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Reeling Hoosiers in town tonight
Indiana still a threat to be reckoned with, WFU's Gaudio says
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Published: December 3, 2008
Wake Forest will play an Indiana team of remnants and rookies tonight in an ACC-Big Ten Challenge matchup at Joel Coliseum.
These aren't the best of times for one of the best programs in the history of college basketball, as new Coach Tom Crean tries to clean up the mess left behind by his predecessor, Kelvin Sampson.
But Coach Dino Gaudio of the 15th-ranked Deacons has known Crean for more than 20 years, long enough to predict that, in time, the Hoosiers will be back in the thick of the Big Ten race and eventually battling for a sixth national championship. Crean arrived at Indiana from Marquette, where he coached the Warriors to five NCAA Tournaments and three NIT appearances in nine seasons.
"When we were both coming up the ranks, we were roommates at Xavier's camp," Gaudio said. "He was at Alma College and I was Wheeling Central (High School). We were in Kuhlman Hall Dorm.
"I've known Tommy for a long time and have nothing but the utmost respect for him."
The Hoosiers, who have only two players back from last year's team, are 4-2 after getting pounded by both Notre Dame (88-50) and Saint Joe's (80-54) in the EA Sports Maui Invitational. They struggled to beat IUPUI (60-57) at home and Division II Chaminade (81-79) in Hawaii.
Of the eight players in Crean's substitution rotation, six are freshmen, one is a junior-college transfer and one is the only returning scholarship player, Kyle Taber.
One of the starting guards, Verdell Jones III was sidelined during Sunday's victory over Cornell after a violent collision with an opposing player. Jones, a 6-5 freshman who averages 8.2 points a game, is considered questionable for tonight's game.
But if Gaudio is taking the victory for granted, he didn't let on during an animated practice session yesterday afternoon at Joel Coliseum.
"He'll get some great wins this year that he's not supposed to get," Gaudio said of Crean. "He'll upset some teams.
"We've just got to make sure that one of those great wins he gets isn't (tonight)."
The Hoosiers' leading scorer and rebounder is Tom Pritchard, a 6-9, 242-pound freshman averaging 15.8 points and 7.5 rebounds a game. He's shooting 65 percent from the floor and has taken 40 free throws, 16 more than anybody else on the team.
Pritchard, from Westlake, Ohio, was the Cleveland Plain Dealer Player of the Year as a senior. Gaudio said that Pritchard's game is reminiscent of that of Trent Plaisted, who averaged 15.6 points and 7.7 rebounds last season for BYU.
"He's left-handed and can really get angles on you to score," Gaudio said of Pritchard. "When you're playing against a left-hander it's a little bit different for the big guys. And if we let him catch the ball at will in the post, we're going to be in for a long night."
Gaudio said he expects no hangover from the three games in four days in Anaheim or Monday's cross-country flight home. Indiana played its final game in Hawaii on Nov. 26.
"It's much harder going from the east to the west because a 7:30 game on the West Coast is 10:30 with our body time," Gaudio said. "I'm not concerned about that at all. I don't think that will be a factor in who wins and who loses this game one bit."
Center Chas McFarland agreed, saying that the Deacons were young enough to handle the grind. But he and his teammates are a year older than a season ago, when they at times showed their immaturity on the way to a 17-13 season.
The test tonight, McFarland said, will be to prove that the Deacons can handle success better than a season ago.
"We've taken a pretty mature approach to it so far," McFarland said. "When we got back (Monday) we went straight to watch film, and everybody was locked in. We've come a long ways.
"I felt like last year possibly after a big win -- like after Duke -- we lost (four in a row). I think this year we've got some older guys so we won't let the younger guys, our teammates, have that letdown and overlook Indiana."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
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