Cheaney, Fischer Debate Value Of Having In-State Players At Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – In the midst of a five-game losing streak after falling 70-67 at home to Michigan, Indiana coach Mike Woodson tweaked the starting lineup.

Both had started several games earlier in the season, but Woodson reinserted Trey Galloway and Luke Goode into the starting five on Feb. 11 for the first time in seven and five games, respectively. Beginning with a win at Big Ten champion Michigan State, Indiana has gone 5-2 since that move and made the NCAA Tournament a likelihood.

There have been other adjustments to the starting lineup during that stretch but three constants remained – Galloway, Goode and Anthony Leal. Woodson has leaned on the trio of seniors for 30-plus minutes in at least five of those games.

Leal led the Hoosiers with 35 minutes during Saturday’s 66-60 win over Ohio State on Senior Day, doing a bit of everything with four points, a career-high eight rebounds, two blocks, one steal and an assist. In 34 minutes, Galloway accompanied Malik Reneau with a team-high 16 points, including a clutch 3-pointer late, and dished out six assists. Goode was third with 11 points, sinking 8-of-10 free throws in 32 minutes.

A common thread between those players – Leal from Bloomington, Galloway from Culver and Goode from Fort Wayne – is that they’re from Indiana. So on Monday’s Inside Indiana Basketball radio show, play-by-play announcer Don Fischer pointed out a trend that he believes has helped the Hoosiers play better basketball.

“This is something I’ve been spouting because I believe it, and I don’t know if I’m right or not, but I think I am,” Fischer said. “One of the reasons this team has gotten better here in the last 10-12 basketball games this season, been more competitive, been tougher and smarter, and to me, that’s because you have three Indiana players that are in the starting lineup now, that have made a huge difference in what that means to wear Indiana on the front of the uniform. Am I right or not?”

Fischer, of course referring to Galloway, Leal and Goode, was joined on Monday’s show by Calbert Cheaney, Indiana’s director of player development who played at Indiana from 1989-93 and is the Big Ten’s all-time leading scorer.

Cheaney, from Evansville, Ind., had a bit of a different perspective.

“Well, I don’t know if you can – I don’t agree with all that,” Cheaney said. “I mean, yeah, they’re from Indiana, but you can have guys from Utah that bring the same amount of intensity and smarts and intellect to the table. They just happen to be from Indiana. Anthony Leal and Luke Goode and those guys have done a tremendous job, once they’ve been installed in the starting lineup, of really helping us.”

“But I think one of the more important things with those two guys is they bring a lot of leadership, especially on the floor. They understand what coach wants to do, and they try to do it to the best of their ability, especially on the defensive and offensive perspective. But as far as them being from Indiana, I mean, I’m from Indiana. But it doesn’t matter for me. You can be from California. You can be from Missouri. As long as you play hard, you play smart, you play together, good things are always going to happen.”

Fischer chimed in that he agreed, then raised a follow-up question.

“Is that not part of having a great basketball IQ that some of these guys have, though?”

“I’m not understanding,” Cheaney responded.

“I’m talking about the Indiana aspect of it,” Fischer said.

“Well,” Cheaney said. “I mean, I’m still not understanding what you’re saying because –”

“What I’m talking about,” Fischer responded. “Is these guys grew up in the state, played high school basketball –”

“Yeah, and they understand – I get what you’re saying,” Cheaney said. “Yeah, they understand what the Indiana uniform is, and I get it. Yeah, they do. But you can go to a lot of schools and they come from different parts of the state, and they don’t really understand whether you play at Kentucky, or whether you play at Duke or whether you play at Carolina, a lot of these kids don’t understand that.”

“But from your perspective, I do understand, I do agree, yes, they do understand what it means to wear the uniform. And I think we got guys that understand that, too, that are not from the state,” Cheaney added. “So you just gotta – it works both ways. But without a doubt, Anthony, we call him Tony, and Luke, have done a tremendous job in helping us not necessarily turn the corner, but play better. We’ve played a lot better these last 10-12 games, and hopefully we can continue that.”

Cheaney’s point is valid that talented, smart players can come from anywhere, like Malik Reneau from Miami or Oumar Ballo from Mali, for example. They’ve certainly helped the Hoosiers play better of late, too. At the same time, there’s value in having in-state players who combine their talent and smarts with knowledge of the program and become leaders.

“All three of us take a lot of pride in wearing this jersey and representing it the right way, and we know what it means growing up as kids here,” Leal said Saturday, sitting alongside Galloway and Goode. “We love that challenge and knowing that with us as leaders and us as a foundation, we are going to be willing to overcome a lot of things if we just keep chipping away. For us, it's almost like a dream come true, being senior guards coming down to the end of the year going into March. It's the opportunity to make those sort of plays and trust in each other and all the work we've put in and give it our best.”