UConn looks to double dip
Nov 19, 2003 1:53 amIU has something that most other big time men's basketball programs can't boast about -- a coach who is returning this season.
IU has something that most other big time men's basketball programs can't boast about -- a coach who is returning this season.
They were the stars of their high school teams, leading them to conference titles and state championships. One of them even grew up as the son of one of the NBA's most notable players in history.
There's one thing that won't be getting in the way of a good season for the men's basketball team: team chemistry. "Last year you could see it on the court," freshman guard Roderick Wilmont said. "Everybody wanted to be the superstar and shot the ball. This year everybody has to do their part."
They've been through it all. When former IU coach Bob Knight was fired, they were there. When coach Mike Davis took over as head coach, they were there.
Winning on the road in the Big Ten isn't easy. IU learned that lesson first hand last season. The Hoosiers lost seven of eight Big Ten road games last season to finish out the conference season 8-8.
I hope there is someone on campus with interest in putting a DeLorean up for sale, preferably one with a working flux capacitor. With the recruiting class that will be arriving in Bloomington next year, it would be much more convenient for me to skip over this year and watch the most highly touted IU team in a very long time.
Sometimes, the scariest movies don't let you see the thing you are afraid of. Typically, our own fear-inducing imaginations scare us a lot more than what's revealed explicitly. Who hasn't been home alone at night and associated every little noise they heard with an intruder in the house? Well, Mark Pellington, director of "Mothman Prophecies," understands this philosophy. Seeing is sometimes not nearly as scary as imagining.
Bob Knight sat on his back porch Wednesday morning with his attorney to his left and one of his best friends to his right. His wife Karen was inside their home. These are now the people he surrounds himself with ' family, friends and attorneys. These are the relationships the former coach has sustained. After about three days of "I-said-he-said" debates, a man who is arguably one of the country's greatest basketball coaches, was fired. But the tension began long ago.
Solutions by The State News