LamarCheeks

Thanks for sharing. Nice story -- doesn't blame Damezi and doesn't blame IU. Just says that things didn't work out. And it even acknowledges that when he got PT, for whatever reason, Damezi simply didn't perform. I remember late in the season, seeing him brick wide-open 3s and thinking that he had lost any confidence he might have had and the harsh reality was, we couldn't afford that in a B1G game. At that point, I started thinking that he just wasn't gonna get any better -- at IU -- and probably could use a change of scenery, especially with all the wings coming in. When Gelon left, I recall seeing a story that kinda railed on Archie -- and I didn't necessarily think that was fair. No offense to Gelon (like many others, I don't like trashing players), but he just wasn't a Power 5-caliber player, and should have never been recruited to IU in the first place. That was Crean's mistake. Hope Damezi does well at Loyola. Would love to see him get more playing time and maybe even score 10-12 points a game. He seems like a good kid.

The 18th anniversary of Allen Iverson's famous rant was a couple days ago, so I modified it to reflect the absurdity of the NCAA slamming us while letting UNC, others get off scot-free ... "We in here talkin' 'bout phone calls. I mean, listen ... we talkin' 'bout phone calls. Not academic fraud. Not paying recruits. Not stripper parties. We talkin' 'bout phone calls. Not hookers. Not setting up illegal payments. Phone calls. We talkin' 'bout phone calls. We talkin' 'bout phone calls. I mean, how silly is that, man! ... What are we talkin' about? Phone calls. We talkin' 'bout phone calls. We talkin' 'bout phone calls. ... It's strange to me, too, but we here talkin' 'bout phone calls!"

TBH, I'm not all that familiar with Titus and Tate. But if one of them claims to be "an Indiana guy," why the hell is he wearing an Ohio State hat?

Interesting. He essentially calls out the seniors when he was a freshman, but the only significant senior that year was Sheehey. I'm wondering if Will felt sorta abandoned because Watford, Hulls and Elston all graduated and Vic and Cody went pro. He kinda got left behind by all his buddies. It probably was a tough pill to swallow. He went from being the sixth man on a team that was No. 1 most of the season to being the top dog on a team that likely wasn't gonna be very good. He may have basically thought: "I just want to play this final season and get it over with."

To PSU, these guys are a dime a dozen. But to us, it's a really good get. That's what is frustrating -- at least to me. He could go to IU, be a real contributor and maybe be a three-year starter. Or he could go to PSU and never be heard from again.

Realistically, I wonder what he expects to learn from this process? He really hasn't even proven he's good enough for the Big Ten, let alone the NBA. What does he need to get better at? How about everything. He's a phenomenal athlete, but just doesn't seem to be a very good basketball player. Can't tell you how many times I've seen him make a nice move to the bucket, only to miss (mostly short-arm) an easy 8-footer. Or brick a wide-open 3. And if you believe one of the few people on this board who really does seem to have inside info -- he's been an absolute cancer to the team. I'm really surprised he hasn't entered the transfer portal -- especially because it seems as if he's clashed with Archie so much. Maybe if he wants to make a few bucks right away, he can go to Europe or South America, but no NBA team will draft him -- or even sign him to a free-agent deal. He just isn't good enough.

Yeah. I realize that. I just wondered what happened this time.

Have we ever had an explanation of why there was no commitment last week, as someone seemed to indicate there would be? Did someone have a source and that source was wrong? Was it just a guess in the first place? I'm curious.

Gold and Black Illustrated?

He pretty much said in February that he'd return, and I don't think there was ever a question about it. But this makes it concrete: TJD will be back!

Since the season ended so long ago, this almost seems like firing a coach in June. ... Did the administration wake up and all the sudden, say, "We just realized: We've been pretty awful over the past six seasons. Time to get a new coach." ... Timing seems very odd.

My cable company (yes, I'm one of the dinosaurs who still has it) is offering a few free premium channels during the pandemic. So last night, I watched the Showtime doc on the 1976 unbeaten team for the first time. Although it came out three years ago, I hadn't seen it. I have to admit, I got a little teary eyed at the end. ... I still remember the title game against Michigan: I was 7 years old and watched with my mom (a big sports fan and IU alum) -- she was in tears that night. I don't know what's more amazing: that those fellas went through the entire season without losing a game -- or that the previous year's team was even better!

He could, but if someone is indeed transferring, my guess is he'd bring in a grad transfer for one year.

Haarms down to pUKe, Texas Tech and BYU, with most saying the Caliparis are the front-runner. If my father (a Purdue man) were still alive, he'd be spitting mad. He NEVER forgave Kyle Macy for transferring from PU to pUKe. Whenever Macy's name came up around my father or uncle (also a PU man), "the rat" followed soon after. (Although I think that had more to do with an Indiana kid leaving for Kentucky; he might not have kicked up much of a fuss over a Dutch boy obsessed with his hair doing the same).

I didn't see this till just now. Didn't realize she had made her selection. Interesting that she put it out there that the reason behind her transfer was a family issue. She's from Portland -- and picked Arizona ... I still worry every now and then about the number of transfers we've had. Bendu can transfer for whatever reason she wants -- and that's fine. But it just seems odd that she seemingly left to be closer to home, then picked a school 1,500 miles from home.

Steve's boy ... It's a small, Christian school in Indiana. Competes in the NAIA. (I grew up in Indiana and had never heard of this school!)

Am I the only one who gets really, really annoyed by this crap from the BTN? ... Maybe so, but I feel like ranting, so I'm gonna rant. Johnny Rodgers NEVER PLAYED IN THE BIG TEN! And the BTN always does this. It's had TV shows reliving Nebraska's 1994 and 95 national championships -- that had nothing to do with our conference. It had a show naming John Cappeletti one of the conference's best running backs of the 1970s. Cappeletti was NEVER a Big Ten running back. It actually named Ndamukong Suh as the conference's best defensive lineman from 2000-10. He didn't play one single down in the B1G. It had a show looking back on Rutgers' 1976 basketball season (anybody remember who the undefeated NCAA champ was that year?) ... Let's stick with the time Penn State, Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland actually were in the league. What they've done previously is somebody else's history -- not the B1G's. ... OK, rant over.

Looks as if he's headed home ...

The ladies are staying home -- but ballin' together from wherever they're holing up!

Wonder what "making it work" means? ... Didn't we hear this after his freshman season? ... I like the kid. He's from Indiana and wants to be at IU. I would love to see him succeed. He works hard. According to an interview last year, he tested out as IU's strongest player, so he's obviously been putting in the work. ... But when you have a guy who gets into a game, shoots a wide-open 3-pointer and doesn't even hit the rim -- that's not good. And that happened more than once last season ... He needs to figure out how to perform in games, because the way things went for him last season, giving him playing time in critical games is like rolling the dice.

If memory serves, when the Holt/Davis thing happened, it was just the latest in a long list of transgressions of IU athletes -- and obviously, that was a very serious one. Many sports had kids getting into trouble, but I think football and men's hoops had the lion's share. At that point, McRobbie actually stepped in and either sent a memo to all coaches or called them all together and told them to get their players to behave themselves ... Without the McRobbie edict, I wonder if Holt would've been kicked off for his second miscue?

22.5 inches! She could be a tall one! Has Teri Moren contacted you yet??? Congrats! Wishes for much good health and happiness to you and your family.

We're not on Haarms' list of 25. Maybe he'll end up in Bloomington!

Some 8- or 10-year old Bloomington kid should pose with Leal. The youngster would be on track to a big future!

NCAA approves an extra year for spring sport athletes. Barry Alvarez says, "Not so fast, my friend."