Family makes IU basketball special

During the offseason and so far in the preseason, the consensus by Hoosier fans, sports writers and college basketball experts is that IU’s depth and athleticism is what makes them the No. 1 team in the nation.

While those things certainly contribute, I’m here to respectfully tell those people they are wrong.

Dead wrong.

What will make IU the No. 1 team in the nation this year is the fact that they aren’t just the deepest and most athletic team, but also the No. 1 family in NCAA basketball.

If you spend even an hour around this team, you can see that there is not a group of 17 guys that cares about each other more than the guys wearing the candy stripes in Bloomington.

It’s contagious.

“We are a hard working team, and we got chemistry,” sophomore guard Remy Abell said after IU’s exhibition win against Indiana Wesleyan. “Nobody is selfish on the team, and nobody is trying to get theirs. Everyone is trying to win as a team and move forward as a team.”

Remy said it four times, but be prepared for the rest of the season.

This year, the word that you will always hear out of the mouth of any Hoosiers is team.
All 17 of IU’s players and all eight of the team’s coaches firmly believe in one another, whether that means believing in 7-foot preseason Player of the Year Cody Zeller or 5-foot-10-inch walk-on guard Jonny Marlin.

“Even our guys that aren’t on scholarship and are on the bench, they bring something to our team,” junior forward Will Sheehey said. “As long as you know what you bring to our team and you bring it every day, we will be a good team.”

Credit IU Coach Tom Crean and his staff for installing that team mentality into each of the Hoosiers’ hard drives.

The coaching staff has worked tirelessly to make the IU men’s basketball program a family again. It took time, but the road back to the top has been fulfilling for Crean.

“Every program in sports is preaching some kind of family, and that’s fine,” Crean said after an emotion-packed Hoosier Hysteria. “But it would be hard to look at what has happened here over the last few years, and the way everybody has stayed together and stuck through it, and not put (IU) at the top of the chain on what family in sports really means.”

The saying goes, “the family that prays together, stays together”. Well, this year IU has subscribed to the ideology of, “the family that plays together, stays together” — and it’s going to pay off.

For anyone in the building during the exhibition game against Indiana Wesleyan — junior guard Maurice Creek’s first back from injury — you could see the genuine satisfaction and happiness flowing from the Hoosiers’ bench every time Creek hit another shot.

Love was on display.

Love for a teammate that never stopped battling through the injuries.

Love from the coaches that never gave up on one of the few stars of Crean’s first three years.

And most importantly, love from the fans that always bleed cream and crimson and never gave up on the program.

Don’t think the players and coaches don’t notice how loud Assembly Hall has been this year.

“We want to thank our wonderful fans,” Abell said. “We have fans standing outside early in the morning for an exhibition game. This is one of the biggest nonconference crowds, and it’s amazing how the program has turned around.”

As more emotional moments like Hoosier Hysteria and Creek’s first game back rack up for IU this season, they will be made all the more special because IU basketball players and fans can share it together.

On and off of the court, family is what makes Indiana basketball No. 1 in the
nation.

­— mdnorman@indiana.edu