NCAA Tournament brings fresh start for Indiana

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Dan Dakich noticed a lull during the shootaround schedule Thursday, so Indiana's interim coach had a little fun: He invited a few dozen young fans onto the court, placed them in the lane and knocked down free throws over their screams and waving hands.

Then, during the Hoosiers' practice, a manager walked along the lines, slapping high-fives while urging the players, "Let's have fun with this."

As rough as the past month has been at Indiana, why not?

Allegations of NCAA recruiting violations, a midseason coaching change, a threatened player boycott, and a quick exit from the Big Ten tournament have made Indiana's high national ranking and Final Four expectations disappear as quickly as a dropped phone call.

Now, all that's left for the eighth-seeded Hoosiers is to somehow salvage their once-promising season, beginning tonight against No. 9 seed Arkansas (22-11) in the first round of the East regional.

"We look at it like it's a new season, new beginning," forward D.J. White said. "We struggled a little bit in the past, but there's nothing we can do about it. All we can do now is try to get better."

The Hoosiers (25-7) once were considered among the favorites to contend for their first Final Four in six years and a threat for their first national title in more than two decades.

"We got seeded at No. 8, but we feel like we're a team that if we're playing good, we can beat anybody in the country," guard Armon Bassett said.

Perhaps, but those performances came during Indiana's 16-1 start -- well before the emergence of those distractions that unraveled the season.

They included: Kelvin Sampson's abrupt resignation; Dakich's promotion to interim coach; losing three of its last four, capped by Minnesota's buzzer-beating shot in the Big Ten quarterfinals; and the schools' recent announcement that a committee would search the nation for the next coach.