An Ode to Yogi Ferrell

We are not worthy.

Sophomore guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell put on a virtuoso performance Sunday. It was maybe the best two-way showing an IU player has had this season.

In this season, laden with inconsistent play that makes fans want to pull their hair out, this IU team did it again when it shocked the college basketball world.

IU (14-8, 4-5) defeated No. 10 Michigan (16-5, 8-1) yesterday 63-52.

And when IU knocked off Michigan, who was previously undefeated in the Big Ten, Ferrell carried the team on his back.

Both on offense and defense, Ferrell played out of his mind.

He was 7-for-8 from behind the arc en route to a game-high 27 points.

Michigan Coach John Beilein adjusted to a 1-3-1 zone late in the game to try and cool down Ferrell, but it didn’t work.

“We had no answers for Yogi,” Beilein said. “He wasn’t passing it. They only had six assists today. It wasn’t an assist game. It was, ‘Get the ball into Yogi’s hands.’”

No defensive scheme could defeat Ferrell. If he had playing NBA JAM, the ball would have been flaming the entire second half.

Perhaps even more impressive was his defensive performance.

Ferrell had the job of guarding the 6-foot-6 sharpshooter Nik Stauskas. Stauskas was averaging 18.6 points a game in the Big Ten.

Stauskas finished with six points.

Four of those points came from free throws. He was 1-for-6 from the field.

So not only was Ferrell keeping the Hoosiers afloat on offense, he was suffocating one of the conference’s best scorers on defense.

Ferrell needs the credit he deserves. Freshman forward Noah Vonleh is the team’s most NBA-ready player. And he was no scrub either Sunday, boasting 10 points and 12 rebounds in 30 minutes.

But this is Ferrell’s team.

Hell, this is Ferrell’s state.

Coming into this season, Ferrell needed to become the No. 1 scoring option. And he did. Last year, he was a 30 percent 3-point shooter.

This year he’s an absurd 44 percent from behind the arc. That number is even more staggering when you consider he’s taken the bulk of shots, and teams’ game plans revolve around stopping the Indianapolis native.

And don’t forget about his mad handles.

With a little more than 12 minutes remaining, Ferrell crossed his defender up at the top of the key so bad Assembly Hall was filled with “ooh’s” and “ahh’s.” He finished at the rim to give IU a 37-31 lead.

Ferrell is the perfect leader for this team. He’s a scrappy, hard-nosed hustler who exudes confidence. He is the player IU fans identify with.

If you walk past a court where guys are playing pickup basketball, they try to emulate his moves and yell, “Yogi!” as they attempt a pull-up 3-pointer.

He’s the player your mom remembers, partly because she likes rooting for the little guy — he’s 6-feet tall — and partly because he has a cool name.

He’s the player little kids in Indiana watch and then go out in 40 degree weather to practice their crossover. To be just like Yogi.

He’s the player who won this game.

Although Vonleh may be the most talented Hoosier, Ferrell is the most valuable.
Nobody can come to a consensus on what a Hoosier actually is.

But everybody knows Yogi Ferrell is a Hoosier in the truest sense of the word.

-ehoopfer@indiana.edu