My Two Cents: More Cool Connections to Little Rock, Indiana's Foe on Wednesday
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The early part of Indiana's basketball schedule seems like a game of ''Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.'' Every time the Hoosiers hit the court, it seems, there's a close past or present connection in some way, shape or form.
The Hoosiers — 4-0 so far and ranked No. 11 in the nation — are back in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Wednesday night, taking on Little Rock in the second game of the Hoosier Classic. Indiana beat Miami of Ohio 86-56 in the first game of the ''classic'' on Sunday night in Indianapolis.
The game starts at 6:30 p.m. ET. Here's how to watch. CLICK HERE
And now it's Little Rock, an Arkansas team out of the Ohio Valley Conference that's coached by Darrell Walker. He's good friends with Indiana coach Mike Woodson, too. He was an assistant for Woodson from 2012-14 with the New York Knicks and has been coaching at Little Rock for four-plus seasons, coming on board in 2018.
Walker was a first-round pick of the Knicks in 1983 and played 10 seasons in the NBA with five different teams. He was a head coach in the league as well, with Toronto from 1996-98 and Washington in 1999-2000.
At Little Rock, he won the Sun Belt Conference crown in 2020 but didn't get to play in the postseason after the NCAA Tournament was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He's 53-67 overall there.
Indiana fans might remember the 2016 Little Rock team the best. They were coached by Chris Beard — who was an assistant for Bob Knight at Texas Tech for seven years and has been to a Final Four with Texas Tech, and now coaches at Texas. They went 30-5 that year and upset No. 5 seed Purdue — a team that had won 26 games — in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Little Rock has played Indiana twice before — they were called Arkansas-Little Rock back then — losing in Bloomington in 1988 and in Indianapolis in 1994. Strangely, I remember both games. In the Dec. 14, 1988 game, Jay Edwards had 26 points and Joe Hillman added 18 in a 105-77 win. The Hoosiers scored 66 points in the second half, their season high.
And in 1994, Allen Henderson scored 28 points and Brian Evans added 18 in a 77-53 win. Henderson and Evans still get their names in the paper — or on my Sports Illustrated/FanNation website — quite often these days. After every game we update Trayce Jackson-Davis' spot on Indiana's all-time scoring list.
We've mentioned Evans a few times this week, because Trayce is No. 13 on the list with 1,671 points, and Evans is No. 12 with . Jackson-Davis is just 30 points behind him, so he should catch him before the month ends, with three games to go.
Henderson is further on up the line. He's No. 7 all-time with 1,979 points. Jackson-Davis likely will pass him, too, probably some time after the first of the year.
Darrell Walker is in his fifth season at Little Rock. (USA TODAY Sports)
Little Rock is 2-3 on the season, and the Trojans played their first game of the Hoosier Classic on Sunday, too. They beat Jackson State — Indiana's opponent on Friday — 94-91 in Little Rock.
It was a three-point parade in that wild game. Little Rock made 11-of-21 three-point attempts — that's a 52.4 percent clips, while Jackson State made 13-of-29. That's a lot of three-pointers (24) in 40 minutes.
Little Rock can't match up with Indiana at all, so look for a barrage of threes again on Wednesday night as well.
Woodson and Walker are looking forward to getting together. There's been a lot of this all year, and it's made for a lot of great stories, some of our most heavily-read pieces all year. For instance:
- MARIAN EXHIBITION GAME: Steve Downing, the star of Indiana's 1973 Final Four team, is the athletic director at Marian in Indianapolis. He was here for the game and he was honored at halftime along with many of his 1973 teammates. That was 50 years ago. For the Downing story, CLICK HERE
- SAINT FRANCIS EXHIBITION GAME: It was a happy homecoming for the Bailey family. Brayton, the son of former Indiana legend Damon Bailey, starts for Saint Francis and he got a warm welcome at Assembly Hall. For the Bailey story, CLICK HERE
- BETHUNE-COOKMAN GAME: Not only did Mike Woodson play in the NBA with Reggie Theus, but he's friends with the Bethune-Cookman coach, too. And Billy Garrett, the son of Indiana legend Bill Garrett, was on Theus' staff. CLICK HERE
- XAVIER GAME: Xavier forward Jerome Hunter played at Indiana for two years and Xavier coach Sean Miller is the brother of former Indiana coach Archie Miller. CLICK HERE
- MIAMI OF OHIO GAME: There were two Indiana connections on the Miami coaching staff. Head coach Travis Steele grew up in Danville as a huge Hoosier fan and worked at IU. Assistant Jonathan Holmes played at Bloomington South and is the son of high school basketball coaching legend J.R. Holmes. For the Steele story, CLICK HERE and for the Holmes story, CLICK HERE
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- HOW TO WATCH: Indiana hosts Little Rock in the Hoosier Classic on Wednesday in Bloomington, Ind. Here's how to watch, with game time and TV information, three leading storylines, the latest on the point spread, the coaching matchup, series history and more. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA BEATS MIAMI: Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis had 17 points and 16 rebounds and eight other Hoosiers scored six points or more as the No. 12 Hoosiers claimed their fourth straight win with an 86-56 win over Miami of Ohio on Sunday in Indianapolis. CLICK HERE
- PHOTO GALLERY: Relive the action, and take a look at 25 photos from Indiana basketball's 86-56 win over Miami of Ohio inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Hoosiers improve to 4-0 on the young season. CLICK HERE
- CJ GUNN EXUDES CONFIDENCE CJ Gunn didn't play on Friday at Xavier, but he did a bit of everything in 22 minutes against Miami of Ohio on Sunday. He was ready to play and exude confidence not always common in freshmen, and that's all coach Mike Woodson asks. CLICK HERE
- TOM BREW COLUMN: Miller Kopp is shooting 53 percent from three-point range through four games, and he's playing well during Indiana's 4-0 start. He may not be Indiana's most important player, but he is when the ball is in his hands. He's Indiana's best perimeter shooter, and they need him to play well to win titles this year. CLICK HERE
