Indiana guard Conor Enright said Tuesday he can generally go through Bloomington without being recognized.
“I think our most famous person might be Trent (Sisley),” Enright said with a grin.
Sisley is the only scholarship player on the team from Indiana, and all of them are new this year as first-year head coach Darian DeVries completely overhauled the roster.
It’s not just that the team is new. There is an undeniable apathy enveloping the fan base unlike anything anyone has seen in generations.
The main reason? The two prior coaching staffs were major disappointments.
Indiana only went 149-111 (.573) over the last eight years, and made the NCAA Tournament just twice. If you widen the lens out further, IU is now on its sixth full-time head coach in 25 years, and they’ve made the NCAA just six times in the last 17 years.
You’ll have to forgive the fans if they need to see it to believe it. And when it comes to younger fans, they’ve never seen it.
But DeVries knows the passion for basketball is still there bubbling under the surface, and it’s part of his job to tap into that energy and reignite it. Only winning will truly light the fire, but he and the IU Athletics administration have taken a proactive approach, with a slate of fan-facing October events that begin this week.
DeVries came to IU from another high major job in part because of the passion and energy that supports the program, along with both the history and undeniable potential it has.
And an important early priority is connecting with the fans.
“I just think we’re at a place where basketball is incredibly important, Indiana basketball is a important to a lot of people, so I want them to be able to have access to something they really find valuable and important to them,” DeVries said.
“That’s what we want. We want people to feel like they’re not watching from afar. We want them to feel like they’re right on the inside and they’re stride by stride with us as we go through it because from a fan standpoint, they have a huge impact on us winning and losing a lot of times.
“That type of support doesn’t happen everywhere. We have it here. Every time we toss that ball up, this building and our fan base impacts helping us win, and that’s critical. So we want them to be a part of it.”
The October calendar seems to have something for everyone.
There’s an event on Thursday primarily aimed at the students. There will be a basketball court set up on Kirkwood Ave. and the players will be introduced and participate in contests.
There’s a free public scrimmage on Friday for the basketball junkies, along with exhibitions in both Bloomington and Indianapolis.
And there’s a Halloween themed event later in the month for the kids.
The hope is that by the time the season tips off on Nov. 5, anyone who wants a chance to get to know this new staff and players will have done so.
“People love this game. They love this game here at Indiana, and we do, too, and we want everyone to feel a part of that,” DeVries said.
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