Indiana Hoosiers: Revisiting The ‘Wat Shot’
By Jacob Rude
The Return
“You had a lot of guys on that team that were very hungry. They may have been flawed a little bit, but there were a lot of ifs that year. You could see the talent was there and everyone looked at that Kentucky game as a measuring stick. Even before the season, if they can be competitive with Kentucky, then you know you’re really going the right direction.” – Bikoff
For as far as IU had come, there was still a big jump needed to get to the next level. Luckily for them, the one who could put them over the top could be found a few hours away.
Cody Zeller was a five-star power forward who was the top high school player in Indiana. Aside from the Hoosiers, the Butler Bulldogs and North Carolina Tar Heels were battling for his commitment.
“Indiana had the history, but from where they were at that point, if Cody Zeller decided to go somewhere else, that’d been totally understandable,” Bikoff said.
On November 11, 2010, Zeller hosted a press conference in the Washington High School gym, with the announcement of his future to be told.
“There had been no hint of where he was going until he actually said the road,” Bikoff said. “There’s been those type of recruitments before, but you always kind of feel a sense. With Cody, no one really knew.”
Zeller stepped up to the mic and told those in attendance that he’d be attending IU.
“There’s no question. That was a huge, huge moment in the rebuilding of the program,” Bikoff said.
With Zeller and a team full of upperclassmen, the roster 2011-12 season gave fans a reason to be optimistic.
“I recall my expectations being a little higher than most, but generally believe the consensus was for that season to finally turn the corner from the struggles they’d seen up to that point.” ChronicHoosier said.
The Hoosiers opened the season with five wins leading up to a big-time match-up against the Butler Bulldogs. It was the first test of the season for the Hoosiers, one in which they passed with flying colors and added to the optimism of fans with a 75-59 win.
The next test came on the road in the Big Ten/ACC challenge against North Carolina State. The two sides fought tooth and nail, but with 7 minutes to go in the second half, the Hoosiers trailed by seven points and seemed on the edge of a collapse following a small burst from the Wolfpack. On the road, in a big time game, previous Hoosier teams would have folded under the pressure.
Unlike those teams though, this Hoosier squad banded together and put together a critical 30-12 to close out the game and send the Hoosiers back to Bloomington with an 86-75 win.
“Even after the season, the players point to [the NC State] game as being a huge part in the program because they all pulled together,” Bikoff said. “So many times in the previous couple years they had gotten close, but they hadn’t had the joy and relief of being successful of coming back and finishing a team off.”
With the win over NC State and followed by a blowout win over Stetson, the Hoosiers were 8-0. Waiting for them was the 8-0 Kentucky Wildcats. It was showtime.
Next: The Shot