Headband Hilarity: Upside-Down Headbands Coming to an NIL Store Near You
ALBANY, N.Y. — There's a lot to love about this Indiana basketball team, but one of the most important things is how much they all enjoy each other. They work hard, play hard and have lots of laughs, too.
It's a fun, tight-knit group, filled with a lot of characters.
Even in the most pressure-packed situations, they find ways to smile. And Friday night was no different. In their first-round NCAA Tournament game with Kent State, senior forward Miller Kopp — the perimeter shooter and admitted class clown — opted to wear a handband in the must-win game.
He had never done that before at any time during his five-year, 156-game career. And there was one simple question for him:
Why?
"Well, I just think of myself as a fashionable guy,'' Kopp said up on the podium during the postgame press conference along with fellow seniors Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson, the team's original headband trend-setter.
Jackson-Davis had to quickly interject.
"Really?'' he said, with an inquisitive look on his face.
"No, I haven't worn one in five years of college, so I thought why not for the NCAA Tournament? That's it.''
Jackson-Davis chimed in again.
"I think you should keep it,'' he said.
Indiana forward Miller Kopp smiles at teammate Trayce Jackson-Davis from the floor after getting fouled. He wore a headband for the first time on Friday, and scored 13 points in an Indiana victory over Kent State. (USA TODAY Sports)
Oh, he is. When Kopp got back to Indiana's locker room — which is open to the media for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years — he talked more about the headband.
And yes, he said, he's keeping the headband. He wore a white Adidas headband, but wore it with the logo upside down.
Always making a statement.
''You don't see many guys wearing upside-down headbands. If I'm wearing a headband, I might as well rock it it upside down,'' Kopp said. "Decided to rock it, and I wore it during the shoot-around, guys were clowning me a little bit but then a couple guys complimented and said yeah, you look good. That was all I needed to hear.''
Thompson was the original headband wearer this year, but he had a good reason. He had his head busted open with an errant elbow in a Nov. 23 game against Little Rock, and he slipped on a headband over his bandages while he scored 20 points. He showed up at the postgame press conference with the blood-stained headband still on, and he's been wearing it ever since.
Kopp said Thompson ''was a little bit jealous'' with his look on Friday night.
"When he saw me with it upside down, he said 'I wish I had thought about that,' '' Kopp said. "The headband is staying.''
Kopp has a lot of fun with all of his social media accounts and loves interacting with the Indiana fan base. He even has a line of clothing on the ''Primal'' website that he promotes, where they sells shirts and sweats, and more.
Headbands will probably be next.
"I was thinking about getting a little Sharpie and putting 'primal' on it,'' he said. "I don't think I will, but maybe I'll come out with some stuff later. But definitely be on the lookout for some headband stuff. It feels pretty good. There wasn't any sweat in my eyes, and I sweat a lot. I'm a big fan of the headband.''
Thompson liked the Kopp look, and said it kept everyone loose during the shoot-around.
"We go out there and try to have fun all the time,'' Thompson said.
The Hoosiers (23-11) avoided all the mayhem of March with a big win. Since they were playing the last first-round game, they had seen all the carnage that had taken down No. 1-seed Purdue, No. 2 Arizona and No. 4 Virginia. They stayed locked in to their own job at hand.
"Our preparation stays the same. In every game,'' Kopp said. "Like I said before, we've learned from our losses in the season and conference play. So those are enough to wake us up and keep us locked in.
"Of course we watch all the games. We're hoop junkies. So we see all the games and upsets and stuff. But really it's just about our preparation and doing the same stuff.''
Indiana forward Miller Kopp (12) drives past Kent State guard Malique Jacobs (2) in the first half at MVP Arena. (Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports)
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- GAME STORY: Race Thompson doesn't have much of a postseason resume for Indiana, but he rewrote it on Friday night, scoring 20 points to lead Indiana to a 71-60 victory over Kent State in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament. CLICK HERE
- SUNDAY START TIME: Indiana doesn't mind playing late at night, and that's a good thing because they'll be back at it on Sunday night, taking on Miami after hours in their second-round NCAA Tournament matchup. CLICK HERE
- WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS' BLOCK: Indiana gained some momentum heading into halftime against Kent State with a huge block from Trayce Jackson-Davis off the backboard. CLICK HERE
- WATCH HOOD-SCHIFINO'S DUNK: Indiana freshman point guard Jalen Hood-Schifino was too quick for the Kent State defense on this play, darting his way through the lane for an easy dunk. CLICK HERE
- WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS' VICIOUS DUNK: After a slick bounce pass from Jalen Hood-Schifino, Trayce Jackson-Davis slammed home a huge dunk against Kent State in the NCAA Tournament. CLICK HERE
