INDIANAPOLIS -- During IU's two games in the Big Ten Tournament March 11 and 12, two new heroes emerged for IU. Former walk-ons turned offensive sparks junior guards Ryan Tapak and Mark Johnson led the Hoosiers.\nComing off the bench, Tapak had six points and 11 assists while Johnson chipped in with a career-high 13 points in a first round win over Ohio State. Johnson led the team and set another career-high with 16 points the next day against then-No. 12 Illinois in the 71-59 loss that ended the Hoosiers season. Johnson scored 11 points all season.\n"This was a great tournament for us because it taught me so many things about what a basketball team is all about," IU coach Mike Davis said. "I thought Mark Johnson and Ryan Tapak and (junior forward) Mike Roberts did a great job of bringing some energy and emotion to this basketball team. We have all those guys back next year so it should be a great summer for them knowing that their coach is going to give them an opportunity to play if they work hard."\nIn the two games, Johnson was a combined 7-15 behind the arc and a perfect 8-8 from the foul line. After not getting much time during the season, Johnson said the tournament was a growing experience.\n"I know what I need to do this summer and next fall to become a leader on this team and what my role will be in the future," Johnson said. "We have a great core of players coming back and we just need to develop our underclassmen and have them understand what it means to wear the Indiana jersey. I think we have a lot to grow on, a lot to build on, and with that we'll be back next year."\nBoth Tapak and Johnson started the year as walk-ons, but Davis gave them scholarships midway through the season. With the possibility of five recruits coming in next year, there may not be enough scholarships to go around, leaving Tapak and Johnson out.\nJohnson said it doesn't matter if he has a scholarship or not and said he will give the same effort every time out. Davis said things always have a way of working themselves out and said Johnson and Tapak should have scholarships.\n"If they don't have a scholarship, then it's not going to change them," Davis said. "They're still going to fight as hard as they fought this year. That's the shame of it all. I rewarded them with a scholarship this year, and those parents couldn't thank me enough. It's just something that I had to experience for myself to understand it, and now I do."\nIU (14-15) needed at least two wins in the Big Ten Tournament to secure a trip to the National Invitational Tournament. The Hoosiers were tied with Illinois at 54 with 4:53 remaining, but the Illini closed the game on a 15-3 run.\n"It hurts because it comes down to pride," senior forward A.J. Moye said. "If we were 14-15, and we gave everything we had (this year), I'd be OK with that. But we didn't...The last couple of games don't hurt as bad because we battled. It was great to be on the floor with guys that I knew were going to battle."\nAfter their play in the tournament, the two guards will now have a chance to earn more minutes next season. Johnson said he knows he has a lot to work on this summer. \n"Whatever happens, happens. Next year is next year, and who knows what that could be." Johnson said. "All I can do is go out there and play with my heart every game; that's what coach Davis wants. And if you take shots and miss shots, he doesn't care about that. He just wants five guys to be out there and play with their hearts and to know what it means to represent Indiana."\nDavis said he thought about playing Tapak and Johnson earlier in the season. Johnson said he understands that Davis would want to go with the players he recruited. Davis said he should have rewarded those who worked hard in practice and got the job done.\n"When you go back and watch this team and think about the last two games, you saw a different basketball team then you've seen all year. There's no one to blame to me." Davis said. "If you think about our season, we lost games by two points, two points, two points and three points and never executed the whole game. We never played with that kind of passion. If we played anywhere like this during the season, I mean it's just a totally different basketball team."
Top recruit 50-50 about going pro\nAccording to The Associated Press highly touted IU signee Josh Smith said there was a 50 percent chance he would skip college and go straight to the NBA next season.\nSmith, a 6-foot-8, 214-pound senior at Virginia's Oak Hill Academy, is regarded as one of the nation's top high school players. He signed a national letter-of-intent with IU in November and was the biggest prize in what some analysts consider the nation's best recruiting class.\nBut the lure of being an NBA lottery pick, earning millions of dollars and collecting additional money from endorsements may be too hard to pass up.\n"I'm not sure yet," Smith told The Associated Press. "I'd say that it's 50-50 right now."\nSmith said he would wait to make a decision until after he finished playing in some high school all-star games, then intended to discuss the situation with his family and IU coach Mike Davis.\nThe Associated Press contributed to this story. \n-- Contact staff writer Tyler V. Hoeppner at thoeppne@indiana.edu.
