Al Durham Savoring 'Surreal' Return to Indiana Basketball with Assembly Ball

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The last time Al Durham represented Indiana men’s basketball, he and his teammates were booed off the court.

The Hoosiers’ 2020-21 season ended without a made basket over the final nine-and-a-half minutes in a 59-50 loss to Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament. Durham hit a pair of free throws with two-and-a-half minutes left — the final two points of his four-year Hoosier career, and the last gasp for air in Indiana’s 12-15 campaign that led to head coach Archie Miller’s firing.

Durham, who played at Indiana from 2017-21 and is one of 56 Hoosiers who scored 1,000 career points, entered the transfer portal four days after the season ended. He didn’t return until the summer of 2024.

Now 26 years old, Durham is back in Bloomington, preparing for his debut with Indiana’s alumni-centric team, Assembly Ball, in The Basketball Tournament. The tournament tips off Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Durham has experience from a March Madness run at Providence College and a subsequent three-year professional run overseas — and a lesson rooted in perseverance he learned best at Indiana.

If he could write back to his 22-year-old self who last donned the candy striped pants, he’d start with this: Stick with it.

“It's not going to always be bad days. It's not going to always be boos. It's not going to always be all these negative things,” Durham told Indiana Hoosiers on SI on Thursday. “There are positive days coming, just as long as you work hard and you believe in yourself, the world is what you want to make.

“So, just keep working hard, Al, and everything’s going to be alright.”

After a season at Providence that Durham dubbed “amazing,” the Lilburn, Ga., native went undrafted in 2022 and began his professional career in Greece. Over the past three years, he’s played for teams in the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain.

Durham spent the 2024-25 campaign with Bàsquet Girona of the Liga ACB, the top basketball division in Spain. Despite a midseason head coach firing, Durham averaged 9.9 points, 2.3 assists and two rebounds per game across 34 appearances.

He’s now headed to Italy, where he’ll play for Vanoli Basket Cremona during the 2025-26 season and continue to live out his childhood aspirations.

“I've been living a great life,” Durham said. “I’ve been to a lot of different great countries. It's actually an amazing experience, especially seeing the world, seeing a lot of different things a lot of people don't get to see. Doing what you love and getting paid for it.”

But before Durham returns overseas, he has business to handle stateside. He’s already had to wait an extra year to take care of it.

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Assembly Ball general manager AJ Mahar jokes that Durham is still mad at him.

When Mahar pieced together his first roster for Assembly Ball in 2024, he considered Durham but didn’t ask him to play. Mahar didn’t think the team needed Durham.

Nevertheless, Durham made his first trip back to Bloomington in three years at the same time Assembly Ball began practicing last summer. Durham, who was working out and training with Indiana’s then-strength and conditioning coach Clif Marshall, entered the gym inside Cook Hall to watch some of his former teammates practice.

Mahar approached him with an apology.

“This is my fault, no one else's fault,” Mahar told Durham. “I made the call to not recruit you this year. I should have. My bad.”

Mahar didn’t make the same mistake twice. He told Durham he wanted the 6-foot-4, 180-pound guard on Assembly Ball’s roster for 2025. Still a year in advance, Durham was non-committal. When Mahar reached out earlier in 2025, Durham expressed interest but couldn’t guarantee he’d play.

Unable to secure Durham’s commitment on his own, Mahar turned to Indiana women’s basketball assistant coach Keyanna Warthen, a close friend of Durham’s, for help. Warthen, who graduated in 2021 as the winningest player in IU’s women’s basketball history and is now the team’s recruiting coordinator, dished one final assist — this one to Assembly Ball’s backcourt.

“I hit up Keyanna, and she helped deliver Al on a silver platter,” Mahar told Indiana Hoosiers on SI on Thursday. “We got the job done. He was holding a little bit of grudge, rightfully so — I earned the grudge. But he's happy to be here. I'm thrilled to have him.

“I made a mistake last year, and I can't wait to see him play, because Al's really freaking good.”

Durham said he’s watched The Basketball Tournament for several years, and getting the chance to reunite with past teammates and immerse himself back into Hoosier basketball proved too good to pass.

“Just coming back last year and not playing and just being in the environment, coming back to IU for the first time in a long time — it sparked something to come back and try to get back to the environment and see the Hoosiers a little bit,” Durham said.

Assembly Ball held its first practice and team meeting Wednesday evening before hosting a meet-and-great at Upstairs Pub. Durham relished the opportunity to be back on Kirkwood Avenue and drive around campus, seeing the evolution of his old home.

But Durham’s return to Bloomington is more about reconnecting to his past than discovering new upgrades.

Durham played with Assembly Ball teammates Race Thompson and Juwan Morgan. As a high school recruit, he watched and spoke with Yogi Ferrell and Troy Williams. Warthen, Indiana women’s basketball head coach Teri Moren and Indiana Athletics’ associate athletic director for academic services Lorian Price remain with the institution.

For Durham, joining Assembly Ball is, of course, a basketball-centered choice. But it’s also about rejoining the family he left in 2021.

“Just seeing all the people I went through those four years with, it was a surreal feeling, a special feeling,” Durham said. “Because I hadn't seen those guys in a while, and it’d been a while since I've been back here.”

The Basketball Tournament aside, Durham has spent the summer training. He’s worked out at home and at the Impact Basketball facility in Las Vegas, gearing up for his fourth season overseas.

But he’s ready to show his work on Saturday in Indianapolis. The Basketball Tournament is a winner-take-all event with a $1 million payout, and there’s money associated with each win leading up to the championship game.

Assembly Ball fell in the Round of 16 last summer. Mahar believes his group is built to make a deep run — and Durham, who still remembers the boos from his final game at Indiana, is hoping to write a different ending this time around, as much for himself as his team.

“Hopefully a lot more cheers,” Durham said. “The Hoosier fans, man, they’re a great community. They're very powerful in their basketball, and you know what you're getting into when you come to the Hoosiers. Hopefully, it’s a surreal feeling, more positive. But we’ll see how this goes.”