Tom Coverdale is one of our favorite guards to ever play at Indiana. He was the catalyst and South Region MVP for the 2002 NCAA National runner-up team, scored 1,217 points in 115 career games and is now an assistant coach at Louisiana Monroe. He’s one of only two players in Indiana history to score 1,000 points, hit 200 3-pointers and dish out 500 assists. I caught up with the former Mr. Basketball from Noblesville and asked him about a variety of topics. A transcript of that conversation is below. Enjoy.

Inside the Hall: First things first. You first got into coaching at Louisiana Monroe, went to Chicago State for three weeks and returned to Louisiana Monroe when an assistant coaching job opened. How was the transition moving from a player to a coach and ultimately, what are your long term goals in coaching?

Tom Coverdale: I knew I wanted to stay in basketball. The toughest part for me is not being able to actually get out there and play during the games and not having hands on control during the games as much as you do as a player. My long term goal, I think just like every other young coach that gets into coaching, is to become a successful head coach at a great program and just try to get back to a Final Four.

ITH: You played for both Bob Knight and Mike Davis at Indiana. Tell us a couple of things you learned from each of those guys that you’ve been able to incorporate into your own career as a coach.

TC: I couldn’t really pick out different things, especially only being with Coach Knight for one year, but probably the way he prepared before games and got his team ready is something that I’ll always remember. In general as a player I think the thing that helped me the most is a lot of the situations players go through, I’ve lived through. I can relate to them and know exactly what they’re feeling and thinking as they’re going through it.

ITH: As a player, it always seemed that opposing fans loved to hate Tom Coverdale, but Indiana fans embraced you for your willingness to do the little things that it took to win basketball games. What do you think it was about your style of play that drew the ire of opposing fans?

TC: The way I always looked at it is if the other fans liked me, then I wasn’t doing my job for my team. I think the reason they didn’t like me is because I was a real emotional player and didn’t really hold anything back as far as emotion and just playing as hard as I could. I think it’s a combination of those two things that opposing fans didn’t like.

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Armon Bassett will finally suit up for the coach responsible for bringing him to Bloomington – Mike Davis – as the former IU guard announced his intentions to transfer to UAB in today’s Birmingham News.

“I’m good friends with Robert (Vaden). Coach Davis put Robert in a good situation and he’ll probably be a top 20 pick next year. Seeing that put me over the edge (toward UAB).”

Bassett was one of two players dismissed from Indiana’s team by former interim head coach Dan Dakich in April for missing an appointment and refusing to run laps as punishment. Current Indiana head coach Tom Crean upheld the dismissal after taking over.

“Its tough, man, but going through that makes you stronger. Things happen for a reason. When God closes one door, he opens another.”

Most people I’ve talked to insist that Bassett isn’t a bad guy — but his extracurricular activities weren’t going to fly under the new coaching staff. And they shouldn’t have. Solid pickup for Davis, as he’ll be able to pair Bassett with 2009 recruit DeMarcus Cousins. Whether or not that turns into on the court success remains to be seen.

For reasons unbeknown to yours truly, Birmingham News scribe Kevin Scarbinsky felt compelled to write a column today about IU fans and their unwillingness to let go of our feelings towards Mike Davis.

Funny thing is, a significant portion of the Indiana fan base couldn’t wait for Davis to hit the road. Two years later, some Hoosiers can’t let him go. They’re like some LSU football fans still obsessed with Nick Saban, except LSU football fans didn’t hate Saban when he worked there and didn’t want him to leave.

Like Alabama football fans, Indiana basketball fans love their history, and with good reason, except for the chapters that include, say, folding chairs as flying objects. As their program prepares to face the music and the Infractions Committee, whose decision will shape their future for years to come, it seems fitting to revisit and revise some recent history.

At least for those Hoosiers who like to keep those cards and letters coming, who still believe Davis was the worst thing to happen to IU basketball since John Feinstein. News flash: He wasn’t.

Scarbo: As a co-editor of one of the more widely read Indiana basketball Web sites out there, I have a news flash for you: We don’t care about our old friend Mike anymore. In fact, I’m not even sure of the last time he was mentioned around these parts. The reality is, a lot of fans appreciate Davis’ magical 2002 run to the NCAA championship game, but they also realize he was over matched as the head man in Bloomington. His record in Birmingham over the last two seasons only confirms the truth about Davis: As a head coach, he’s not worthy of a big time job. Here’s to hoping the sports news heats up in Birmingham soon, Scarbo.

Now that I’ve had a couple of hours to digest the debacle earlier this afternoon at Penn State, I’ve collected my thoughts on the game, the direction of this team and the program.

E will weigh-in with more in The Morning After, but this was a game the Hoosiers needed for NCAA seeding purposes as well as confidence. Five games in, it is clear that the Dan Dakich era is not going well. A lot of people are commenting that Ray McCallum should have been the choice to replace Sampson, but that move wasn’t made because IU didn’t want to chance having McCallum’s name show up later in any NCAA allegations.

Dakich suspended Jamarcus Ellis for today’s game in a move that many are interpreting as the coach trying to “get control” of the team. Ellis was somewhat of a loose cannon in the Northwestern game and just hasn’t been disciplined since Sampson left the program. It’ll be interesting to see how he responds to the suspension and if he’s in uniform on Friday. IU is certainly a better team with Ellis, but if he’s a detriment to the team, it’s hard to justify keeping him around. No one, after all, is bigger than the program.

This team still has a chance to salvage the season, but to be perfectly honest, how can we expect this to end well? The energy and enthusiasm on the court has plummeted since Sampson departed. This is clearly a different team. The intensity on defense is sporadic at best and there is no sign of a structured offense being executed. Perhaps more concerning is the body language of the players during timeouts. Even Adam Ahlfeld has lost some pep in his step. The “us against the world” attitude that many of us expected to kick in has yet to materialize. Most of the players look like they’re ready for the nightmare to be over.

Looking to the future, it is clear that Indiana needs to make a home run hire this time around. Mike Davis and Kelvin Sampson both set the program back and another mistake would be catastrophic. Out of respect to the team, we’ve done our best to keep the coaching talk to a minimum. We’ll get into it full bore once the season ends and when speculation merits discussion.

For now, I’m interested in hearing how you feel about where this team is headed. Do you have any optimism that this team can make a run? Or is a first round loss in the NCAA Tournament on the horizon? Thoughts in the comments, por favor.

- The Hoosiers played a laugher of a game Saturday night as they whipped Western Carolina, 100-52. Coach Sampson thanked the fans (including me) for braving the elements to watch a blowout. The only important thing we learned from the game is that Eric Gordon is back and ready to go. Gordon looked to be 100 percent and showed no signs of the lower back injury that kept him out of the Kentucky game.

One other thing that impressed me was how unselfish the team was with the ball. There were signs of a structured offense and the Hoosiers had a season low 10 turnovers. And by the way, if you have any pictures of Eli Holman in his red suit, please send them our way. PostmanE is Eli’s biggest fan.

- One of the more exciting games of the weekend took place at Freedom Hall in Louisville as former Indiana coach Mike Davis and the UAB Blazers beat Kentucky, 79-76. With his team down 12 at the half, Davis had this to say to his team: “I told our guys at halftime that we’re 15 points better than this (UK) team.”

Led by former IU guard Robert Vaden, the Blazers outscored Kentucky by 15 points in the second half in what was basically a home game for the Wildcats. Vaden put on a ridiculous shooting display in the second half with six three-pointers and finished with 33 points. Vaden looks to be about 20 pounds lighter than he was the last time we saw him in a Hoosier uniform. Thanks for beating Kentucky, fellas.

- And finally, Purdue had a nice win over Louisville in the Wooden Tradition at Conseco Fieldhouse. Louisville might be the most disappointing team in the country so far this season as they were a trendy preseason pick to end up in San Antonio. That’s what injuries (David Padgett and Juan Palacios) and a knucklehead (Derrick Caracter) will do to a team.

On the Boilermaker side of things, I’m really impressed with the play of the two kids from Valpo, Robbie Hummel and Scott Martin. Both guys are surprisingly polished for freshmen and will be very good four year players for Matt Painter in West Lafayette. Not that I’d ever cheer for Purdue, but it’s good to see both the Hoosiers and the Boilers heading in the right direction. It’ll only make for a better rivalry.

One of the story lines that I’ll be watching closely is the 17-game home court winning streak that the Hoosiers will take into the 2007-2008 campaign.

My interest in this statistic was piqued by my co-worker, who is a huge Kentucky fan. In his defense, he’s the only tolerable UK fan I’ve ever encountered. I know, that’s a shocking revelation, but for those of you who are forced to deal with obnoxious fans of other programs, there’s hope for you yet.

We like to talk hoops frequently and he’s convinced that UK is going to come into Assembly Hall with a new coach, a mediocre front line led by a freshman and walk away with a victory. My initial reaction was to tell him that we don’t lose home games. Then to back up my claim and out of curiosity, I looked deeper into the numbers and found that our current streak ranks 10th in the nation.

Among the notable streaks ahead of IU are Memphis at 32, Ohio St. at 25, Wisconsin at 22, Notre Dame and UCLA at 20 and Florida at 19.

One of the many things that really irked me about the Mike Davis era is the amount of games that were lost at home. Programs with a home court advantage like IU has at Assembly Hall just shouldn’t lose home games. Anyway you slice it, losing at home is not acceptable.

That’s one of the encouraging things about last season and the direction of the program under Coach Sampson. IU was 15-0 at home last season and most of the games weren’t close. I’m expecting similar results moving forward and especially on December 8. After all, nothing will be sweeter than a 3-hour ride home for the Wildcats with their tails tucked between their legs.

In case you were wondering how Indianapolis Pike product and former Hoosier Robert Vaden is doing these days, the Birmingham News has an update for you:

Five UAB Blazer basketball players were arrested and jailed early Friday morning by Birmingham police.

Edward Berrios, 23; Keenan Ellis, 18; Walter Sharpe, 21; Channing Toney, 21; and Robert Vaden, 22, were all booked into the Birmingham City Jail between 2:45 and 3:30 a.m.

The incident leading to the arrest of the players started inside Club Red, 2015 Highland Avenue, about 1:30 a.m. when some players began arguing and fighting among themselves, said Sgt. Paul Irwin of Birmingham’s South Precinct. Off-duty officers working at the club called for backup and several Birmingham police cars were dispatched, he said.

“It was out of hand,” Irwin said of the incident.

The arguing and yelling eventually spilled outside the club where the players refused to cooperate with police, Irwin said.

“There were several other basketball players there who were tying to calm their teammates as well,” he said.

The players continued to be loud and boisterous, and were even screaming profanities, Irwin said. Finally, police were forced to arrest the players who refused to cooperate and continued yelling at both police and people on the street.

Ellis tried fleeing but was captured by police. An officer was injured during the chase, Irwin said.

So yeah, things seem to be going well down at UAB for Vaden and Coach Mike Davis.  I’m not one to sit here and rip away at college kids, but there’s really no excuse for something like this. It’s just flat out unacceptable. It’ll be interesting to see how things turn out over the next two seasons for Vaden and how this arrest will effect him on the court, if at all.

Also, will Davis get control of his players before the season starts? If not, it could be a long year for Blazer nation.