Indiana University Athletics
GRAHAM: The Jersey Means Something
2/23/2018 10:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By: Andy Graham, IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - The last time looms. But the first time still resonates.
Robert Johnson dons an Indiana basketball jersey for the final time in regular-season play at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as the Hoosiers host No. 16-ranked Ohio State for Friday's 8 p.m. tip.
The first time Johnson put on an IU jersey for a ballgame, he was about 900 miles away. In another country.
"It doesn't even seem like it was that long ago, to be honest," Johnson said of the Hoosiers' August, 2014, preseason week of exhibitions in Montreal. "I still remember first putting on the uniform and just having the feeling of I'm finally here – I'm finally a college athlete."
Collin Hartman had already spent a year in Bloomington by that time. Tim Priller was in Johnson's freshman class. Josh Newkirk and Freddie McSwain Jr. had not yet transferred to IU.
But all five will bid adieu, as they might say in Montreal, during Senior Day post-game festivities tonight.
The Hoosiers would naturally prefer to be in a fully celebratory mood at that juncture.
"Senior Day is like every other game," IU coach Archie Miller said when he and his five seniors met the media Thursday. "The way you honor the seniors is you try to win the game."
OSU makes that easier said than done. The Buckeyes enter 23-6 overall and 14-3 in league play, coming off Tuesday's 79-52 romp over Rutgers.
But regardless of how Friday's game plays out, IU's seniors will likely wax nostalgic when their turn at the microphone comes. And reveal themselves as a close-knit group, forged by both fun and tribulation.
"I think that (Montreal trip) is where it all started for all of us, really," Johnson said. "… I think that spring-boarded us as far as bonding and getting to know each other while we were up there.
"That was the first time we had been away from Bloomington as a group. I think we bonded with each other, and I think it's been great ever since."
Priller agreed, adding some details: "We played, I think, five games. We went to like a theme park, a roller coaster thing, where we all bonded and then just got to know each other real well."
IU's fortunes subsequently roller-coasted somewhat. A peak was a 27-8 Big Ten championship campaign that featured a NCAA victory over Kentucky sending Indiana into the 2016 Sweet 16. The nadir was perhaps last season's 18-16 struggle that led to a coaching change.
But Johnson has seen 31 more wins than losses since his arrival from Richmond, Va. And he has developed a strong sense of what the jersey he wears represents.
"Something that I'll cherish is the impact that we've had on other people's lives," Johnson said. "And I think being here, (it) is a special place. You get to inspire a lot of people that you don't come across every day, and for me, I think that's been special."
Indianapolis native Hartman warmed to that theme.
"I think that what I'll cherish most is obviously the relationships," Hartman said, "but also, being from Indiana, wearing Indiana across your chest, it brings a lot of pride.
"And it humbles me to see how much … it impacts people's lives, (given) how engrained people are into basketball here. It's their culture. It's their lifestyle. And I think having the impact that we do and the influence that we do – being able to represent not just the university, not just the program, but representing people's lifestyle, -- it's humbling and it's an experience that not a lot of people get a feel."
Hartman has had a long time to ponder such things. He verbally committed to IU when he was a sophomore at Cathedral.
Damon Bailey might have verballed to IU as a prep sophomore, too, but graduated in four years. Hartman, who took a redshirt season last year to rehabilitate a knee injury, is a fifth-year guy.
"I don't know if there's very many people that have been a part of the program longer than I have, from my commitment to graduation," Hartman said. "I'd like to maybe claim that. I don't know if that's a thing, but I'm going to claim it."
Hartman graduated last spring. But he decided not to have his final IU hoops memories stem from being shelved by an ACL tear. And he wanted to see what he could do to help a new coach lay a positive foundation for the program's future.
"It's been a journey," Hartman said. "As this team has gone on, we've come together and grown together as a team throughout the season, learning the (new) system and just working through everyday trials and tribulations together.
"We've grown together and we've become really close, and it's been a fun ride so far."
Looking to spoil IU's fun tonight is an OSU bunch that has doubtless enjoyed a season that has relentlessly exceeded preseason expectations.
Miller noted that the Buckeyes boast players at small forward, power forward and center spots all ranking with the league's very best.
Junior winger Keita Bates-Diop is a prime Big Ten Player of the Year candidate who leads OSU with averages of 19.0 points and 8.7 rebounds. Jae'Sean Tate, a stalwart senior, plays taller than his 6-foot-4 height suggests at power forward, averaging 12.6 points and 6.2 boards. Kaleb Wesson, a 6-9 pivot, averages 11.0 points and shoots .570 from the field.
C.J. Jackson, a junior, and senior Kam Williams, who shoots .442 from 3-point range have shined at guard, and graduate student Andrew Dakich has provided additional savvy stability in the backcourt (while hitting 3-pointers at a .467 clip).
Micha Porter, a 6-9 soph, adds size and skill up front off the bench, and 6-6 sophomore Andre Wesson and 6-5 freshman Musa Jallow add depth at the wing and guard spots.
Jallow, a Bloomington (Ind.) North product who graduated high school early and matriculated to OSU at age 17, has earned 10 starts and averages 2.7 points.
"They have a very connected team on both ends of the floor," Miller said of the Buckeyes. "They're very underrated defensively. They're one of the best defenses in the country. They have great length. They're very tough, and they -- to be honest with you, they've been able to have a successful season because they have good parts."
That success includes the 71-56 homecourt win over IU Jan. 30.
"We were physically dominated in the game," Miller said. "We were a step slow to every loose ball … they were the more forceful team in that game.
"Hopefully, in our building, we have a little bit more pep in our step."
Tonight won't be first-year OSU coach Chris Holtmann's first visit to Assembly Hall. That came in November, 2011, when Holtmann was head coach at Gardner Webb before his successful stint at Butler.
IU's Newkirk can relate a bit. His first game at Assembly Hall came in December, 2014, when he played for Pitt and the Panthers visited for a Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Hoosiers won, 81-69, but Newkirk came off the Pitt bench to supply 16 points and eight assists.
"Coming from Pittsburgh to here, I never would have imagined that," Newkirk said about concluding his career as a Hoosier in the Hall tonight. "It's been a long journey. To finally be here, after five years, it's surreal."
McSwain transferred into IU for last season out of Neosho County (Kan.) Community College and has emerged as a starter down the stretch run of his senior campaign.
"Just coming from junior college to here, I embrace just being here," McSwain said. "I love these guys, love this team, and like Rob (Johnson) was saying, just making an impact on other people's lives and having people watch us every day, watching us, our games … I'm just truly grateful."
Priller, a fan favorite throughout his Hoosier career, delivered the final point of IU's 80-56 win over Minnesota at the free throw line Feb. 9, sending the student section into delirium. The students routinely offer up chants beseeching Miller to find court time for Priller toward the end of games.
"The fan thing is pretty cool and all that," Priller said. "… Every time it happens, these guys (fellow seniors), they want to look at me and smirk at me and stuff, and I try not to laugh. But it doesn't bother me."
The Minnesota game was part of a four-game IU winning streak that ended Tuesday at Nebraska. Over that five-game stretch, the Hoosiers shot .519 from the field (including .432 from 3-point range) while holding foes to corresponding figures of .384 (.299).
Johnson, now seeing his customary extra work after practice paying off, is a big reason for the improved Indiana shooting numbers. He's shot .569 from the field (.548 from the arc) in the past five games, and tied the school single-game record with nine 3s while scoring a career-high 29 points in last week's win at Iowa.
The senior guard now is fourth on Indiana's all-time 3-pointer list with 234 and is up to 23rd in career scoring with 1,384 points.
"Can't put it into words, just how much he's given to our staff," Miller said of Johnson. "It hasn't been just like one day or one week. It's been literally since the first second we arrived on campus until today, he has been all in. And he's worked extremely hard not only individually on his own game, but he's really just done an amazing job of giving everything he has to our process."
Johnson and Hartman are road roommates and both said they find support and solace in each other's conversation, and not just about basketball topics. Hartman has been beset with injuries again this season – knee, angle, groin, shoulder, thumb – but will again wear that Indiana jersey trying to help his team on and off the court tonight.
"He's positive. He's a leader. He's stayed with it. He's all about winning," Miller said of Hartman. "I's sure, deep down inside, he'd say to himself, 'I'm a shell of probably what I was at one point in my career.'
"And the injuries certainly played a big role (with) his inability to really get in rhythm. I wouldn't be surprised, though, with his attitude and how things go (if that changes tonight) … I thought he helped us win the Iowa game. I thought the Iowa game maybe he didn't score a ton, but his (five) assists, his defense, he helped us win that game."
Johnson's memory went back to that NCAA win over Kentucky, when Hartman was hiding a broken wrist from the public and still made the start, and when Johnson drained a pair of first-half 3s before a bum ankle that required post-season surgery collapsed on him.
"I think that experience and that game in particular really speaks about me and Collin's career," Johnson said. "We pretty much had little to give. My ankle was barely holding on, and the same thing with Collin's injuries.
"But we still tried to come give what we could to help the team win."
Putting on that Indiana jersey clearly means something to these guys.
Always did.
Right from the start.
Still does.
BLOOMINGTON, Indiana - The last time looms. But the first time still resonates.
Robert Johnson dons an Indiana basketball jersey for the final time in regular-season play at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall as the Hoosiers host No. 16-ranked Ohio State for Friday's 8 p.m. tip.
The first time Johnson put on an IU jersey for a ballgame, he was about 900 miles away. In another country.
"It doesn't even seem like it was that long ago, to be honest," Johnson said of the Hoosiers' August, 2014, preseason week of exhibitions in Montreal. "I still remember first putting on the uniform and just having the feeling of I'm finally here – I'm finally a college athlete."
Collin Hartman had already spent a year in Bloomington by that time. Tim Priller was in Johnson's freshman class. Josh Newkirk and Freddie McSwain Jr. had not yet transferred to IU.
But all five will bid adieu, as they might say in Montreal, during Senior Day post-game festivities tonight.
The Hoosiers would naturally prefer to be in a fully celebratory mood at that juncture.
"Senior Day is like every other game," IU coach Archie Miller said when he and his five seniors met the media Thursday. "The way you honor the seniors is you try to win the game."
OSU makes that easier said than done. The Buckeyes enter 23-6 overall and 14-3 in league play, coming off Tuesday's 79-52 romp over Rutgers.
But regardless of how Friday's game plays out, IU's seniors will likely wax nostalgic when their turn at the microphone comes. And reveal themselves as a close-knit group, forged by both fun and tribulation.
"I think that (Montreal trip) is where it all started for all of us, really," Johnson said. "… I think that spring-boarded us as far as bonding and getting to know each other while we were up there.
"That was the first time we had been away from Bloomington as a group. I think we bonded with each other, and I think it's been great ever since."
Priller agreed, adding some details: "We played, I think, five games. We went to like a theme park, a roller coaster thing, where we all bonded and then just got to know each other real well."
IU's fortunes subsequently roller-coasted somewhat. A peak was a 27-8 Big Ten championship campaign that featured a NCAA victory over Kentucky sending Indiana into the 2016 Sweet 16. The nadir was perhaps last season's 18-16 struggle that led to a coaching change.
But Johnson has seen 31 more wins than losses since his arrival from Richmond, Va. And he has developed a strong sense of what the jersey he wears represents.
"Something that I'll cherish is the impact that we've had on other people's lives," Johnson said. "And I think being here, (it) is a special place. You get to inspire a lot of people that you don't come across every day, and for me, I think that's been special."
Indianapolis native Hartman warmed to that theme.
"I think that what I'll cherish most is obviously the relationships," Hartman said, "but also, being from Indiana, wearing Indiana across your chest, it brings a lot of pride.
"And it humbles me to see how much … it impacts people's lives, (given) how engrained people are into basketball here. It's their culture. It's their lifestyle. And I think having the impact that we do and the influence that we do – being able to represent not just the university, not just the program, but representing people's lifestyle, -- it's humbling and it's an experience that not a lot of people get a feel."
Hartman has had a long time to ponder such things. He verbally committed to IU when he was a sophomore at Cathedral.
Damon Bailey might have verballed to IU as a prep sophomore, too, but graduated in four years. Hartman, who took a redshirt season last year to rehabilitate a knee injury, is a fifth-year guy.
"I don't know if there's very many people that have been a part of the program longer than I have, from my commitment to graduation," Hartman said. "I'd like to maybe claim that. I don't know if that's a thing, but I'm going to claim it."
Hartman graduated last spring. But he decided not to have his final IU hoops memories stem from being shelved by an ACL tear. And he wanted to see what he could do to help a new coach lay a positive foundation for the program's future.
"It's been a journey," Hartman said. "As this team has gone on, we've come together and grown together as a team throughout the season, learning the (new) system and just working through everyday trials and tribulations together.
"We've grown together and we've become really close, and it's been a fun ride so far."
Looking to spoil IU's fun tonight is an OSU bunch that has doubtless enjoyed a season that has relentlessly exceeded preseason expectations.
Miller noted that the Buckeyes boast players at small forward, power forward and center spots all ranking with the league's very best.
Junior winger Keita Bates-Diop is a prime Big Ten Player of the Year candidate who leads OSU with averages of 19.0 points and 8.7 rebounds. Jae'Sean Tate, a stalwart senior, plays taller than his 6-foot-4 height suggests at power forward, averaging 12.6 points and 6.2 boards. Kaleb Wesson, a 6-9 pivot, averages 11.0 points and shoots .570 from the field.
C.J. Jackson, a junior, and senior Kam Williams, who shoots .442 from 3-point range have shined at guard, and graduate student Andrew Dakich has provided additional savvy stability in the backcourt (while hitting 3-pointers at a .467 clip).
Micha Porter, a 6-9 soph, adds size and skill up front off the bench, and 6-6 sophomore Andre Wesson and 6-5 freshman Musa Jallow add depth at the wing and guard spots.
Jallow, a Bloomington (Ind.) North product who graduated high school early and matriculated to OSU at age 17, has earned 10 starts and averages 2.7 points.
"They have a very connected team on both ends of the floor," Miller said of the Buckeyes. "They're very underrated defensively. They're one of the best defenses in the country. They have great length. They're very tough, and they -- to be honest with you, they've been able to have a successful season because they have good parts."
That success includes the 71-56 homecourt win over IU Jan. 30.
"We were physically dominated in the game," Miller said. "We were a step slow to every loose ball … they were the more forceful team in that game.
"Hopefully, in our building, we have a little bit more pep in our step."
Tonight won't be first-year OSU coach Chris Holtmann's first visit to Assembly Hall. That came in November, 2011, when Holtmann was head coach at Gardner Webb before his successful stint at Butler.
IU's Newkirk can relate a bit. His first game at Assembly Hall came in December, 2014, when he played for Pitt and the Panthers visited for a Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Hoosiers won, 81-69, but Newkirk came off the Pitt bench to supply 16 points and eight assists.
"Coming from Pittsburgh to here, I never would have imagined that," Newkirk said about concluding his career as a Hoosier in the Hall tonight. "It's been a long journey. To finally be here, after five years, it's surreal."
McSwain transferred into IU for last season out of Neosho County (Kan.) Community College and has emerged as a starter down the stretch run of his senior campaign.
"Just coming from junior college to here, I embrace just being here," McSwain said. "I love these guys, love this team, and like Rob (Johnson) was saying, just making an impact on other people's lives and having people watch us every day, watching us, our games … I'm just truly grateful."
Priller, a fan favorite throughout his Hoosier career, delivered the final point of IU's 80-56 win over Minnesota at the free throw line Feb. 9, sending the student section into delirium. The students routinely offer up chants beseeching Miller to find court time for Priller toward the end of games.
"The fan thing is pretty cool and all that," Priller said. "… Every time it happens, these guys (fellow seniors), they want to look at me and smirk at me and stuff, and I try not to laugh. But it doesn't bother me."
The Minnesota game was part of a four-game IU winning streak that ended Tuesday at Nebraska. Over that five-game stretch, the Hoosiers shot .519 from the field (including .432 from 3-point range) while holding foes to corresponding figures of .384 (.299).
Johnson, now seeing his customary extra work after practice paying off, is a big reason for the improved Indiana shooting numbers. He's shot .569 from the field (.548 from the arc) in the past five games, and tied the school single-game record with nine 3s while scoring a career-high 29 points in last week's win at Iowa.
The senior guard now is fourth on Indiana's all-time 3-pointer list with 234 and is up to 23rd in career scoring with 1,384 points.
"Can't put it into words, just how much he's given to our staff," Miller said of Johnson. "It hasn't been just like one day or one week. It's been literally since the first second we arrived on campus until today, he has been all in. And he's worked extremely hard not only individually on his own game, but he's really just done an amazing job of giving everything he has to our process."
Johnson and Hartman are road roommates and both said they find support and solace in each other's conversation, and not just about basketball topics. Hartman has been beset with injuries again this season – knee, angle, groin, shoulder, thumb – but will again wear that Indiana jersey trying to help his team on and off the court tonight.
"He's positive. He's a leader. He's stayed with it. He's all about winning," Miller said of Hartman. "I's sure, deep down inside, he'd say to himself, 'I'm a shell of probably what I was at one point in my career.'
"And the injuries certainly played a big role (with) his inability to really get in rhythm. I wouldn't be surprised, though, with his attitude and how things go (if that changes tonight) … I thought he helped us win the Iowa game. I thought the Iowa game maybe he didn't score a ton, but his (five) assists, his defense, he helped us win that game."
Johnson's memory went back to that NCAA win over Kentucky, when Hartman was hiding a broken wrist from the public and still made the start, and when Johnson drained a pair of first-half 3s before a bum ankle that required post-season surgery collapsed on him.
"I think that experience and that game in particular really speaks about me and Collin's career," Johnson said. "We pretty much had little to give. My ankle was barely holding on, and the same thing with Collin's injuries.
"But we still tried to come give what we could to help the team win."
Putting on that Indiana jersey clearly means something to these guys.
Always did.
Right from the start.
Still does.
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