Column: Tuesday could be a well deserved send-off

Could you ask for a more fitting way to send off a senior class that persevered through a 22-41 record in their first two seasons than a chance to lead the IU program to its first outright Big Ten championship since 1992-93?

When the Hoosiers’ senior class, now composed of Derek Elston, Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford, began their careers at IU four long years ago, few people could imagine an end like this.

Elston, Hulls, Watford and even Maurice Creek were supposed to lay the foundation. They weren’t supposed to build the palace and claim the metaphorical penthouse labeled “the class that brought IU back.”

They are moving closer to that goal, and it wouldn’t have happened without Coach Tom Crean and his coaching staff piecing together other high-quality, winning players to pair with this hungry senior group.

The value of putting winners together should not be underestimated, because it takes a certain type of person to sacrifice individual glory for team achievements.

“There’s no question that they felt great last night when they knew the scores of the two games,” Crean said. “But in true fashion of them, and the way that they’ve been, we were 20 minutes into practice and they just moved right on ... It’s all about Ohio State.”

The Hoosiers’ success come from the way their focused, competitive drives fit together, bit by bit, like a stained glass window.

Rosters full of talent sometimes have problems with team chemistry, but not IU, because of the high character and leadership that defines each player on the roster — from top to bottom.

As the biggest IU basketball fan I know said, “IU got the right guys, with the right coach, at the right University, at the right time.”

They are a team, not a group of individuals, and that is why this group is on the verge of a Big Ten championship, as well as becoming one of the most-loved IU basketball teams of all time.

It’s a team full of role models that makes you ask, “How can you not root for a group of guys who embody everything Coach Crean was talking about in his ‘It’s Indiana’ introduction speech five years ago?”

Bloomington needed this team, which is why watching this season’s final game at Assembly Hall is going to be like watching your child’s car pull out of the driveway for the last time on the way to college.

Even if you know there are bigger and better things waiting ahead, it’s hard, even heartbreaking, to say goodbye to something that has brought you so much pride and happiness.

It’s hard to say goodbye to the people who make this team special.

Obviously, we know Tuesday will be the last time we will see Hulls, Watford and Elston playing on Branch McCracken court, but who else will be playing their final game at Assembly Hall?

Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller are the two names that come to mind right away.

Throughout the season, Oladipo has exploded into a top-10 prospect on many NBA scouts’ lists. At the moment, Oladipo is projected to be an NBA lottery pick, which might be too much for the junior to turn down.

As for Zeller, conventional wisdom says the preseason player of the year, who was considered a top-10 pick before the season, used this year to get better before making a jump to the NBA after his sophomore season.

Time will tell if these non-seniors will leave, but it’s a possibility.

With that in mind, there will not be a dry eye or a clear voice left in Assembly Hall by midnight Wednesday.

It will be the last time IU fans get to see this extraordinary group together.

No more “Wat-Shots” or three-balls from Elston or Hulls.

As Watford’s mother, Belinda Watford, said, it’s going to be a happy and sad moment for everyone there — parents, players and fans.

What makes the emotional overload worth bearing is the fact that the stage on which the Hoosiers can accomplish something great could not get any bigger.

The road to this point could not have been any harder.

And most importantly, the seniors who stuck through thick and thin could not be more deserving of the moment they believed in.

Time passes and things change, but moments like tonight will last forever.

Prediction:

Ohio State is not a team that will roll over during another team’s senior night, which is why the Hoosiers need to avoid getting too hyped up before this game.

The Buckeyes are a strong defensive team that can get a lot of consecutive stops that are catalysts for large offensive runs.

If IU comes out sharp, the Hoosiers should be able to repeat what they did on the road in Columbus, Ohio, last month, but that’s no guarantee.

The Hoosiers’ defense can be just as stingy as OSU’s, but the biggest difference is IU’s scoring depth.

After Deshaun Thomas, the Buckeyes don’t have consistent scoring threats that can generate the high offensive outputs. Lenzelle Smith Jr. (10.3 points per game) is the only OSU player averaging in double figures besides Thomas.

Riding the wave of the emotionally charged Assembly Hall crowd, IU will force the Buckeyes players not named Deshaun to win the game.

In the end, the magnitude of the night, the significance of a victory and the pride of a senior class will be too much for Ohio State to handle.

IU wins 87-73.

­— mdnorman@indiana.edu