Yogi Ferrell to FOX 59: ‘We don’t hold each other accountable’
Junior Yogi Ferrell says the IU players, not the coaching staff, are at fault for the program’s recent troubles.
In an interview with Indianapolis TV station FOX 59 on Tuesday, conducted at Cook Hall, Ferrell said the blame for the Hoosiers’ recent off-court struggles lies with he and his teammates — and not with Indiana coach Tom Crean and his staff.
“The root cause is our entire team ourselves,” Ferrell said. “It has nothing to do with the coaching staff. The coaching staff is great. They get us ready for each game, prepare us as much as they can.
“I feel like it’s with the team. We don’t hold each other accountable.”
FOX 59 aired only part of the interview during its 5 p.m. broadcast and said it plans on airing the rest of it during the 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. broadcasts this evening.
Update: Full statements from Ferrell below:
“We, the Indiana basketball team, have let down our fans, family and friends and those before that have made Indiana basketball what it is today. We are embarrassed by our actions. Even I have made mistakes and I’ve owned up to those mistakes.
“And me being a leader of the team, I have to hold guys more accountable for their actions and what their actions can do to this program. Coach Crean has emphasized to us that the decisions that we make have to be good decisions and us being adults, we have made bad adult decisions. We have taken full responsibility for these actions.
“Now that these actions have come out, all we want to do is go out and play basketball. We will want our family and friends to support us as much as we can and we just want to go out there and play the game that we love and that’s the game of basketball.
“The reason why it’s so easy to make the decision that we make is the society we live in today. It’s not like it has been before where no one else did that. Now it’s our society and generation that’s open to so much more and just different types of things. We just make decisions that are just impulse decisions, I feel like.
“I say the root cause is the entire team ourselves. It has nothing to do with the coaching staff. The coaching staff is great. They get us ready for each game, prepare us as much as they can. I feel like it’s with the team. We don’t hold each other accountable. Coaches always tell us that we gotta make sure we’re brothers. We’ve got to have each other’s backs, basically and we haven’t been doing that.
“I learned a lot. I learned that now I’m doing actions as if, if I’m by myself, someone is watching me. I feel like I’ve turned a leaf and I’ve learned from it and told other guys that are going to make bad decisions not to do it.”
Filed to: Yogi Ferrell