The Game Can Be So Cruel Sometimes

We were all told as youngsters that life sometimes isn't fair. We struggle to deal with it then, but as adults, ideally we are able to comprehend this fact without someone telling us so. Today was one of the times when all IU fans, children and adults alike, had to struggle with that question again.

There have been few players who have been through as many downs as Verdell Jones III, with almost no ups to counteract them. He came to IU as a scrawny guard, looking for playing time and a chance to prove himself. He played his way into the starting lineup through hard work, and ended the season averaging 11 ppg and totaled 100 assists for the season. For all intents and purposes, things were looking up. The team couldn't get any worse than they had been, and Jones looked like he would grow into a legitimate Big Ten player, both physically and skills-wise. His sophomore year showed that he had the goods to play in the Big Ten. He started every game he played in, with an average of nearly 15 points per game. His assist totals went up, his turnover numbers came down. Even with the addition of a heralded freshmen class, Verdell showed that he was an important part of the Hoosiers basketball program.

By his third year, he was not only entrenched as a starter, but also as the resident whipping boy for IU fans. Verdell was jeered and mocked for nearly everything he did on the floor. Fans openly pined for him to play fewer minutes, and counted the days until he left the program. Through all of this, Verdell held his head high (except while dribbling into the lane) and kept playing hard. He wouldn't let anyone bring him down. Now this season, his 4th and final one at IU, with the addition of Cody Zeller and the improvement of the others on the squad, looked like it could be one where Verdell and his teammates tasted some more success. Possibly even enough to sneak into the NCAA tournament as one of the last few teams in. We all know the story of this team's season by now. For Verdell Jones, he had his greatest assist of the nearly 400 he has tallied, a pass to Christian Watford to set up the game winner against Kentucky. He willingly took on a smaller role in the offense, taking fewer than 200 shots for the only time in his career. Even the fans had let off of him recently, as he proved to them that he was a key cog on the machine that was on its way to the NCAA tournament for the first time.

Then it all came crashing down.

Mere minutes into the first Big Ten tournament game that Verdell could legitimately hope to win, he came to a jump stop, dropped the ball, and dropped to the ground in a heap. He grabbed his knee, and didn't move. Not even to writhe in pain. Almost immediately he was surrounded by the medical staff while a stunned crowd sat in silence, hoping he would stand up and walk to the bench. We all knew in the backs of our minds that it was a remote possibility, but it didn't stop anyone from hoping for the best. Eventually Verdell sat up and was helped into the tunnel, where he was wheeled away for the requisite testing and evaluation. Less than an hour later, IU announced that he had a sprained knee and would require further evaluation.

While the initial diagnosis seems minor enough, those of us who saw him fall to the ground know that the probability of this not being a season ending injury is remote. The reaction of Tom Crean in the post game press conference and the fact that he shed tears on the post game radio show tell us all we have to know. Verdell Jones, barring a miracle, is likely done playing for the Indiana Hoosiers. We were all left to ask, how is this fair?

I found myself secretly hoping Mr. Miyagi would appear, do his hand clapping thing, and Verdell would be just fine. The Hoosiers would come back out of the tunnel, and Verdell would lead us to the All Valley Karate Tournament Championship...I mean the NCAA National Championship. I thought to myself, well maybe it isn't as bad as it looked. I kept coming back to the same thought though, that this just isn't fair.

Verdell was asked to do so much more than he ever should have been, like everyone on Tom Crean's initial IU team. He was asked to score, to play point guard, and to help rebuild a storied program from the ground up. He took every challenge in stride, he was tough and he worked hard. He stuck through all the hard times, taking more punishment from opposing players and his own team's fans than most players would have put up with. He had just returned from a shoulder injury, still wearing a brace. He was finally going to realize his dream, the dream of every college basketball player, to play for a chance to cut down the nets. In the blink of an eye, that was all gone.

Today, March 8, 2012, was very likely the last time any of us will ever see Verdell Jones III put on an IU uniform. He will go down in IU lore known as a guy who helped lead a team from 6-25 to 25-7 (and counting) in three years. He'll go down as a lightning rod for the ire of fans. He'll go down as the skinny rail of kid, who grew into a man before our eyes. As long as ESPN has replays, he'll go down as the guy who had the assist on the shot that brought IU basketball back to the spotlight. He'll go down as a guy who played his heart out every time he was out on the floor. I wish it weren't so, but at least to me, he'll go down as a guy who caused me to question the fairness of life, like I was 7 years old again.

Just like my mom said, just like your mom said: Sometimes life just isn't fair.

And Then There Were Five...

Nobody had ever experienced something like this before, not here at least. There have been ups and downs before, but never so many of them so close together. For the five seniors who will take to Branch McCracken Court for the final time on Sunday, this has been the story of their lives for the past 4 years.

The story of how the Hoosiers reached historic lows is well known, the only argument being when exactly the decline started. Was it when Bob Knight was fired? Was the lazy and shortsighted decision to retain Mike Davis after a modestly successful interim season the catalyst? Was the even lazier and more shortsighted hiring of Kelvin Sampson to blame? Or was Sampson's departure the real beginning? Perhaps some would say the slow decline started years before any of this, with the inability of the Hoosiers to play beyond the first weekend of March Madness through most of the 1990's. Whatever your answer of choice is, most everyone can agree that the crescendo, or more appropriately, the decrescendo, came in the 2008-09 season, with a 6-25 record, the program's worst. Suffering through this nightmare of a season were players who had nothing to do with the demise of a proud program, but were asked to rebuild it.

Among the new names on the roster, and basically all the names were new, were Mike Santa, Kipp Schutz and Tijan Jobe. A team manager, a walk-on, and a project that never panned out. Including the walk-ons, there were 8 freshmen on that squad. Of those 8, five stuck around through the seemingly Sisyphean task, to become the elder statesmen on a top 25 team just 3 seasons later. Kory Barnett, Verdell Jones III, Daniel Moore, Tom Pritchard and Matt Roth have seen the lowest of the lows. No matter how far they take this ride into March, and hopefully early April, they can play their final home game knowing that they succeeded in their work.

As time passes, these five seniors may become mere footnotes in the illustrious history of IU basketball. One day they may be "what's his name" or "that one guy" or just a mere number on a jersey. I can only hope that despite the various records for futility that they were a part of, despite the sometimes empty stands that they played in front of and despite the snickers and barbs they received, especially the ones from IU fans, that they retain a special place in the history of IU basketball.

When the only other people who wanted anything to do with IU basketball were Tom Crean and the NCAA Infractions Committee, they were there. When their fellow players were leaving for greener/easier pastures, they were there. Close losses, blowout losses, Lipscomb, and Northeastern. They were there. Throughout all of this, they've helped develop the players that look to be leading IU even further in the right direction by showing them the ropes of playing in the Big Ten and of playing for the flagship athletic program of the state's flagship university. They've been model citizens off the floor, only showing up in the papers for positive things, earning degrees early, and moving on to graduate studies. Most of all, they've shown what commitment, perseverance and hard work can do. They've been what every program should hope for in a senior class.