Читать книгу Indiana University Olympians. From Leroy Samse to Lilly King онлайн

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Eight of the first eighteen selections were would-be Olympians: Jordan (drafted third); Sam Perkins (fourth); Alvin Robertson (seventh); Lancaster Gordon (eighth); Leon Wood (tenth); Tim McCormick (twelfth); Jeff Turner (seventeenth), and Vern Fleming (eighteenth). That did not include two players—Barkley (fifth) and Stockton (sixteenth)—who did not survive the cut to sixteen.

In 1985, five of the top seven picks in the NBA draft were from the Olympic team: Ewing (first), Wayman Tisdale (second), Jon Koncak (fifth), Joe Kleine (sixth), and Mullin (seventh).

The Olympians had multimillion-dollar contracts waiting, but there was a gold medal out there waiting too. Knight “didn’t deny” the draft happened, according to Tim Garl, the IU basketball trainer who served in that same role for Team USA. “But he said, ‘Hey, you need to do the Olympic thing first. We have a job to do.’”

When it came down to the final cut, Alford did not have to sit in a chair and wait for names to be called. Knight told him, and told him he earned it. Predictably, there was an outcry that an Indiana player had been picked by the Indiana coach. Knight responded just as predictably.