Two of my favorite NBA players of all time are Reggie Miller(again following my brother's footsteps) and Larry Bird. Reggie played for the Indiana Pacers. Larry Bird went to Indiana State and later coached the Pacers to the NBA finals with Reggie. I hadn't even put the connections together yet that these teams and players were part of this state with great basketball history.
Then I finally watched the movie Hoosiers. When I watched that movie it all started to come together. The Hoosier state. The basketball state. (Side note: did you know that Indiana has had 3 of arguably the top 5 sports movies set and filmed in their state: Hoosiers, Rudy, and the best not talked about sports movie-Breaking Away. Pretty neat!) As I learned more history of IU basketball and Indiana basketball in general, I realized they were really strong in the 80's with Coach Bob Knight throwing chairs all over the place. However, they hadn't really done much in awhile and growing up I really only noticed teams that did well during march madness. (Last National Championship in Basketball for the state of Indiana was the one right before I was born)
In 2002, though, they were finally back(at least for a year). This time not as the favorite, but as a semi-Cinderella 5 seed. I can vaguely remember them beating Duke in the Sweet 16 and moving all the way to the finals. Jared Jeffries and Cloverdale helped the Hoosiers put on a magical run, but it fell just short to Maryland in the finals.
After that season, IU dropped back down to mediocrity again. I still have my other schools like UCONN and Kansas to keep me hopeful of a National Championship every year(yes, I like too many teams, deal with it). Then came the 2010 run by Butler, they were a 5 seed just like the 2002 Indiana Hoosiers. I admired their hard work and the incredible coaching job that led them to a great run to the finals where Duke stood in their way. Another great hard fought game, but just like Indiana in 2002, they came up short. They were about an inch away from what would have been the greatest buzzer beater of all time, without question, by Gordon Hayward.
Butler followed that up with an even more incredible run as an 8 seed all the way to the finals in 2011 where they met my favorite team, the Connecticut Huskies. I was slightly torn on this one (at least just a little bit). I felt so bad for Butler a year before and I really wanted the state of Indiana to take back a basketball National Championship. (and Butler has the most historic basketball venue too) However, there was no doubt I still wanted UCONN to win, but that was a win-win/lose-lose situation for me.
Then came last year and the "Where were you when..." moment happened. Where were you when...Christian Watford made that buzzer beater against Kentucky? I just happened to be at Big Al's in Beaverton for the first time. Again, I slightly felt bad for my friend who is the biggest Kentucky fan in the PNW, but this was a great moment for IU basketball! IU basketball announced to the world that they are on their way back! Kentucky went on to get their revenge and beat IU in the Sweet 16 of the tournament. And my friend was very happy to see Kentucky go on to win the whole thing.
That buzzer beater didn't win them a trophy last year, but it set the stage for this year and created the winning attitude. Now could this be their year? Could the Hoosier faithful see a National Championship in basketball come back to their state?
The time is now IU!
Go Hoosiers!
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