BORDEN, Ind. (WDRB) -- Bob Knight started this annual gathering of Indiana University fans in southern Indiana nearly 40 years ago.
In the beginning, it was invitation only and basketball only, a fundraiser that Knight embraced for the IU Library.
It has grown from less than 100 people to more than 1,000 and blossomed into an opportunity to spotlight the women’s basketball, football and baseball teams.
Knight, Mike Davis, Kelvin Sampson, Tom Crean, Archie Miller and Mike Woodson have all commanded the stage as the headline speaker. But Wednesday at the Hubers Winery and Vineyards, the event took a turn it has never taken in previous seasons.
The headline speaker was not the Indiana University basketball coach.
It was Indiana University football coach Curt Cignetti, a man IU radio voice Don Fischer introduced as the best coach the school has hired in the last 50 years,
Fischer would know. He saw what Cignetti achieved in Year One last season.
The reigning national coach of the year. The guy whose team won 11 games and made the college football playoff. The guy whose team is expected to be a factor in the Big Ten again this season.
And Cignetti was also the guy who started his media scrum by asking people to exhale before expecting big things immediately from Darian DeVries, the coach the Hoosiers hired to replace Mike Woodson.
“He’s a man of action,” Cignetti said. “He doesn’t say a lot, but he’s got a plan.
“He’ll get it done. He’s going to do real well here. Just give him some time here. This stuff takes time sometimes. You’re going to see results.”
And one more thing. Cignetti said he would have liked to sign more players out of transfer portal. What happened?
“We signed Darian and he lost his whole roster,” Cignetti said. “Money got a little tight because he had to put a team together and I felt the pinch.”
That was a Cignetti joke. But this is not a joke. This is the way it is in Bloomington in 2025.
The Indiana football coach is asking fans to give the Indiana basketball coach time — after the football coach did not need any time to accomplish the unthinkable task of upgrading the Hoosiers from a 3-win program to an 11-win program.
While introducing Cignetti, Fischer winked and kiddingly reminded DeVries of what Indiana achieved in football last season.
It’s been a minute since IU celebrated a basketball season like that, which explains why Woodson is now an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings.
It’s been nine seasons since Indiana won a Big Ten men’s basketball title or made an NCAA Sweet Sixteen. The Hoosiers have missed the last two NCAA Tournaments. Only 23 years have passed since the Hoosiers crashed a Final Four. After Knight won three national titles in a dozen seasons, Indiana has not been the last team standing since 1987.
DeVries is aware of the angst percolating in Bloomington and across the state. And he believes that can be a good thing.
“I just think this fan base is very passionate about it, they care about it,” DeVries said.
“They want to win. We want to win. So I think we’re in alignment there. That’s a good thing.
“I always tell people that you want a fan base that is very passionate about their team. That they care. That’s what we have. We’re excited to have them be a part of that. We have those same expectations. We’re going to do everything we can to try to live up to those.”
What DeVries has done so far is build a roster that is heavy on three-point shooting, build a staff that includes former IU and University of Louisville assistant coach Kenny Johnson and craft a nonconference schedule that includes a game with Louisville as well as games that were already booked against Kentucky and Marquette.
Johnson left a solid job with Ed Cooley in his home area at Georgetown in Washington D.C. to return to Bloomington. Yes, the money is great. Johnson will reportedly earn $750,000. But Johnson said that DeVries has impressed him with his intelligence and vision.
“He’s going to do well,” Johnson said. “He’s got a plan. He knows what he wants to do here. He understands the modern game."
DeVries said that he will be able to give a more complete rundown on his first team after the players report to Bloomington next week. He made his first move toward team building by booking his team for a three-game August trip to Puerto Rico, which will give DeVries extra practice time.
“I like the way the roster came together,” DeVries said. “I think we’ve got great depth with guys in terms of shooting the basketball, which was a priority for us.
“I think we’ve got good positional size at a lot of spots. In the center, we’re a little smaller. But every other spot we’ve got great size.”
And those games with Kentucky and Louisville?
“Those are great games for us,” DeVries said. “Terrific games regionally for sure. A lot of fun not only for the teams but for the fan bases and should present some great challenges for us.”
For IU basketball, the challenge is real -- and has been for many years. The challenge was larger for Cignetti. He not only accepted it, he won like no IU football coach has ever won. Now it will be DeVries’ job to show he can do something special in Year One, too.
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