IU won a basketball game Monday night. It beat Texas Southern like it was supposed to, 83-64. Freshman guard Rob Johnson looked great, junior guard Kevin “Yogi” Ferrell looked like Yogi. Things went according to plan.
But the most interesting thing came after the game was played. It was in a little room down a hallway away from Branch McCracken Court where press conferences take place.
Texas Southern Coach Mike Davis is no stranger to IU. He spent the years 2000-06 as coach of the Hoosiers, and he led IU to its most recent Final Four appearance in 2002.
During the press conference, Davis sat in the red chair with a giant IU logo under him. After being run out of town for his mediocre teams, he went to the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
Now, he coaches at Texas Southern. His gym has two baskets for his players to take shots on. That was one of the luxuries of coming to play this game at IU — they have six.
Everything he said was pure class. This was a man who was heavily ridiculed — at least by my fifth-grade math teacher — at the end of his tenure.
And that’s the point of IU basketball. Fans are so passionate about this program. Former IU players, who are often overseas, watch the games and offer their opinions on Twitter. Everybody who is involved with the IU program cares about it.
But I always wondered how the coach, the man being criticized, feels about the IU program.
Turns out, at least in Mike Davis’ case, he thinks it’s pretty special, too.
He was asked to reminisce about his time at IU. He spoke of his son, Antoine. He hopes he can play for IU some day.
He spoke of how both of his sons still call Bloomington home.
He spoke of when his family left Bloomington, Antoine would cry everyday, wanting to go back.
He spoke of how he owes IU everything he’s gotten in his career. Before the game and during the introductions, IU fans gave him a standing ovation. “I owe them a standing ovation,” he said after the game.
He said when you walk into Assembly Hall, you look up in the rafters and see all the banners, “It’s mind ?blowing.”
He talked about talking to the radio voice of IU basketball, Don Fischer, before the game. “It was just like old times,” Davis said.
He spoke about driving down from the Indianapolis airport. His mother passed away three years ago, he said, and when he passed his house, he thought of her coming down to visit when he coached the Hoosiers.
The IU basketball program matters to a lot of people. It matters to the fans, to the former players and the current players.
It’s good to know it matters to Mike Davis, too.
ehoopfer@indiana.edu
