Hoosier Hysteria not just for fans, but recruits

Hall of Fame football coach Vince Lombardi has often been credited with coining the quote, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.”

He makes a good point, and it’s one that many teams take to heart. But when it comes to building an entire program – or in this case, rebuilding it – winning isn’t necessarily the “only thing.”

After all, NCAA attendance figures from the 2008-09 season show IU averaged 14,331 fans per home game at Assembly Hall despite an overall 6-25 record. NCAA runner-up Michigan State, meanwhile, averaged 14,759 at the Breslin Center, only 428 more fans per game.

These days, maybe more than ever, it isn’t always about winning the most games. For programs looking to return to national prominence such as IU, what may be most important is attracting the players who ultimately can lead to that winning.

Sure, the teams with the best records and recent NCAA Tournament success have an inherent advantage, but for guys like IU freshmen Maurice Creek and Christian Watford – former four-star recruits with plenty of options – there was clearly more to it.

They surely had some idea of the uphill battle their future team would face in 2008-09. 

But recruiting is a cyclical process. Programs recruit players, build up their teams and ultimately reach some level of success, all the while recruiting younger talent to replace outgoing players. And this goes on and on. 

IU coach Tom Crean, who is actively recruiting while simultaneously coaching a young team, is going to have to rely on more than just his team’s win-loss record in order to draw major talent – at least for the next year or two. 

As much as Hoosier Hysteria is about getting fans excited for IU basketball, it’s equally a major recruiting tool.

So tonight, Hoosier fans – students especially – have an opportunity to make an impact on the numerous prospects in attendance.

“When you bring recruits in for this, they’re not looking to come to a half- to three-quarter-filled building that has moderate energy,” Crean said at a press conference last week. “They’re looking at the people we’re recruiting against right now. They can go to their environment and see something fantastic, too. We want this to be top of the line, a major league event, and that’s what we’re looking forward to.” 

Last season, an estimated 10,000 fans made it out to Hoosier Hysteria – almost nothing compared to some other marquee programs.

Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness – which sold out its 23,500 tickets in a mere 45 minutes – and Kansas’ Late Night in the Phog events have recently become two of the nation’s premier “Midnight Madness” events. But that’s not just because Kentucky and Kansas will contend for the national title this year.

Instead, it’s because they will be bringing out the stars. Four- and five-star recruits, that is. 

And when considering the full list of prospects that will be at both Rupp Arena and Allen Fieldhouse tonight, together these perennial powers will essentially be hosting more future NBA talent than a Los Angeles Clippers exhibition game. This doesn’t even include the potential pros on their current rosters. 

Just two years ago, Devin Ebanks, Lance Stephenson and Dexter Strickland were all in attendance for Hoosier Hysteria. That’s one potential 2010 NBA Draft lottery pick and two recent McDonald’s All-Americans with NBA aspirations of their own.

If IU wants to once again pull in those types of recruits, Assembly Hall needs to be packed with 17,000 fans every night this season, showing that IU isn’t simply a has-been program feeding off its past successes.

For now, that means showing up, being rowdy and making a big impression on every guest who steps inside the building tonight. 

We know “It’s Indiana,” but for Crean, it’s going to take more than five hanging banners to communicate to these high school athletes what IU is about.  
And it starts with the students.

“At these events, we need the students to be there in full force because they bring an energy that is unmatched,” said Pat Kraft, IU’s senior assistant athletics director for marketing. “We’re proud of our student body and our student athletes, and we want to show that. There’s no better way than to have a ruckus crowd, people fired up.”