Memories sting from last season's fall

Richard Nixon was president of the United States. The U.S. had just landed on the moon. The Vietnam War was raging in Southeast Asia. \nThe year was 1970. The IU basketball team had a losing season, finishing 7-17. Little did anyone know it would take 34 years before the feat was accomplished again.\nBut in 2004, it happened. The tradition-rich IU basketball program finished 14-15. The home of five national championship banners and 20 Big Ten championships, the team that plays its games at hallowed Assembly Hall, spent spring break at home.\nNinety-seven other programs advanced to the NCAA tournament or the NIT last season. The IU Hoosiers were not one of them and weren't close to being the 98th team.\nAll of this is not lost on the Hoosiers. IU coach Mike Davis, who received a lot of heat after last season's performance, said last year's team lacked the experience to compete consistently in the Big Ten.\n"When you look at our team last year, we lost Kyle Hornsby, we lost Tom Coverdale, Jeff Newton," Davis said. "Bracey was a guy returning who averaged 14 or 15 points, but George Leach was a guy who never started on a regular basis. A.J. Moye's never started. Donald Perry's never started. Sean Kline never started. You have four or five guys that've never started at this level. Then, you ask them to play and it was all new to them." \nSophomore Roderick Wilmont was one of those young players asked to play often in a reserve role. Wilmont said IU has learned its lesson.\n"Look at the season we had last year," Wilmont said. "Why would you not go out and play hard? (If not), we're gonna end up like we were last season. This year, it's not going to happen. The guys out there are the ones that are going to win the game by playing hard."\nCompetition in games and in practice is shaping up to be a theme for this year's Hoosiers. Davis continually harps on its improvement, and the returning players are quick to point out the differences in last year's practices compared to this year's.\nThe new influx of talent courtesy of five new freshmen and the late emergence of walk-ons Ryan Tapak and Mark Johnson last season and Errek Suhr in the preseason gives Davis some flexibility on who will see the floor.\n"There's going to be some competition to get some playing time this year," Wilmont said. "There's not going to be like oh, you have to play."\nWhen the Hoosiers look at their schedule of opponents, the competition really picks up the first day of December when the highly ranked University of North Carolina rolls into Assembly Hall. That's the beginning of a brutal six-game stretch featuring a trip to defending national champion UConn, a home date with Notre Dame, the traditional border war with Kentucky, at Missouri and at home versus Charlotte.\nLast year, IU faced six consecutive NCAA tournament teams during its non-conference schedule. The same could happen in 2004.\n"That December schedule, in my opinion, might be the toughest in the country," freshman D.J. White said. "We take care of business, we'll be OK. We've got a lot of tough match-ups. We just work hard and prepare for it, I think we'll be OK."\nThe Hoosiers working hard to prepare for the upcoming challenges are a group of familiar faces and big-eyed youngsters. Junior Bracey Wright returns for his third year starting. Wright was named to the Preseason All-Big Ten team by the media prior to the season.\nWright is joined by backcourt mate junior Marshall Strickland for the pair's second straight year as a starting duo. \nFreshmen Robert Vaden and White are expected to start along with Wright and Strickland with a nucleus of other Hoosiers vying for the fifth and final front court starting position. \nLeading the list is junior Sean Kline and sophomore Pat Ewing Jr. Kline is returning from last year's season-ending knee injury. Ewing, who scored 22 points in IU's exhibition win versus Bellarmine, could also step in and start.\nIU's lack of inside presence hampered the Hoosiers last season. So Davis brought in assistant coach Kerry Rupp. Rupp has taken on the responsibility of working with the Hoosier big men.\nDavis also added former Florida International University head coach Donnie Marsh to the staff.\nThe old faces know what happened last year. The new one's have heard about it. And with the season approaching, the Hoosiers hope to start a new 34-year streak.\n"This year I think we have a great memory of what happened last year," Davis said. "But only time will tell."\n-- Contact sports editor John Rodgers at jprodger@indiana.edu.