INDIANAPOLIS — At 4:35 p.m. Friday, two fans walked next to each other through the tunnel toward the north concourse in Butler University’s Hinkle Fieldhouse.
One wore Yogi Ferrell’s purple Sacramento Kings No. 3 jersey, which he last put on in 2020, while the other wore Ferrell’s white No. 11 Indiana men’s basketball jersey, eight years after his final collegiate contest. Two sections behind them, a child wearing Ferrell’s red No. 11 jersey leaned against a railing, preparing to follow suit out of the tunnel.
The catch?
Ferrell, one of the most decorated players in Indiana men’s basketball history and the program’s all-time assist leader, wasn’t in either of the two games that had been played in the three-and-a-half-hour session the fans attended. He wasn’t in the next game, either.
Instead, Ferrell was a part of the nightcap, playing at 8 p.m. for Indiana’s alum team Assembly Ball in The Basketball Tournament, a single-elimination, winner-take-all event that gives $1 million to the champions.
Fans filed back into Hinkle Fieldhouse as early as 5 p.m. in advance of the game before Assembly Ball’s — but as Julian Gamble, one of Ferrell’s new teammates, said afterwards, the crowd was a sea of red out to support the former Hoosiers.
Ferrell and Assembly Ball arrived at Hinkle Fieldhouse shortly after 6 p.m., and after passing through security checkpoints, they moved to an upper section to watch part of the game taking place.
Half an hour later, the group was all business. Ferrell followed a line of teammates spearheaded by general manager Christian Watford through the north concourse into Assembly Ball’s locker room at 6:35 p.m.
Ferrell’s locker sat two chairs out of the only occupied corner in the room. Former University of Oklahoma guard Kristian Doolittle’s locker was on the right, while he had a vacant spot to his left.
After changing from street clothes to warmup apparel, Ferrell departed the locker room at 7 p.m., taking a trio of left turns to enter the west concourse. He donned a red Assembly Ball shirt with white shorts and black Adidas socks.
He stopped for a photo with a fan before continuing his journey to Efroymson Family Gym, the shootaround facility located inside Hinkle Fieldhouse. For 25 minutes, Ferrell, with white AirPods in his ears, put up jump shots as players from both Assembly Ball and The Cru, the opposition made of Valparaiso University alums, loosened before tipoff.
At 7:26 p.m., Ferrell left the practice gym with Watford on his right shoulder. Immediately upon his exit, Ferrell stopped for selfies and autographs. As he walked back to Assembly Ball’s locker room, Ferrell’s celebrity status became eminent, dishing out fist bumps to a lengthy line of fans waiting at a concession stand.
“There goes Yogi,” one fan said as Ferrell passed by.
Two minutes after he first stepped foot out of Efroymson Family Gym, Ferrell arrived at the door to enter the locker room — but not before taking one more picture.
Ferrell and Assembly Ball listened to one final pregame speech from head coach Adam Ross at 7:45 p.m. and gathered at the exit of their tunnel right before storming onto the court.
The team huddled and shouted, “Together.” Ferrell broke free and the rest of Assembly Ball’s roster and staff followed suit. Many of the 4,000 fans in the crowd stood up and cheered.
For the next 10 minutes, Assembly Ball warmed up. Then, at 8:03 p.m., a moment last experienced eight years ago: Ferrell was announced in the starting lineup to perhaps the loudest ovation of anyone, or anything, Friday night.
“It was an amazing feeling,” Ferrell told the Indiana Daily Student after the game. “Coming out, putting the candy stripes on before the game, being out here warming up, hearing the Indiana songs — man, I'm getting chills.”
Fittingly, four minutes later, Ferrell connected on a deep 3-pointer from the right wing to give Assembly Ball its first bucket — ever.
“When that first three went down, I was like, ‘Man, it's going to be a good night,’” Ferrell said.
Over the next hour and a half, his intuition proved accurate.
Later in the first half, he hit another 3-pointer, holding up three fingers while staring directly into the phone-based camera crew setup for Barstool influencer Mantis, who was an honorary member of The Cru. Ferrell’s triple gave him 13 of Assembly Ball’s 33 points just under 12 minutes into the game.
By halftime, Ferrell had 18 points on five-of-seven shooting, while his four assists led to 9 additional points.
At 9:49 p.m., Ferrell stood at midcourt, his hands clapping, his eyes shifting upward to watch as a basketball soared into the Hinkle Fieldhouse rafters. He high fived teammates Tyrell Terry and Juwan Morgan.
Assembly Ball had just won its inaugural game, taking an 89-79 victory over The Cru. Ferrell finished as the game’s leading scorer with 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. He also dished out a game-high six assists.
As each winner had done before, Assembly Ball placed its logo on the bracket board located a few feet off the court by the south concourse. Naturally, Ferrell did the honors, hoisting the placard above his head, prompting one more eruption from the crowd.
Thereafter, Ferrell departed to Assembly Ball’s locker room, capping his first night back in the candy stripes since March 25, 2016 — but as Morgan said postgame, it was a vintage performance from Ferrell, who picked up right where he left off.
“Strong, fast and makes shots that are insane look normal,” said Morgan, who played with Ferrell at Indiana in 2015-16. “He’s the same Yogi.”
Twenty minutes later, Ferrell re-emerged from the locker room. He wasn’t Ferrell, the basketball player, anymore — he was the husband, the brother, the son and the friend to approximately two dozen who waited to celebrate with him.
At 10:30 p.m., Ferrell walked to the south concourse, leaving Hinkle Fieldhouse and officially ending a night he never thought would come.
“I wasn't thinking about the TBT even two years after I graduated,” Ferrell said. “So, just to get this opportunity again is something special — I can't give that up.”
Daniel Flick covers Indiana football and men’s basketball for the Indiana Daily Student. Follow him on X @ByDanielFlick, or reach him via email at DanFlick@iu.edu.
