Verdell Jones had waited four years for this moment.
As Indiana was about to be selected to its first NCAA tournament in the Tom Crean era, Jones was all smiles. The senior guard sat in the front row of chairs surrounding the projection screen in the Memorial Stadium’s Henke Hall of Champions, celebrating with teammates that are about to experience something he never will.
Jones won’t get to play in the Big Dance because of a torn ACL injury he suffered against Penn State in last week’s Big Ten Tournament. If he’s feeling sorry for himself, though, he sure isn’t showing it. Jones knows what this moment means for the program and, even though he won’t get to play, he understands the role he’s played in getting Indiana back where it belongs.
“It’s definitely bittersweet,” Jones said. “I’m happy for our team and all we accomplished to get to this point, but at the same time my heart’s a little saddened because I won’t get to participate in it.”
Jones will be with the team when the 4-seeded Hoosiers travel to Portland to play No. 13 seed New Mexico State on Thursday at approximately 9:45 ET. Most prognosticators had the Hoosiers as a 4-seed, so Indiana coach Tom Crean and his players weren’t overly surprised by the announcement.
Before the season started, the announcement would have been much more surprising. Few projected the Hoosiers to even make the tournament, much less as a top 4 seed.
After a three-year hiatus, Crean said it’s special to get back to the postseason.
“It’s a big deal to have this day,” he said. “When you coach and when you come into Indiana, this day is a really important day but a day everybody got used to. My family got used to this day. And then this day goes away for different reasons, and you can’t ever lose belief that you’re gonna get back to it. We never did.”
It’s here and it means something to Indiana for the first time since March of 2008. The question isn’t if the Hoosiers will be picked, it’s who will they play? And where will they be sent?
Indiana rode the momentum of a five-game winning streak into Friday’s Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal meeting with Wisconsin.
