And that's a season in the books

For better or worse, the 2009-2010 Hoosier basketball season is over. And it was pretty painful. And honestly, IU was a mediocre team in a very good conference. Pomeroy has us ranked at #175 for the year, and I'd say that's about correct. I didn't expect us to be worse than Iowa, but also didn't expect us to win at Penn State. There were a couple of nice wins against Pitt & Minnesota to show that the Hoosiers were dangerous, but the losses to George Mason & Boston U., along with an 11-game slide in conference play demonstrate the Hoosiers were mostly dangerous to themselves. But there's hope for next season. Maurice Creek & Matt Roth return from injuries, and the Hoosiers usually had four freshman and a sophomore on the floor at the end of year.

I thought the Hoosiers would at least double their wins from last season, and I guess technically they did as the 2008-2009 squad only had 5 D-I victories. Devan Dumes and Tijan Jobe are out of eligibility, and I appreciate their work and effort for the Hoosiers in a dark time. Good luck to them in the future. But Crean will have seven sophomores next season (Creek, Watford, Elston, Capobianco, Hulls, Muniru, and Roth), three juniors (Jones, Pritchard, and Moore), along with the sole senior Rivers and at least two freshmen (Oladipo & Sheehey, any contributions at all next season will just be gravy). Creek won't be all the way back, but even an 80% presence of his on the wing will help considerably. At least four sophomores should start. Maturation and considerable improvement should be expected- probably not a NCAA-tourney bid, but getting to a winning record should be a minimum.

Point guard may be question, but that's a discussion for the offseason. It was a rough year, but thanks, Hoosiers. Now, go work hard for a better tomorrow.