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Indiana Hoosiers x Legacy Collection
SLAM’s Legacy Collection dives inside the archives to bring back some college basketball classics. Like the originals, we crafted each Legacy pair of retro shorts with the materials and details to honor the original designs. It was a labor of love in our pursuit to provide an era specific keepsake that celebrates the most iconic styles in college basketball history.
'02 Hoosier Legacy
The 2001-2002 Indiana team had been through a lot before it took the floor at for its season opener against Charlotte.
A year earlier, legendary coach Bob Knight was dismissed and replaced on an interim basis by Mike Davis. Davis led the Hoosiers to the NCAA Tournament where they were upset by Kent State. Still, the solid showing earned Davis the permanent head coaching gig at one of the premiere basketball schools in the nation.
With the exception of All-American, and hometown hero Jared Jefferies, there were no true stars returning for the '02 season. Instead, the rest of the roster was filled out with role players like Tom Coverdale, Dane Fife, Jarrad Odle, Kyle Hornsby, A.J. Moye, Jeff Newton and George Leach. What they may have lacked in star power they made up for in knowing their specific roles for the team to be successful.
Indiana struggled early on in the season losing three of their final four non-conference games. IU had a 7-5 record heading into the Big Ten and in fear of potentially missing the tournament. That all changed during Big Ten conference play where the Hoosiers went 11-5 and finished in a four-way tie for the Big Ten championship.
As a No. 5 seed In the NCAA Tournament, IU beat Utah and UNC Wilmington to reach the Sweet 16 and setup a college basketball blue blood showdown with #1 Duke.
After trailing by 13 at the half the Hoosiers willed themselves to a dramatic win after Jason Williams missed a FT with 4.4 seconds to go, and Carlos Boozer missed the put back. 74-73, Indiana stuns Duke.
In the Elite Eight, IU avenged the previous years loss to Kent State behind 15 3 pointers. It was on to Atlanta!
IU pulled another upset in the Final Four when it beat Kelvin Sampson and Oklahoma, 73-64, to set up the championship game with Maryland where they fell to the Terrapins, 64-52. Even in defeat the 2002 Indiana Hoosiers live on in Indiana basketball lore for what they were able to accomplish.
"We didn't have the underdog mentality because we were Indiana." -Dane Fife
