As poor follow-up to Knight, Davis failed to respect Hoosier culture - Carl Siegmund, The Flat Hat, William and Mary
But Davis’ demise as a coach is not the result of fan criticism or his life in Knight’s shadow. His downfall is the result of his own stupidity. Taking over after Knight, Davis had a golden opportunity to take Indiana basketball to a new level. Indiana fans were still mad at the school for firing Knight, but they were not upset with Davis. He was given a blank slate, and he succeeded initially with a championship appearance in 2002, but failed miserably once the players he recruited began showing up in Bloomington.Bingo!
He failed primarily because he never embraced Hoosier culture. Hoosier culture encompasses many things, but it is headlined by the Milan Miracle. In 1954, tiny Milan High School captivated the hearts of sports fans nationwide after upsetting powerhouse Muncie Central to win the state high school basketball championship in David vs. Goliath fashion. Basketball is life in Indiana, and fans want to see homegrown boys starring on the hardwood at the college level. Meanwhile, Davis looked elsewhere, including Alabama, to recruit players such as D.J. White. Local talent was outsourced, angering many fans.
5 comments:
I don't know about the whole hoosier fans needing a coach that understands the Milan miracle and somebody that brings in all the local talent. My guess is that IU fans are more concerned about a coach that first, assembles consistently strong teams year after year and secondly, develops his players and team as each season/career progresses. They don't necessarily need to be hoosier boys...
Yes I want a coach that assembles strong teams year after year and man would it be a breath of fresh air to see players develop. But I also want to see the best Indiana kids wanting to play and getting to play at IU.
When I see McRoberts at Duke, James at Marquette, Zeller at ND, Oden and Conley at OSU, and Gordon at Illinois it makes me sick. I wouldn't expect all of them to be at IU, but I'd like to see half of them there. And a coach that embraces Indiana HS basketball will have them in Indiana Candystripes with Indiana on the front of the jersey and no names on the back.
I want a coach that is going to prevent Thad Matta from coming into Indiana and taking the best talent every year. Because if the new coach doesn't, Matta and OSU is going to be above IU in the standings every year.
Call me crazy, but I want players who see 2 teams on the schedule every year that they want to beat badly. Rivalries that are the reason for putting in extra practice. I don't want guys from the east, south, north or west, who say "Purdue is just another game." Kids from Indiana understand the importance of the Kentucky and Purdue rivalries.
I'm with Steve on this one. I want a Coach who is going to bring in Indiana kids. These are HS kids we watch on TV here in Indy and I want to see how they grow. I don't want to have to root against all the Indiana kids because they are playing for other B10 teams.
I agree with most of the article. We need a coach who embraces IU and doesn't want to change the traditions of IU basketball. I don't think Milan is that huge of a deal, though. It isn't about Milan, its about IU.
I agree that the local talent would help the team, but I don't know if bringing in somebody like Alford is the best thing for the team for that reason alone. We need a coach that embraces IU basketball and hoosier cultur. Whether or not that coach is a hoosier or an IU alum isn't the key.
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