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The Hoosiers inevitably will send more athletes to Tokyo for the next Olympic Games, which were postponed from 2020 to 2021 by a pandemic. They will bring more medals back to Bloomington and build on a tradition that few universities can emulate.

Steve Alford, 1985.

IU Archives P0030877.

Steve Alford

1984

America’s Last Amateur Gold

STEVE ALFORD WAS COMING OFF A MOMENTOUS FRESHMAN BASKETBALL season. He averaged 15.5 points a game, scoring 27 in the Indiana Hoosiers’ 72–68 upset of top-ranked North Carolina and Michael Jordan in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16.

Although the Hoosiers didn’t make it to the 1984 Final Four, coach Bob Knight did. He appeared on TV at halftime of one of the games on CBS. Alford was watching at home in New Castle, Indiana, with friends.

Knight looked into the camera and said, “I know Steve’s watching back home. The thing I want him working on all summer is his defense and moving without the ball.”

Alford shook his head. Here was Coach, two thousand miles away, chiding him about his defense. The next week, back in Bloomington, Alford was playing pickup. Those games were strictly for fun because no coaches were watching.