Here it is Hoosiers, another basketball season is finally upon us. Last year, my basketball preview said “This is the year.” It also said that it would be my last at IU, well not everybody can predict the future. Here I am, back at IU, writing another basketball preview, and I don’t want to say it, but I have a feeling. It’s that special feeling of loftiness inside your soul. The feeling that you know you’re going to get laid. The feeling you get watching unknowing friends eat something that’s been on the floor. It just feels good, almost guilty, but so, so good. That feeling is here, and it can only mean one thing - the Hoosiers are for real.

Kelvin Sampson’s first season with the Hoosiers gave Bloomington a reminder of what organized basketball is supposed to look like. People were hustling on both ends of the court, setting screens, knowing their assignments, and doing what they had to do to win. They made things exciting and made Hoosier Basketball relevant again. This year, we’ve got a more talented team and an even more excited fan base.

We’re going to miss “Rowdy Roddy” Wilmont and the smooth stylings of Earl “The Stache that can Dash” Calloway; they had heart and produced results. We’ll miss Errek Surh, who was five feet of energy. (Rumor has it, he was promoted on the first day of his job after taking a charge on a fellow employee getting off the elevator.) One thing we won’t miss is the “Blunder from Down Under” Ben Allen. We’ve replaced him with a robot programmed to foul and miss three’s, but back to the actual team.
Taking over the reins at guard will likely be sophomore Armon Bassett who showed us last year just how good he was. He can drive, he can pass, he can shoot, a legitimate triple threat. Well, now he knows Sampson’s system and has matured as a player, plus he’s got a new friend to play with. Enter Eric Gordon. This kid can straight out play. A top five recruit on everyone’s board, Gordon will probably be with us for only one year. Not only can he devastate a defense from the inside and outside, but he’s already despised by a huge rival. Those losers in Champaign (sorry Booze News founders, and my bosses) thought their coach could dress up like Cheeto and recruit, sorry, you’ve got to choose. Gordon saw Champaign, he saw Bloomington. He saw their Assembly Hall, he saw the real Assembly Hall. He saw their bull-dykes, he saw our women. He saw he had to make a change.

The addition of Gordon gives us two upper echelon scorers, something a team needs to excel in the Big Ten. That other scorer is, of course, DJ White. He’s back! He hit the weights last year, was healthy and produced game in and game out, now he wants a championship. You’ve got to want it badly to turn down green and opt for the cream and crimson. Watching these two is going to be a thing of beauty, like two supermodels going down on each other, but they’re not in a bed, they’re in front of 20,000 screaming fans. Fans that were ranked number one by ESPN.com.
Kelvin Sampson is undefeated at home, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t stay that way. He’s got a deep bench and amazing starters. Yeah, he violated some restrictions. The man’s passionate. He made a few calls to ensure that the Hoosiers live up to everything that name stands for. Indiana is basketball; lets make sure the world knows it.