Column: Saying goodbye to the seniors

Some were long and some were short. But each one of the four seniors who took the microphone Wednesday night gave speeches that reminded us how relatable they really are.

Taylor Wayer went first and was the longest. His nine minute and 32-second speech had the Hoosier Nation dabbing their eyes with their handkerchiefs many times.

Sheehey was the shortest. Despite being a cornerstone for the rebuilding process of the IU program, he only wanted 48 seconds to say his thank you.

The people in the stands of Assembly Hall who heard the seniors speak will remember some of the stories their beloved players told.

We’ll remember Wayer threatening potential suitors of his little sister. He looked at his sister, who is getting older and, “is now Miss Popular at school with all the boys chasing you.”

Taylor’s sister put her hand over her face. She was embarrassed by her brother, as any sister would be in that circumstance.

We’ll remember Evan Gordon giving his teammate, Jeff Howard, some good spirited flack. Their high school alma maters — North Central for Gordon and Westfield for Howard — were facing each other in post-season play Wednesday night.

“My brothers couldn’t be here,” Gordon said. “Eron just got done beating up on Westfield.”

We’ll remember Howard, the man graduating from the Kelley School of Business with two degrees and a 3.42 GPA.

He shared his father’s urging that Howard needs to find a job after graduation in May.

“He wants me to get one of those as soon as possible,” Howard said. “So he can stop paying all my bills.”

We’ll remember Will Sheehey’s speech lasting only 48 seconds, a speech given by a certain Hoosier fans will never forget.

We’ll never forget the final line of Sheehey’s speech.

“I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Sheehey said into the microphone. He was standing on Branch McCracken Court wearing the patented button-up warmup shirt and candy-striped pants. “Because I have the best teammates in the world, the best coaches in the world, the best family in the world and I played at the best university in the world. Thank you.”

Each player had Indiana written across their chest this year. This made it OK to say things about them to each other that we’d never say to them in person.

But as each of the seniors stood facing the crowd, giving their farewell speeches while facing the five championship banners with their families behind them, it reminded us of something.

These are real people. They’re human. They act, feel and emote just as us non-basketball players do.

So goodbye to the four players. But most importantly, goodbye to four people who gave their all to better Indiana basketball.

­ehoopfer@indiana.edu
@EvanHoopfer