Worst Ever Indiana Season Quietly Ends

As the buzzer sounded in Conseco Fieldhouse early Thursday evening, the Indiana Hoosiers had lost to Penn State by a count of 66 to 51. Tom Crean's first season as head basketball coach had mercifully concluded. The Hoosiers will miss the NCAA Tournament for only the third time since A Season on the Brink was published. They will miss any sort of postseason play for the second time since 1977. In fact, this was -- statistically speaking -- the worst team in Indiana basketball history.

The funny thing? I was much more relieved when last season ended, and I guarantee I'm not alone among Indiana alumni.

As the game wound to a close, I had two different friends ask me something along the lines of, "how happy are you to be done with this team?" One was from Purdue, the other from Michigan -- but that's really neither here nor there. Or is it? Maybe they don't understand what we've gone though this past year and a half. Who could? It's a very unique situation. As I said to my friends, though, I started to really like this team -- aside from the losses.

If you really want to get technical about things, 2008 was the worst year in the history of Indiana basketball. Sure, it was a self-inflicted wound, to an extent. Indiana definitely made a horrific hire following the departure of the untalented yet clean Mike Davis. In hindsight, this hiring never should have happened. You can't really blame fans. We had nothing to do with the hiring process, and were mostly on board with the hiring. I mean, what's wrong with giving the guy a second chance? When he started winning, well, that's generally a cure-all. I guess you could blame us for burying our head in the sand before it was too late, but that's not really fair because it's impossible to know what's going on behind the scenes.

There's no need to review what specifically transpired. Everyone who follows college basketball knows what Kelvin Sampson did to nearly bring down one of college basketball's elite programs. It was an unmitigated disaster, though he still refuses to shoulder much of the blame. Color me shocked. All fans eventually turned on him before turning the page.

The reason the end of the 2007-08 season was much more a relief than the end to '09 was because of expectations. The 2008 team went down in flames just like their coach. It was such a shame what happened to a promising group that climbed as high as number eight in the polls. Little more than two months later, they were exiting the NCAA Tournament in the first round as an eight seed. I still remember sitting around with a group of about 10 Hoosier fans saying things like, "Thank God this team is gone." Other than D.J. White -- who should be revered for the foreseeable future as one of the university's greats -- the team morphed into a steaming pile of indifference, selfishness (yes, you, Eric Gordon), and alleged drug use. The team GPA was the most embarrassing it had ever been, and once the season ended the mass exile began. When the dust settled, Crean was left with only Kyle Taber -- a hard worker, but far from a talented building block.

Coach Crean was able to build enough of a group around Taber to field a legal lineup. In the early going, the team was routinely blown out, barely escaped games the Hoosiers of old would have won in a walkover, and even lost at home to Lipscomb. This concluded the most embarrassing calendar year in program history.

Strides have been made in 2009, though, and we -- as a fanbase -- were never upset with the team during 2009. We were prepared to see them get blown out every game. The thing is, that didn't happen. In a weird way, this team exceeded expectations. Sure, there were blowouts. There were also close, winnable games (at Iowa, vs. Michigan, vs. Penn State, vs. Minnesota, at Northwestern, at Penn State, and vs. Michigan State). There was the lone victory, which the kids badly needed. You see, as fans we were prepared to watch this team lose every game, but when you have a group of 18-22 year-olds getting their teeth kicked in every game, they really needed a pay off. They got it at home on February 4, in a 68-60 victory over Iowa.

What we witnessed during the campaign was a glimmer of hope. The kids rarely gave up. Crean's animated coaching style on the sidelines never lets up. Verdell Jones made significant leaps forward during the past two months, Nick Williams looks like quality Big Ten player-in-the-making, and Tom Pritchard can be a big-bodied rebounder off the bench. Devan Dumes has shown he can be a go-to scorer when needed, Malik Story has talent, and Matt Roth is a three-point specialist in the mold of Todd Leary.

When next season rolls around, the Hoosiers will inject new life into the team. A highly-touted recruiting class enters. Only Dumes is expected to retain a starting job. But the experience gained this season by the guys who will play a significant rotation role moving forward will not be forgotten.

Overall, the 2009 season was a learning experience for everyone. The old adage, that one can never truly experience the glory of victory until they've suffered through the agony of defeat, should certainly apply here.

Growing up as fans, Hoosier nation isn't much accustomed to losing. Perhaps we've taken it for granted and been obnoxious about the tradition in the past. Some might have had a sense of entitlement about them -- in some "we belong there, because we're Indiana" vein. Only fans from Kentucky, UCLA, Kansas, Duke and North Carolina truly know the feeling. After living through this 2008-09 season, however -- and loyally supporting our team the entire way -- there should be a new-found respect for winning. The next NCAA tourney birth won't be met with a yawn, but with excitement.

Coach Crean himself isn't used to losing either. His previous worst season record was 15-14, which happened in each of his first two seasons at Marquette, nearly a decade ago. In the past seven years, he hasn't been through any worse than 19-12. I doubt he really needed to be brought back to Earth, or anything of that nature, but this had to have been a character-building year for him as well. The next time he reaches a Final Four, it's going to be that much sweeter than it would have been had he stayed in Marquette.

The players most certainly have never suffered through anything like this. Just imagine how much excitement a mere .500 season will feel for Jones, Williams and company if they can reach that plateau next year (and I think they will). If you have seen the players' demeanor on the bench during late runs in close games, you know what I'm talking about. They would jump around with glee like it was the NCAA tourney, this from a team who finished 1-17 in conference play. They'll never take wins for granted. They may not know it, but they've also had a never give up tenacity instilled in them -- and that will show through in the coming years.

This is why Thursday evening's loss wasn't met with relief, personally, but with excitement for the upward mobility of the program. The Bob Knight era wasn't progressing much, despite what his rabid supporters want to tell you about the team that eventually went to the Final Four. Mike Davis is not a good basketball coach. Kelvin Sampson tried to ruin the program. The past 10 years have been an incredibly fickle period in the history of the storied program. The end of this past season, though, marks the end of the tumultuous stint.

All in all, it's a new era at Indiana. Hope is a good thing, as Otis Redding (Morgan Freeman) once told us in my favorite movie. On the heels of the statistical worst team in school history going out of the Big Ten tournament with a whimper, the Hoosier program again has hope for the future. This 2009 recruiting class won't be the last one to gain a high ranking on Crean's watch. The best recruiting weapon in clean college basketball is tradition (no, Kelvin, not the phone). When Crean walks recruits into hallowed Assembly Hall and the kids see those five banners, they won't be able to help wanting a piece of it. One more of these classes is all Crean needs at this point to establish a powerhouse.

Then, the Hoosiers will truly be back -- and better than ever.