IU Coach Tom Crean was visually upset when talking about senior leader Collin Hartman. The ninth-year head coach got emotionally choked up when giving details about the injury his senior had sustained.
The 6-foot-7 forward went down more than a week ago in practice after suffering a left knee injury that required surgery in a non-contact drill. There’s no timetable set for Hartman’s return, so Crean now has to explore alternate leadership options for his inexperienced team.
“With Collin going down, it’s hard,” Crean said. “I just love that kid. That young guy was putting so much into getting ready to be our senior leader, and we’re going to need that right now. The level of toughness that he has is just incredible.”
With IU losing point guard Yogi Ferrell and four other seniors because of graduation and Troy Williams foregoing his senior year to enter the NBA draft, Hartman was the guy to turn to for the 2016-2017 IU men’s basketball team.
[Men's basketball recovering from multiple offseason injuries | IDS]
Hartman’s career statistics may not particularly blow anyone away. He averaged just five points a game last season, but he leads by his actions and toughness on the court.
The Carmel, Indiana, native played the final three games of the season in the NCAA tournament with a broken right wrist and was one of the Hoosiers’ most fundamentally sound players on the court.
“The only time he used his right hand before the North Carolina game was when they put the shot in him,” Crean said. “He does so many things for us with moving without the ball and making plays. We put together offensive and defensive concept tapes, not highlight tapes, and he’s probably 70 percent of the clips.”
Without Hartman, the junior guard combo of Robert Johnson and James Blackmon Jr. realistically makes the most sense for the Hoosiers to tap as on-court leaders.
Although Blackmon missed all of conference play last season due to knee surgery, he and Johnson are the only two upperclassmen, aside from Hartman, to see playing time in every game they were healthy for last year.
The two of them also spent the last two seasons learning leadership skills from Ferrell. They will look to lead this club, which has four transfers and four freshmen.
With IU starting official practice last Friday, Crean said he is excited to move forward with his young group of guys to build off of what the veterans like Ferrell, Williams, Max Bielfeldt and Nick Zeisloft did last year.
Crean said the only thing the team can do to get better, is by working with one another to have good team defense, move the ball quickly and the have the ability to move without the ball.
“The exciting part is that we get to keep building on that as we go,” Crean said. “I have no idea how many steps it’s going to take for us to get there and be good, but they’re there.”
As for Hartman, Crean and the Hoosiers will be there to support him in his recovery process to make sure he remains a leader and key part of the team, especially when he returns to the court.
“No matter what happens with this right now, I hope that he just continues to build that leadership and mindset that he can overcome anything and can bring a lot of value,” Crean said. “And at the same time we’re going to bring a lot of value to him in the sense of helping him through tough days.”
