Since the last days of the Bobby Knight era at Indiana, the program has been in tumult. Whether it was the happenings that ran the old codger out of town, Mike Davis’s tantrum at Freedom Hall, Kelvin Sampson’s cheating, or Tom Crean’s inconsistencies, it’s been a couple decades, now, since the program has made fans happy.
Even when the Davis and Crean eras were at their respective peaks — after a national runner-up finish, fans wanted to let it be known that Davis did that with “Bobby’s boys,” and even after Crean won two Big Ten titles in four seasons, there were plenty of people unhappy with the tournament failures, the missed dances, the pants that didn’t fit, and the roster void of Indiana kids — fans weren’t content.