THE FINAL SAY
By Zach McCrite
The Local College Hoops Scene Is Bonkers
What an unusual college sports landscape we ’ re in right now in Kentuckiana .
Sure , pro sports chatter is primarily about the athletes . But in major , revenue-producing college athletics , the primary subject of the ire for media and fans ( save for very few exceptions ) is the head coach .
And in our area , we ’ re in a curious spot with all of the head coaches at the basketball programs .
THE CURIOUS CASE OF ARCHIE MILLER
Let ’ s start with Indiana , probably the least curious of the three within a proverbial rock ’ s throw from this publication ’ s readership .
Archie Miller has been given plenty of leash to work out the kinks in a program that certainly needed it . And it ’ s been a work in progress , to say the least .
In fact , there have been many fans that have – more or less – allowed the first-year head coach to take massive , embarrassing losses at the friendly confines of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall .
Multiple losses . To other in-state teams . By 20 or more points .
Sure , between implementing a brand-new style of play and doing it with the limited talent left to him on the current roster , getting Indiana back to the perennial Top 25 team they used to be once upon a time is , of course , not an overnight process .
But , even with those disparaging losses , Hoosier fans and media alike ( myself included ) have treated Miller with kid gloves , taking these losses in stride , for the most part .
Of course , it ’ s safe to say there has been some improvement in the group as the season has gone on . Tip of the cap , Arch .
But , I feel like , even in his charter season , Archie would be feeling a little more heat from all of us in Hoosierland if not for this little protective bubble that ’ s been placed around him .
That bubble goes by the name of Romeo Langford .
As sports fans , we traffic in hope . We thrive on it . It ’ s our caffeine . That hope is what keeps us coming back for more , even when success isn ’ t coming at a consistent rate . It ’ s our current cup of coffee .
And that current cup of “ hope coffee ” is Romeo , the top high school shooting guard in the Class of 2018 , making posters out of poor opposing defenders with his addictive take-him-hometo-meet-your-momma demeanor .
The kind of local celeb where you can talk to other local strangers about him , refer to him only by his first name , and both of you know to whom the other is referring .
I don ’ t know where Romeo is going for his college basketball career . Neither do you ( unless , of course , he surprised us all with an announcement between the time of this writing and now ). But Hoosier fans are hoping it ’ s IU , obviously .
And it ’ s a credit to Miller that IU is even in the hunt for Romeo , especially given the substandard state of the Indiana hoops program .
My educated guess ? Romeo wouldn ’ t have IU in his final list of potential schools to which he ’ s contemplating going to school to play basketball had Tom Crean still been the coach in Bloomington .
But Romeo ’ s interest in the Hoosiers has created a protective bubble of hope around Miller . Until Romeo decides to commit to a school not named Indiana , that protective hope bubble will not fade , providing what would be harsh criticism – the kind usually reserved for coaches who receive beatdowns from powerhouses like Indiana State and Fort Wayne – from really hitting the IU coach .
And if Romeo does decide to dawn the Crimson and Cream , that protective cocoon once conceived of hope where Miller currently resides will turn into one made out of real credit ( and gratitude , too ).
THE CURIOUS CASE OF JOHN CALIPARI I ’ m literally shocked by the way Kentucky head coach John Calipari has been acting lately .
Sure , he ’ s a master of using the media to get a message across to his team ( and , at times , to his recruits as well ). But , this time around , he ’ s been as critical of a Kentucky team as he ’ s ever been as the head coach of the Wildcats , especially given the new class of freshmen he brought to Lexington , a class worthy of a top-five preseason national ranking .
John Calipari ’ s success at UK has been exemplary . Final Fours , once a fleeting luxury under Tubby Smith and an impossibility under Billy Gillispie , are now damn near expected
48 EXTOL SPORTS / FEBRUARY 2018