Indiana University Athletics
IU With Much To Play For On Senior Day
3/5/2016 10:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com | Twitter
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - Strictly speaking, Sunday's Indiana-Maryland matchup doesn't carry significant Big Ten implications for the Hoosiers. They wrapped up the conference regular-season championship earlier this week.
But between padding its NCAA Tournament resume, potentially finishing undefeated at Assembly Hall and letting five seniors walk off their home court as winners one last time, IU says it has more than enough to play for.
"We're got one more regular-season game and there is absolutely no way—there is no way, there's no way we're not walking out of that place Sunday with our seniors with their heads held extremely high," Tom Crean told his team after winning the Big Ten in Iowa. "There's no way that this groups is not going to walk out that way, and that's what our focus is going to be."
To say IU's senior class is a mixed bag may be an understatement.
Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell is the only one of the five who committed to Indiana in high school and played all four seasons in Bloomington. His individual accomplishments already assure him status as one of the most decorated players in program history. That won't change regardless of how the season ends.
"I feel like I've been here for a while, man," Ferrell said. "My body definitely feels like I've been here forever. I'm old now. But this is fun. I'm going to cherish, especially this last game, cherish these moments that will last forever."
Then there's graduated transfers Max Bielfeldt and Nick Zeisloft. The latter is the elder statesman of the late additions, arriving from Illinois State before last season and playing for two years at Indiana. Bielfeldt came by way of Michigan and is set to celebrate a second senior day Sunday afternoon after one year in Bloomington.
"This is number two for me," Bielfeldt said. "It's going to be funny. The jitters, I don't know if they'll be the same. It's just another game. I try to keep a consistent mentality…not too high, not too low. It's definitely going to be fun to try to win out here."
Said Zeisloft: "I loved it, every moment of it. Even when there were struggles I loved being here and getting through those struggles and having the success that we had this year. It's just been a great time here and we're going to try to finish out the right way."
Walk-on Ryan Burton rounds out the list of expected seniors before the year began. He's been at IU the last two seasons after spending two seasons at Bellarmine.
Jackson Tharp would later join him as a second walk-on in the class after being promoted from manager status in January. He'll leave Indiana with two Big Ten championships to his credit, one as a player and one as a manager.
The five seniors will lead an Indiana team looking to finish 17-0 at Assembly Hall. Should the Hoosiers (24-6, 14-3) beat the Terrapins (24-6, 12-5), it would mark the first time the program finished the year undefeated at home since going 15-0 at Assembly Hall in 2006-07.
"To say that you finished off the season undefeated at Assembly Hall would be remarkable to say," Zeisloft said.
In that respect, it's business as usual for Indiana. Crean has stressed the "one game at a time" cliché all season long and his players have followed suit.
Even on Senior Day, that's not about to change.
"We go about every day the same," Zeisloft said. "Whether it was for the outright title in Iowa, practice Thursday, yesterday or tomorrow, we just keep getting better every single day. Maryland is a huge test for us. They're a great team. Tomorrow is going to be another day that we have to come out, bring it and get better."
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - Strictly speaking, Sunday's Indiana-Maryland matchup doesn't carry significant Big Ten implications for the Hoosiers. They wrapped up the conference regular-season championship earlier this week.
But between padding its NCAA Tournament resume, potentially finishing undefeated at Assembly Hall and letting five seniors walk off their home court as winners one last time, IU says it has more than enough to play for.
"We're got one more regular-season game and there is absolutely no way—there is no way, there's no way we're not walking out of that place Sunday with our seniors with their heads held extremely high," Tom Crean told his team after winning the Big Ten in Iowa. "There's no way that this groups is not going to walk out that way, and that's what our focus is going to be."
To say IU's senior class is a mixed bag may be an understatement.
Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell is the only one of the five who committed to Indiana in high school and played all four seasons in Bloomington. His individual accomplishments already assure him status as one of the most decorated players in program history. That won't change regardless of how the season ends.
"I feel like I've been here for a while, man," Ferrell said. "My body definitely feels like I've been here forever. I'm old now. But this is fun. I'm going to cherish, especially this last game, cherish these moments that will last forever."
Then there's graduated transfers Max Bielfeldt and Nick Zeisloft. The latter is the elder statesman of the late additions, arriving from Illinois State before last season and playing for two years at Indiana. Bielfeldt came by way of Michigan and is set to celebrate a second senior day Sunday afternoon after one year in Bloomington.
"This is number two for me," Bielfeldt said. "It's going to be funny. The jitters, I don't know if they'll be the same. It's just another game. I try to keep a consistent mentality…not too high, not too low. It's definitely going to be fun to try to win out here."
Said Zeisloft: "I loved it, every moment of it. Even when there were struggles I loved being here and getting through those struggles and having the success that we had this year. It's just been a great time here and we're going to try to finish out the right way."
Walk-on Ryan Burton rounds out the list of expected seniors before the year began. He's been at IU the last two seasons after spending two seasons at Bellarmine.
Jackson Tharp would later join him as a second walk-on in the class after being promoted from manager status in January. He'll leave Indiana with two Big Ten championships to his credit, one as a player and one as a manager.
The five seniors will lead an Indiana team looking to finish 17-0 at Assembly Hall. Should the Hoosiers (24-6, 14-3) beat the Terrapins (24-6, 12-5), it would mark the first time the program finished the year undefeated at home since going 15-0 at Assembly Hall in 2006-07.
"To say that you finished off the season undefeated at Assembly Hall would be remarkable to say," Zeisloft said.
In that respect, it's business as usual for Indiana. Crean has stressed the "one game at a time" cliché all season long and his players have followed suit.
Even on Senior Day, that's not about to change.
"We go about every day the same," Zeisloft said. "Whether it was for the outright title in Iowa, practice Thursday, yesterday or tomorrow, we just keep getting better every single day. Maryland is a huge test for us. They're a great team. Tomorrow is going to be another day that we have to come out, bring it and get better."
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