Go back to Derek Elston’s senior night.
He stood in front of a jam-packed crowd of cream and crimson and reflected on how different Assembly Hall was just years earlier. He was a member of a program that went from begging people to fill the seats to having to kick fans out of Hoosier Hysteria to ensure safety.
“It was nothing like that my freshman year,” he said that night.
Elston kept discussing how difficult it would be to say goodbye to IU men’s basketball and all it gave him. He remembered being pulled out of class when IU Coach Tom Crean got hired and being told if he didn’t stay with his commitment, he would be making the worst decision of his life.
All of that seems fitting two and a half years later. He couldn’t quite say goodbye. He didn’t just stay for four years under Crean, as he’s coming back to the program to serve as director of player development.
Maybe Elston is proof that there is something special about those candy stripes.
Elston spent the past two seasons playing basketball overseas in places like Malta and Portugal.
What did he learn most in that time? Patience.
“Playing with guys like Cody, Vic, Jordy and C-Wat on a daily basis was something I took for granted,” Elston said.
Communicating with foreign players wasn’t as easy, and he said the skill level of some of his teammates made him realize playing at IU was a luxury.
So he’s back.
He’s in a position where he can help mentor and develop a team that has had its share of off-the-court issues in recent years.
Crean said he thinks Elston is perfect for the job because he is still near the age of most of the players at just 25 years old.
“Derek gets it on many levels,” Crean said. “Perhaps above all else, Derek understands and appreciates what Indiana basketball is.”
On senior night, he spoke of how he and his father, former North Carolina basketball player Darrell Elston, used to dream of Derek wearing 32 in front of a sea of Carolina blue, but he choked up when he said he was wearing 32 in front of a sea of cream and crimson instead.
As he continued to talk about his admittedly difficult relationship with his father, he thanked Crean for being that father figure in his life.
“You were there to keep my head on straight from the beginning,” Elston said.
Right in the moment when Elston found himself maybe getting his most emotional, Crean bolted over to hug Elston and hold his head down into his shoulder.
Although he left physically, Elston maintained a relationship with the program. He said he always made sure to ask if there was any way he could help. He would still come down for camps that parents asked him to go to.
Elston never quite left. IU will always be the school he has two degrees from — one of which a master’s in sports administration — and the place he helped rebuild a fallen program.
“Being back here means more than anyone could know.”
brodmill@indiana.edu
