Sports press conferences are notoriously void of any real substance. You can usually anticipate the “we just need to take it one game at a time” before the words are uttered.
Former Indiana University forward Collin Hartman, who had a memorable career with IU, was just like every other athlete playing a major sport in that regard. After a forgettable blowout loss lost year against Fort Wayne, Hartman and the others who met with the media said “we didn’t come out ready” in about twelve different ways as they waited to be released from the podium.
You can’t blame the athletes either. Today’s media will turn any statement with a hint of controversy into headline news that the player, his teammates and coaches will have to contend with for days if not longer.
The good news is that once athletes move on from their competitive careers, they tend to open up more. That’s exactly what we got yesterday from a very revealing and high quality interview by Kent Sterling on Indianapolis radio station 1430 AM with Hartman.
Below are some of Hartman’s statements that we found particularly noteworthy. The full interview is further below. It is definitely worth 13 minutes of your day.
ON ARCHIE MILLER
Hartman was asked about his thoughts on Archie Miller and he had this to say:
“Coach Miller is awesome. I think he was a great fit for IU moving forward”
“He is a firecracker…he wants it just as bad as any of the players if not more. He very much has a business like mindset, but when you step off the court he is definitely one of the guys. He is very relatable. He played the game so he knows how it all goes.”
ON TOM CREAN
Hartman was also asked about his former coach Tom Crean. One of the things he said will surely resonate with Hoosier fans.
“I owe so much to Coach Crean for giving me the opportunity to play at Indiana.
He is quite frankly the most detailed coach I have ever been around, and maybe even the most detailed person I have been around on a day to day basis.”
BEST PART ABOUT PLAYING FOR INDIANA
Hartman was also asked what was the best part about playing for Indiana. More than anything else that he said in the interview, these statements really reveal a lot about the former Cathedral High School star.
“The biggest thing to me is representing the entire state of Indiana and the whole University. Being able to walk around places and having people recognize you. A simple hello can change someone’s life just because of the game you played. People really look up to us, and it was humbling to see how many lives we could change with such little acts of kindness.
I still do that today. I say hi to people that wear IU stuff and take pictures…it’s cool, especially with little kids because they light up immediately. You never know what people are going through nowadays. A simple hello can change their whole day.
You never know what people are going through, and nine times out of ten as an IU basketball player you have it better than somebody else.”
What a refreshing statement, and of course he is right. It is the reason why people post pictures on social media with athletes, fill 17,000 plus arenas, and frankly, the reason why sites like this exist. Collin Hartman will be a great ambassador of the IU basketball program for years to come.
Sterling and Hartman covered much more ground including:
- Hartman’s perseverance through his multiple injuries. We also covered his roller coaster career here.
- His academic studies and next career move.
- The details on the decision to come back for his final season.
- The status of his Senior Day engagement.
- And much more on Crean and Miller.
Again, we encourage you to listen here:
https://soundcloud.com/sports1430/collin-hartman
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