Indiana University Athletics
Ferrell Ready For Final NCAA Tournament
3/16/2016 7:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com
DES MOINES, Iowa - Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell doesn't need to tell his teammates what this NCAA Tournament—his final NCAA Tournament—means to him.
They already know.
"This is Yogi's last go around," sophomore guard Robert Johnson said. "We know what it means to him. He doesn't even need to talk about it. We all understand what's on the line for him."
When Ferrell announced he's be returning for his senior season, he made his intentions clear: he wanted to leave a champion.
Fast-forward to the present day and he's got his chance. He'll lead his No. 5 Hoosiers against No. 12 Chattanooga in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night, knowing the only thing that keeps his career going.
"It's exciting, man," Ferrell said. "This is what we all worked for since the summer. I can remember the morning conditioning. It's going to pay off now. We've just got to go out there and show what we can do."
Even when he's asked questions about himself by media surrounding him inside Indiana's locker room Wednesday afternoon, Ferrell's responses all reflect what he believes his team needs to do. He talks about the legacy he and his teammates are leaving, not just himself.
Ferrell said he's treating his third NCAA Tournament unlike his previous two trips. He's spending more time talking with his teammates one-on-one about what they as individuals need to do to be successful, how to handle entering the NCAA Tournament as the Big Ten Champions and what needs to happen for IU to stay in the national championship hunt.
"We lean on him a lot. He's the leader on the team," freshman center Thomas Bryant said. "He's the one that guides us out there on the floor and off the floor, too. We go to him, he gives us the right things to say, right things to do. We lean on him 100 percent of the time."
Ferrell's actions reflect a version of himself that's developed over his four seasons in Bloomington.
He was a piece in Indiana's 2013 Sweet Sixteen run, but he wasn't the focal point with stars like Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo surrounding him. After missing the tournament in 2014, he returned to it in 2015 as the Hoosiers undisputed star but took an exit in the first round.
He's back as Indiana's floor general in 2016, knowing he can only do so much. If he wants to make a title run, he's got to bring his teammates with him.
"He's got a couple of things going for him," fifth-year senior Max Bielfeldt said. "A) He's been here for four years under Coach Crean. B) He's our point guard. He's always going to be running the offense, coming down the court telling people where they need to go. He knows what coach wants better than most guys out there because he's been with him the longest.
"He just leads the team. I think that's what a great point guard does."
This is Ferrell's last stand. He knows it, too.
The First Team All-Big Ten member said he's not one to get nervous before games, even the NCAA Tournament. He hasn't up until this point and said he won't start now.
But just before taking his place in the middle of Indiana's locker room tucked away inside Wells Fargo Arena, Ferrell joked, "everybody's here," at the sight of the media swarming around him to get a word from IU's starting point guard before his final run.
"We're proud of that Big Ten Championship," Ferrell said. "But we want a national championship."
That's all Ferrell has left.
DES MOINES, Iowa - Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell doesn't need to tell his teammates what this NCAA Tournament—his final NCAA Tournament—means to him.
They already know.
"This is Yogi's last go around," sophomore guard Robert Johnson said. "We know what it means to him. He doesn't even need to talk about it. We all understand what's on the line for him."
When Ferrell announced he's be returning for his senior season, he made his intentions clear: he wanted to leave a champion.
Fast-forward to the present day and he's got his chance. He'll lead his No. 5 Hoosiers against No. 12 Chattanooga in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night, knowing the only thing that keeps his career going.
"It's exciting, man," Ferrell said. "This is what we all worked for since the summer. I can remember the morning conditioning. It's going to pay off now. We've just got to go out there and show what we can do."
Even when he's asked questions about himself by media surrounding him inside Indiana's locker room Wednesday afternoon, Ferrell's responses all reflect what he believes his team needs to do. He talks about the legacy he and his teammates are leaving, not just himself.
Ferrell said he's treating his third NCAA Tournament unlike his previous two trips. He's spending more time talking with his teammates one-on-one about what they as individuals need to do to be successful, how to handle entering the NCAA Tournament as the Big Ten Champions and what needs to happen for IU to stay in the national championship hunt.
"We lean on him a lot. He's the leader on the team," freshman center Thomas Bryant said. "He's the one that guides us out there on the floor and off the floor, too. We go to him, he gives us the right things to say, right things to do. We lean on him 100 percent of the time."
Ferrell's actions reflect a version of himself that's developed over his four seasons in Bloomington.
He was a piece in Indiana's 2013 Sweet Sixteen run, but he wasn't the focal point with stars like Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo surrounding him. After missing the tournament in 2014, he returned to it in 2015 as the Hoosiers undisputed star but took an exit in the first round.
He's back as Indiana's floor general in 2016, knowing he can only do so much. If he wants to make a title run, he's got to bring his teammates with him.
"He's got a couple of things going for him," fifth-year senior Max Bielfeldt said. "A) He's been here for four years under Coach Crean. B) He's our point guard. He's always going to be running the offense, coming down the court telling people where they need to go. He knows what coach wants better than most guys out there because he's been with him the longest.
"He just leads the team. I think that's what a great point guard does."
This is Ferrell's last stand. He knows it, too.
The First Team All-Big Ten member said he's not one to get nervous before games, even the NCAA Tournament. He hasn't up until this point and said he won't start now.
But just before taking his place in the middle of Indiana's locker room tucked away inside Wells Fargo Arena, Ferrell joked, "everybody's here," at the sight of the media swarming around him to get a word from IU's starting point guard before his final run.
"We're proud of that Big Ten Championship," Ferrell said. "But we want a national championship."
That's all Ferrell has left.
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