Er-ic Gor-don' chants started up again.
11:26 - The lights dimmed down, the crowd rose to its feet. They counted down the clock until the buzzer finally sounded. The words 'Get Hysetric' came across the scoreboard as the IU men's basketball team was announced. Junior forward D.J. White received the loudest ovation of all the players as he danced and threw his arms into the air. After the assistant coaching staff was announced, 'Kel-vin Samp-son' chants began, by far the loudest chants of the night. As Sampson reached halfcourt, the Hoosiers formed a circle, and jumped around their new coach.
11:35 - Sampson addressed the crowd. 'Kel-vin Samp-son' chants started up again, even louder than the first time. "I can't wait to see what you guys do when we win a championship," he told the Hoosier hopeful. Sampson first thanked IU President Adam Herbert and Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan for the opportunity to coach at IU. He then said there were three things IU needed to do in the future. "The first thing we're gonna do, we're gonna graduate our players," Sampson said, as the team stood in a row holding hands off to the side of him. "No. 2, we're gonna follow the rules and we're gonna do things right. And No. 3, we're gonna compete our butts off to make you proud of us every single night." After Sampson's speech, the team once again huddled together with Sampson in center.
11:41 - Both teams took floor with all the cheerleaders surrounding them and took part in a group dance. The crowd was then asked to get up on their feet and follow along in what was the "surprise" of the evening for fans in attendance. Both teams then led the crowd in "Indiana, Our Indiana." When they finished up, the men's team took the floor for drills.
11:55 - The men's team competed in their three-point contest. Once again, 'Er-ic Gor-don' chants started up. Senior Errek Suhr came out victorious in the contest, defeating freshman Armon Bassett 15-10 in the finals.
12:05 - The dunk contest contestants began to warmup, as the band began to play. Herbert, Legette-Jack and former Hoosier Kyle Hornsby sat in as the judges. All the contestants struggled to connect on their dunks throughout the competition. Finally, Sampson took the microphone and said, "This is the worst dunk contest I've ever seen in my life." He then declares Wilmont the winner "by process of elimination" and told D.J. White and A.J. Ratliff to come out onto the floor so everyone could see "some real dunkers." Ratliff lit up the crowd when he dunked over D.J. White, Calloway and Keeling in a repeat performance from last year's event.
12:23 - The men's team prepared to scrimmage as Sampson sat in on the ESPN broadcast. The White Team's starters included Calloway, Suhr, Mike White, Lance Stemler and Ben Allen. The Red Team started D.J. White, Joey Shaw, Xavier Keeling, Bassett and Wilmont.
The Red Team defeated the White Team 15-13 on seven points from freshman guard Armon Bassett. Freshman Joey Shaw chipped in four points. Most of the Hoosiers on the floor struggled to connect on their shots and put-back attempts, though both teams ran a fast-paced, up-and-down style and got out into some fastbreaks.
