CINCINNATI — Tonight the Cincinnati Bearcats men’s basketball team takes on the Georgia Bulldogs in an important road game to close out the nonconference portion of the regular-season. The Bulldogs are 5-0 under third-year head coach Tom Crean.
Prior to being named the head coach at Georgia in March of 2018, Crean was the head coach at Indiana for nine seasons where he led the Hoosiers to three Sweet 16s and two outright Big Ten regular-season titles. The latter of those titles came in 2016.
Also in 2016 was my Uncle Squid’s, an Indiana alum, beginning of a winning three-year battle with stage four brain cancer. In a year this year of silver linings, my uncle had a silver lining in 2016 with his cancer diagnosis and not working as the Oakwood Junior High School principal. On a medical trip to Duke in December of 2015, Tom Crean had somehow gotten a hold of my uncle’s cell and offered him and my Aunt Kellie guest seats at the Indiana-Duke game in Cameron Indoor Stadium the night they were down there. Right behind the Indiana bench! How cool is that?!
But the connection between Crean and my uncle and his family only grew from there. Crean gave my uncle his personal cell and invited him and his family to an Indiana home game later in the season. Well, as what you will read below, my uncle and his family didn’t just go to an Indiana home game later in the season. There was so much more for them than just the game the night and whole day of February 17, 2016.
The following is a memoir, written by my uncle Squid himself, of a day and night spent not only attending the Indiana men’s basketball game but an experience that turned into so much more. Spending the entire day with the team on gameday established a forever connection between Tom Crean and my family.
From Dan…
February 25, 2016
This is a must-read for those of you who love Indiana basketball, or any college basketball . . . actually this is a must-read for anyone who loves good people and positive role models.
The circumstances that brought my family and I to be involved in the following experiences are terrible, but the events described below certainly make smiling a lot easier. In case you don’t remember what circumstances I’m referring to, find the details at www.caringbridge.org under the page “dweck”.
This all started on the afternoon of December 2nd when Coach Tom Crean called me out of the blue – lots of details can be found on this from the 12/19/15 post on caringbridge.org. During that powerful phone call, Coach Crean invited the whole family to come to IU for a game this season . . . we scheduled it for the Nebraska game this past Wednesday night.
The day before we were leaving for Bloomington, Taylor Brown (one of Coach Crean’s assistants, who spent pretty much the whole next day dedicating his time to our family) called with some details for the game, including that Coach Crean wanted to meet with us and that we were invited to attend a pre-game walk-through practice. Of course, we were all very excited for the game, and now the opportunity to see a practice. We had no idea at the time, but there would be much more to our visit to the best university in the land. . . .
When we arrived in Bloomington on Wednesday, we headed straight to check into the Indiana Memorial Union hotel . . . unloaded, relaxed for a few minutes, walked down the hall to pick up a couple pieces of spirit gear, and then it was time to head to Cook Hall to meet Coach Crean and catch the pre-game walk-through. Side note (because this would have been helpful to me if I hadn’t been at IU last week) –Cook Hall is the new and amazing basketball practice facility and massive display case for IU’s numerous Championship trophies. Who knew, but Cook Hall is actually connected underground to Assembly Hall (the real Assembly Hall, not Illinois).
When we arrived to Cook Hall, we were given a tour of the whole facility, including the locker room, training facilities, and more. While in the locker room, we took several photos as the kids sat at the different players’ lockers (and I sat with them in one too). We also learned the storyof the Red Belt Mentality. There was a martial arts red belt in a display case in the front of the locker room. We learned that Dave Anderson (author, leadership speaker, and business owner out of Los Angeles) was brought in by Coach Crean after the rough loss to Duke in early December to address the team. Mr. Anderson’s concept – beware of those with a red belt (the level before the black belt); these are your hungriest fighters; these are who you should fear the most. After every team victory since the Red Belt Mentality presentation, the team has selected the player of the game and he has taped a stripe on the belt and has written that losing team’s name on the stripe. This Red Belt Mentality has had a big impact on the team – since that early December introduction of the Red Belt Mentality, IU has only lost two games!
As we continued our tour and making our way toward Assembly Hall, Coach Crean greeted us in the hallway. I would have thought a few hours before game time, he wouldn’t be taking quality time to meet with some strangers. Instead Coach Crean treated us like we were old friends and he was genuinely happy to see us. He spent time talking with the whole family, especially Collin and Casey. (I’m pretty sure they were sharing some pre-game strategy on how to crush Nebraska – it worked!) During our visit with Coach Crean, he made sure that we would be coming to watch the pre-game practice. He also invited us to join the team for their pre-game dinner!
We were escorted to the first row of Assembly Hall to watch the team practice. With the exception of the team and our family, the arena was completely empty. (During my time at IU, I witnessed a lot of amazing things in Assembly Hall – Calbert Cheaney, Alan Henderson, IU beating the Fab Five, etc – but this experience in an empty arena was second to none .. . until later that day, but I didn’t know that there was more to come.) After a very fast-paced, efficient, and seamless practice, every member of the team greeted all four of us individually by shaking our hands and welcoming us to IU. Wow – what a classy group of guys!
We were then escorted down the hall to the team dinner. There was a nice spread of chicken, mashed potatoes, fruit, French toast sticks, and more. Casey got the French toast sticks with syrup, and she was quick to pointout that Yogi was eating the same thing! We got some good pictures and talked with the team. Kellie had the opportunity to talk more with Coach Crean, and I was able to talk with Jayd Grossman, Assistant A.D. for Basketball Administration. It was impressive to hear Jayd focus on the quality of character that this team has. In the era of “one-and-done” in college basketball, this team has such a strong bond and chemistry with the number of upper classmen they have as role models for the younger athletes.
After dinner, the players went their separate ways to relax and prepare for the game. I was impressed that Coach Crean even went home to spend some family time before heading back for what was sure to be a long night at work. We also went back to the Union for a little down time.
After what seemed like about 10 minutes, it was time for us to head back to Assembly Hall for the game. Shortly after 7:00, we pulled into Gate 14 in our pre-arranged parking spot right in front of Cook Hall. Decked out in our candy striped pants (Collin and I), t-shirts, sweatshirts . . . we were greeted at the door to be given our tickets and be escorted to our seats in Assembly Hall. We walked through the same underground hallway to the arena, behind the hoop, behind the scorer’s table, and to our seats — in the 1st row directly behind the Indiana bench! We didn’t realize it at the time, but with pictures of friends’ TVs sent to us shortly after the game started, we soon found that every time the ball was at that end of court we were on TV! (Good thing I brushed my hair!)
Game Time! A quick hour after getting to our seats, the game began. (During that hour, we learned the answer to the age old question about those giant heads that fans hold up when the other team shoots free throws. Where do they come from? It turns out that IU hands them out to fans who want to hold them up . . . and the heads move to the other end when the teams switch sides.) Sitting that close to the team and the action was incredible. We could feel the players’ excitement when a teammate made a big shot or an impressive defensive play. With all the excitement and action, the game flew by . . . with a big IU victory.
We had been told before the game to wait at our seats after the game because Coach Crean wanted to talk with us again. We were prepared to wait a while because we knew he would be meeting with the team, leading his press conference, and then hopefully meeting with us. But only about 5 minutes after the game, Lindsay (one of Coach Crean’s assistants) came to get us. She escorted us straight across the court toward the hallway we originally came from. As we walked across the court, Lindsay noticed that I was fumbling with my phone to try to get a picture – we were,after all, walking directly across the court! She offered to take a family picture – with the banners in the background! (Those are the 5 National Championship banners . . . with the 6th banner knocking on the door!)
This is where I struggle to put the words on the paper. This is where it gets more unbelievable than we could have imagined, words simply cannot describe the power and emotion of the situation.
We walked down the hall, and waited quietly by Coach Crean’s office while he finished talking to the team in the locker room. After about a minute, we were escorted toward the locker room as Coach Crean invited the whole family to join the team. We reluctantly entered as we were all quite overwhelmed with the thought of entering the IU locker room right after a big win. Coach Crean pulled me next to him in the center of the locker room, with the team gathered around. He talked to the whole group about the battle our family is facing, the challenges ahead, the positive outlook we have had as a whole family, and the importance of family and God. Then Coach Crean asked me if we could all pray together. The family gathered in close to Coach and the whole team. Coach led a very powerful and meaningful prayer with and for all of us there. Then he explained that they always end with an “Indiana on 2” cheer. He asked Collin (our Collin) to lead the team in this cheer. As you can picture, the whole team, still gathered closely together,raised their hands together to form a point in the middle. After Collin shouted, “1, 2” everyone yelled,“Indiana!” What a lucky kid!
And when you think it couldn’t possibly get any better than that . . . with the team gathered around him, Collin Hartman carried the Red Belt to me and explained the Red Belt Mentality and that the team selected me to be the one to write “Nebraska” on the stripe of the belt. Wow! What an experience! And what an amazing group of young men to willingly share this high honor with me!
The next day, I learned from Coach Crean the following: “That was completely the players’ idea on the striping of the belt. That’s a pretty sacred honor to them to stripe it at the end of games. That shows how much they get it and how much they quickly accepted you and your family.” —-And to me and Kellie – that shows how much of a personal impact Tom Crean has on his players and how much they are growing into men with high character and an unselfish understanding and respect for mankind.
Finally, after some gathering of autographs and lots of goodbyes, it was time to go. But before we left, we walked out of the locker room and past the court one last time. Collin, Casey and I asked if we could go back on the court to shoot a few baskets– how could we not at least ask? So we were allowed! And in Collin’s words he drained a few shots. I made one (and I’m not revealing how many shots I missed). And Casey got close.
We were escorted back to Cook Hall and outside to our car. I’m really not sure what time it was, but we were all completely exhausted . . . and hungry. So how could we not make a quick stop at Nick’s to have some Stromboli and a drink out of a Nick’s jar!
Our favorite parts:
Casey’s says her favorite part of the trip was sitting in Yogi’s chair at his locker.
Collin’s favorite parts were meeting the team and leading the “Indiana on 2” cheer.
I have too many favorite parts to narrow it down . . . But there’s no question that near or at the top was the post-game prayer led by Coach Crean with the entire team gathered close, followed by the high honor of adding the Nebraska stripe to the Red Belt.
Kellie’s favorite part was that I got to experience the emotions of this event with our kids. They got to encourage their dad’s fight in such an important way – that will influence them positively for a lifetime.
What we learned:
Tom Crean is a darn good basketball coach, but we already knew that. What I didn’t know is that Tom Crean is a great man and a phenomenal role model for his players and all those who are around him. Similarly, the IU Basketball staff is an incredible group of leaders who gush with kindness and strong character. As our kids grow, we hope that they can have role models and mentors as powerful and genuine as Tom Crean, his staff, and his players.
In summary, Coach Crean, Yogi (who our Collin loves to call “Kevin”), Troy, Thomas (who our Collin loves to call “Beast”), OG, Max (who is so friendly and outgoing), Juwan, Rob, Collin (who our Collin loves to see score because they seem to have a common name), Nick, James (who we can’t wait to see back on the court), and everyone else make up a great team, and they are great guys. Spending time with them was amazing to say the least. But what was so special for a regular guy like me – participating in team rituals in Assembly Hall, in the IU locker room – WOW! There are no words to truly express the overwhelming experience and emotions.
Dan
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 