Indianapolis Greyhounds
2010-11 record: 19-9 (12-6)
Coach: Stan Gouard (4th season)
Conference: Great Lakes Valley Conference
Series: N/A (IU won 2006 exhibition game
TV: 7 p.m. Saturday, btn.com (replay on BTN at 2 p.m. November 8)
The game won't count in the final standings, but the long-awaited 2011-12 IU basketball season begins Saturday night when the Division II Indianapolis Greyhounds visit Assembly Hall. Unlike in seasons past, IU will play only one public exhibition game before the regular season begins (against Stony Brook on November 11). Teams now have been given the option of playing a non-public scrimmage against another Division I program. IU did so last weekend against Indiana State, and rumor has it t11hat IU won by three against the defending Missouri Valley champs. NCAA rules prohibit media coverage of the games and on-record discussion by players and coaches.
The game against the Greyhounds, on the other hand, will be in public and the first chance for fans to see this squad, with new additions Cody Zeller, Austin Etherington, and Remy Abell. Indianapolis has caused some trouble in the exhibition games before. The Greyhounds have won exhibition games against other Division I teams in the last two seasons. In 2009, the Greyhounds upset Valparaiso, and last fall they upset Tennessee in a well-publicized embarrassment for the Volunteers. IU won 83-46 when the two programs last met in an exhibition, in 2006.
The Greyhounds struggled for much of the 2000s, but had a strong season in 2010-11, finishing 19-9 and 12-6 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005. The Greyhounds lost Darius Adams, who scored 23 points per game last year, but return Adrian Moss, a 5-9 guard who scored 12.3 points per game while shooting 36 percent from three point range and averaging 5 assists per game. Moss played his high school ball at Franklin and was Johnson County Player of the Year as a senior, and began his college career at IUPUI. Wilbur O'Neal, a 6-7 center, shot a ruthlessly efficient 67 percent from the field last year, averaging 13.4 points per game in only 20 minutes per game. His problems appear to be at the defensive end, where he averaged a foul every 5.8 minutes of play. Moss and O'Neal are the only major scorers returning from last year's team, but the Hounds also return Daniel Daudu, who scored 4.3 points in 20 minutes per game as a freshman, and Jarrett Hamilton, a 5-9 sophomore from Indianapolis Cathedral who shot 40 percent from three point range in limited action last season.
Fourth-year coach Stan Gouard seems to have the UIndy proving moving in the right direction. The composition of the roster is not as Hoosier-heavy as some other exhibition opponents IU has played: only five of the Greyhounds played their high school ball in Indiana. As would be expected for a Division II opponent, the Greyhounds are undersized: none of their guards are taller than 6-3 and about have under 6 feet tall. They have only one player taller than 6-7. It will be disappointing if this one is close, but as always, it's fun to see the start of the season, especially with an exciting new crop of players and the most high profile freshman of the Crean era.