Three seasons ago, the Indiana men's basketball team suffered its worst season in program history, going 6−25 overall and 1−17 in conference play. The Hoosiers' situation was only worsened, however, by the NCAA's decision to impose a three−year probation on the program due to recruiting violations committed by former head coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff, which led to a depleted roster.
Those 2008−2009 Hoosiers were one of the youngest teams in the country with nine freshmen, two sophomores, four juniors and just one senior. Under first−year coach Tom Crean, who had taken the Indiana job after nine successful seasons at Marquette, the Hoosiers struggled mightily and went 1−15 in non−home games — their only road win coming in the seventh−place game of the Maui Invitational against Div. II Chaminade.
In Big Ten play, Indiana competed hard but simply lacked the talent to keep up in most games, leading to a series of embarrassing defeats: a 31−point loss to Illinois, a 24−point loss to Ohio State and a 28−point defeat at the hands of Michigan State. The Hoosiers' lone Big Ten win came at home on Feb. 4 against Iowa, which went 15−17 overall and finished second−to−last in the conference.
Clearly, Indiana basketball, one of the most storied programs in the country, had reached rock bottom and needed serious rebuilding to even compete in the Big Ten again. More importantly, Crean needed to convince top high school prospects that they should come to Bloomington, Ind., to help restore the program to its past glory, which includes eight Final Four appearances and five national championships.
Although the Hoosiers did improve, the progress has been very slow — from six wins in 2008−2009 to 10 in 2009−2010 to 12 this past season — which created many doubters among the Hoosier faithful. For some of the most die−hard college basketball fans in the country, it was simply unacceptable for any Indiana coach to go three seasons without an NCAA tournament appearance. During that time, the Hoosiers went 28−66 overall and 8−46 in the conference, results unheard of at a place with such rich basketball tradition.
Crean, however, was unfazed by his team's drought, and he slowly improved his squad by bringing in strong recruiting classes. According to Rivals.com, in 2009 Crean sealed the No. 11 recruiting class, a group that included guards Jordan Hulls and Maurice Cheek and forward Christian Watford. The next offseason, he secured commitments from guards Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey. Leading up to this season, Crean added forward Cody Zeller, the younger brother of North Carolina's Tyler Zeller and perhaps Indiana's most important recruit during Crean's tenure.
All of Crean's efforts to bring in highly−ranked high school players and develop them into great college players finally seemed to pay off for Indiana on Saturday. Facing No. 1 Kentucky in an annual rivalry game, the Hoosiers fought back late to upset the Wildcats 73−72 in one of the most exciting college basketball games of the season. It was the program's first win over a No. 1 team since Indiana beat Duke in the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
The upset would not have happened without several late mistakes by the Wildcats. Up 71−70 with less than 20 seconds to play, Kentucky freshman forward Anthony Davis missed the front end of a one−and−one. Fourteen seconds later, sophomore guard Doron Lamb made one of two foul shots to give the Wildcats a 72−70 lead with 5.6 seconds to play.
Then, Indiana senior guard Verdell Jones dribbled into the front court and flipped the ball back to an open Watford, who made his fourth three−pointer of the game to give the Hoosiers a miraculous 73−72 win at the buzzer. Watford led Indiana with an efficient 20 points, shooting 8−for−15 from the field including 4−for−6 from behind the arc.
More importantly, however, Indiana's win signaled the arrival of a program that has improved dramatically from its awful 2008−2009 season. The Hoosiers are now 9−0 overall and have a real chance of beginning their conference season with a perfect record, assuming they can beat Notre Dame, Howard, and Maryland−Baltimore County (UMBC). If Indiana can continue to play this consistently, it will build a strong case for an NCAA tournament berth in just Crean's fourth season in Bloomington.
In a sports world where coaching changes are becoming increasingly common, Crean and his Indiana staff deserve credit for sticking with the program, doing a masterful job of rebuilding and progressing slowly but steadily towards Saturday's monumental victory. The Hoosiers' next challenge is to maintain this level of play and bring the program back to its once−elite status.
