BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Dean Garrett can’t remember the last time he was inside Assembly Hall for an Indiana basketball game.
He said a few years ago he was driving through Bloomington one summer afternoon and stopped by the arena. He walked inside and it was dark. He walked out onto the court and stared up at the 1987 national championship banner.
His national championship banner.
«I just remember looking up at that banner and having all of those memories come flooding back,» Garrett said. «I’m looking forward to reliving those memories this weekend, too. »
Garrett will be back in Assembly Hall today with 11 of his teammates from the ’87 national championship to celebrate the 25th anniversary of IU’s last national title.
Steve Alford, now the coach at New Mexico, organized the event with teammate Todd Meier and IU deputy athletic director Scott Dolson, who was a manager for the ’87 team.
Players attending today include Keith Smart, who hit «The Shot» from the left baseline in the closing seconds that lifted IU to a 74-73 victory over Syracuse for the title. Rick Calloway, Steve Eyl, Tony Freeman, Joe Hillman, David Minor, Jeff Oliphant, Brian Sloan, Daryl Thomas, Alford and Meier also will be there. The only three who won’t be there today are Todd Jadlow, Kreigh Smith and Magnus Pelkowski.
«It will be a very special day for Hoosier Nation to have the 1987 championship team back,» IU coach Tom Crean said. «That was the first Final Four I ever attended and I have great memories of that experience. I also believe our players and coaches have a great opportunity to learn from that group about what it means to be a great team.
«When they see the genuine affection those teammates have for each other 25 years later, they hopefully will understand what a special time it is in their own lives. I’m sure there were many hardships, but in the end they came together and achieved greatness as a group and no one can take that away from them.»
There will be an autograph session from 3-4 p.m. in the North and South lobbies before the 4:30 p.m. game with Stetson. Fans must have a ticket to the game to participate in the autograph session. The first 7,500 fans in attendance will receive a replica calendar poster from the ’87 championship season.
Garrett, who works as a supervisor at the Race Sports Book at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, said he has seen some of his former teammates over the years but this will be the first time they’ve all been together in one place.
«I think it’s a long time coming for all of us to get back together and for the school to acknowledge it,» Garrett said. «Thank goodness for videotape so that we’ve been able to relive that national championship season over the years. We were a team. We weren’t the best team or the most athletic, but we were a team in every sense of the word.
«We were probably the smartest team and nobody cared who scored, who did what. Keith (Smart probably hit the biggest shot in Indiana basketball history and it was just another play within the team concept. That’s what will always stand out for me.»
Meier, who lived in Wisconsin for the past 20 years before moving to Elkhart, Ind., earlier this year for a job, said it’s hard to believe it has been 25 years since the Hoosiers won the title.
«It’s hard to believe until I look in the mirror or I see that my kids are out of college,» Meier said. «So it has been a long time, but it has gone by fast. »
The players have a lunch and a tour of the Cook Hall practice facility scheduled before the autograph session and halftime ceremony. Alford’s New Mexico team played a home game Saturday night against Missouri State and he was scheduled to fly in today.
Former IU coach Bob Knight will not be a part of the reunion. Players interviewed said they would love for their former coach to be there but also understood why he would not.
«I had always hoped that coach would be able to make this and I’m sure he’ll be missed,» Meier said, «but I’m guessing he’ll be a big part of a lot of the stories we’ll be telling with each other. I’m just looking forward to start chipping away at all of those memories.
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