In the days leading up to Indiana’s Sweet 16 game with Syracuse at the Verizon Center, much attention was paid to the health of the right shoulder of Jordan Hulls.
And that was with good reason.
After the IU senior was involved in a collision during the first half of IU’s win over Temple, he returned in the second half wearing extra support under his jersey and scored five key points to help the Hoosiers move on to Washington D.C.
In the locker room after that win, Maurice Creek told reporters that Hulls told teammates that he’d “have to cut his legs off to keep him from playing” in the second half.
With three days of rest leading into the Syracuse game and comments on Wednesday from Hulls that he’d be fine to play in the regional semifinal, it appeared that his shoulder injury would not be an issue. Hulls knocked down 3-pointers from all over the court in IU’s open practice on Wednesday and wasn’t wearing any extra support underneath his jersey.
But when the ball tipped against the Orange, Hulls was again wearing the support under his jersey and a source tells Inside the Hall that the IU senior suffered a level 1 AC shoulder separation in the win over Temple.
The shoulder blade and collarbone are connected by the acromioclavicular or AC joint, which is held together by the acromioclavicular and coracoclavicular ligaments. In a level 1 separation, the AC ligament is partially torn, but the coracoclavicular ligament is not.
Hulls played 27 minutes against Syracuse, finishing scoreless (0-for-6 from the field) with three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
WASHINGTON — Indiana saw just about everything imaginable in the Big Ten this season.
Sunday afternoon’s game had so much to it, it was difficult to digest it all immediately after the game. Especially when a late March snowstorm was staring right at the greater Dayton area.
That’s A Wrap: Jordan Hulls
Hulls (36 games): 9.7 points, 2.9 assists, 2.4 rebounds, 0.8 steals, 44.6% FG, 44.7% 3PFG, 77.6% FT in 28.8 minutes per game.
Jordan Hulls began his Indiana career in the fall of 2009 hopeful that he and classmates like Christian Watford, Derek Elston and Maurice Creek could bring a storied program back from the bottom of college basketball.
Four years, 78 wins, two Sweet Sixteen appearances and an outright Big Ten championship later, it’s safe to say Indiana is back to national relevancy.
His career also started with doubters who believed that he, despite a state championship and a Mr. Basketball award at Bloomington South, didn’t have the size or physical makeup to lead a winning program in the Big Ten.
The final tally of Hulls’ numbers while at Indiana say those doubts were unfounded. The Bloomington native leaves as the school’s career leader in games played (135) and with 1,318 career points.
But beyond those numbers and his efficient shooting, Hulls also had a major impact as a guy who was willing to get in the gym and get better on a daily basis, a trait that eventually rubbed off on his Hoosier teammates.
Prior to IU’s home game with Iowa this past season, his father, J.C., told a story about a family vacation where the plan was to take a break from basketball for a week. According to J.C., the break was short lived before Jordan found a court outdoors and got back to work on his game. That work ethic became contagious inside the IU program as guys like Victor Oladipo and Will Sheehey joined Hulls in Assembly Hall and Cook Hall and saw their respective games take major leaps forward as a result.
The leadership of Hulls inside the program also became more apparent as his career moved along. The first sign that he had emerged as a leader came in August of 2011, when Elston told reporters that Hulls had kicked a couple of guys out of conditioning. “He is a lot more vocal,” Elston said. “He’s one of those guys that starts screaming now. Conditioning days, if you’re not making it, Jordy’s the first one to tell you. And whether you like the way he’s saying it or not, he’s going to say it. If that doesn’t motivate you, then he’ll get you off the floor.”
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