An august rivalry once dictated by two coaching mastodons is now steered by a rapidly rising acolyte in West Lafayette and a lame duck scofflaw in Bloomington. As if the clash for Indiana bragging rights needed more amplitude, Tuesday’s game is a smorgasboard of both backstory and the significance of the now. To the Knight-Keady backdrop is added present-day scandal, star power, stateside recruiting wars, and a Big Ten title in the balance.
Unambiguous Sentiments
The decibels in the Assembly Hall tonight will be the sound of 17,456 folks with distinct opinions. The boos greeting the arrival of those in black and gold warmups will tell the story of a 107-year history of basketball animus where hospitality means no visiting team goes unpunished. The jeers ushering the coach of the home team through what should be his last college game will speak volumes about the dim professional future of Kelvin Sampson. And the fans sporting T-shirts and placards summoning a recently unaffiliated legend will give some measure of the indelible personalities that built Indiana-Purdue into what it is today.
Despite several years of removal from the frontlines of the rivalry, Bob Knight and Gene Keady are forever central to the debate between Hoosiers and Boilermakers, a debate that adds new chapters each winter and fresh opportunities to crow or suffer. Though the accounting of their rivalry is subject to disparate interpretations and hardly encompass its full meaning, in advance of tonight’s next installment, gaze upon a few of them and consider the men who gave them life.
K-On-K: A Taste Of The Numbers
Head-to-Head Wins: Knight 21, Keady 20
Big 10 Winning Percentage: Knight .700, Keady .661
Big 1o Titles: Knight 11, Keady 5
Postseason Winning Percentage: Knight .673, Keady .571
Graduation Rates: Knight 98%, Keady 96%
Academic All-Americans: Knight 18, Keady 7
Necks Wrung: Knight 1, Keady 0
Rolexes Shattered: Knight 0, Keady 1
Withholding the obvious National Championship totals, these are a few of the numerical measures used by partisans to make either points or excuses about their teams and coaches of choice. Additional examples and subjects for continued jugular popping debate can be found here.
Whatever the conclusions drawn, the elevation of both men from the rest of the conference during their tenures is inarguable. And while Keady suffered one set of NCAA violations under his watch, his was the only such blemish between them in fifty-four Big Ten seasons and speaks volumes about the integrity they collectively maintained despite fierce desires to win.
The alumni of the rivalry, an illustrious catalogue that includes three men on tonight’s sidelines in Matt Painter, Cuonzo Martin, and Dan Dakich, have understandably strong impressions of the experience, some of which are shared here.
The Gordon Backdrop
“Do you tell someone to go ahead with a marriage if you have doubts? No. … This is the best fit for him,” Eric Gordon, Sr., October 2006
Fathers, sons, villains, cronies, loyalists, bitter rivals, and the battle for the conference’s biggest prize are all folded into tonight’s contest, elevating what is already one of the nation’s most pitched basketball collisions into the elements of Greek drama.
Given Eric Gordon’s success in Cream and Crimson this season and the gainful, if soon to be doomed, employment of Gordon, Sr.’s cronies Ray McCallum, Jeff Meyer, and Travis Steele, there were likely no doubts in the mind of the father and prodigal son about their decision to stay stateside. Junior found a cooperative, freedom-granting coach and senior solidified (McCallum) and/or advanced the careers of his friends.
Galvanized By Adversity
Last week’s haunting by the NCAA may have checked their good vibes, but it is also possible that the Gordons and the rest of the Hoosier roster will use the adversity to forge the kind of team bond that will pay dividends for the stretch run. The defense of the Assembly Hall Saturday against the Spartans and the team’s response to the absence of the team’s heart and soul in D.J. White may be indicative. And as alluded here, they may or may not have to do without D.J. again tonight.
Even if Sampson is shown the door, it would be premature to think the distractions are going to kill the Hoosier season. Unless sanctions are immediately self-imposed, the Sampson drama may have a surprising galvanizing effect and make the Hoosiers even more dangerous from here out. And if Dan Dakich is the one to assume the reins, it will provide yet another interesting Knight-tinged layer to what is already a season of Shakespearean intrigue in Bloomington.
Referendum On The Recruiting War
As Senderoff’s phone call log details, Robbie Hummel and Scott Martin were commodities that Sampson correctly identified as catches and worth flaunting the rules to make contact with. And though the two Valpo boys have no reservations about their Boiler allegiance, the Assembly Hall will try to convince them they made the wrong choice.
The other Boilermaker who spurned an IU offer and will also be facing the most hostile crowd of his young college career is East Chicago’s E’Twaun Moore. After a masterful 28-point, 6 rebound recent outing in Evanston he is, along with Hummel, evidencing the steepest learning curve of Painter’s frosh. The response of Painter’s youngest charges to the rigors of the Kohl Center bode well, but tonight’s road test will be even stiffer.
It doesn’t hurt to have players of Chris Kramer’s task-at-hand focus. Like Krabbenhoft, Kramer is the kind of yeoman who plays the same whether in Mackey or in the roughest of road environments. He is a leader to follow into battle. It was Kramer, Keaton Grant, and Calasan who steadied the Boilermakers in East Lansing and kept them close despite the absence of Hummel.
Purge And Renew
Having purged his program via a raft of player disciplinary problems, dismissals, and transfers - an alarming six players exiting West Lafayette in a two-year span - Matt Painter has found absolution and fan rapture thanks to his class of 2007.
And unlike the star-driven, fast-burning approaches of Matta and Sampson the last two seasons, Painter engineered a recruiting class that should be an aspirational model for the rest of the national coaching fraternity. Thanks to its versatility, shelf life, and Painter’s teaching it is not only paying immediate dividends but will bolster the program for the forseeable future.
Title Ramifications
A win by the Boilermakers and a remaining schedule that is the most forgiving of the three conference front-runners would grant Purdue a firm grip on what would be the program’s twenty-second Big Ten regular season title. A win by Indiana throws the title back into a three-way scrum that will make the final three weeks a game-by-game battle.
The only unfortunate thing for fans is that, barring another tete-a-tete in Indianapolis, this week’s game is the only meeting of the season. What’s more it will probably be the last meeting where Kelvin Sampson is affiliated with Indiana University. Even if his professional reputation is irretrievable, the Hoosier basketball program hopes to find just the kind of transcendence it needs tonight.
