The Man Who Stopped Michael

If there’s one name anyone knows in basketball history, it’s Michael Jordan. The man, the myth, the legend, himself. Imagine being the designated player to guard him with the only pre-game instruction being,

“Just don’t let him dunk on you. That will embarrass you and me both.”

Now imagine that advice coming from the one and only, Coach Bob Knight. Yeah, I think I would puke,too, and that’s exactly what Former Hoosier Dan Dakich said he did when he went back to his room after this gut wrenching conversation with Coach Knight.

https://twitter.com/dandakich

Dakich didn’t disappoint, though. This Hoosier held THE Michael Jordan to only 13 points and caused him to foul out! With MJ out of the game, Dakich led IU to an upset over No. 1 University of North Carolina.

It’s safe to say the athlete was addicted to Indiana. After his years of eligibility, Dakich coached under Knight as a grad student for 2 years and then 10 more years as assistant coach.

He spent some time at Bowling Green State University as head coach, but it wasn’t long before he itched to be back in his home state.

After the—dare I say it again—Kelvin Sampson era, Dakich was named interim head coach for Indiana for the remainder of 2008. Once he was back in the Hoosier state, it turns out he was back for good. Do any of us blame him?

Broadcasting out of Indianapolis,Dakich now host his own program on 1070 The Fan (ESPN radio affiliate), “The Dan Dakich Show.” He also does podcasts that you can find online radio’s website. After working for the Big Ten Network for the 2009-10 college basketball season, he joined ESPN’s team as a color commentator and studio analyst.

 

Dakich is still with ESPN today, you can find him commentating college hoops, speaking his mind on the Indy AM station 1070 The Fan, or tweeting from @dandakich.

Antwaan Randle El Inducted Into IU Hall of Fame

Antwaan Randle El is nothing short of Indiana Football’s finest. An NFL star, Super Bowl champion, class act, and Hoosier legend, Randle El was an inductee into the class of 2012 Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame. At Indiana, Randle El played not only football, but basketball under coach Bob Knight, along with baseball, making Randle El probably the most well-rounded athlete in IU history.

Throw Randle El a ball, and watch what he does with it. His induction was inevitable, and is finally here, and it’s great to see a Hoosier legend get recognized for doing it right on the field, and off the field. Hopefully he continues to set the standard for future Hoosiers, and comes back around more often.

Randle El was drafted out of high school to play pro baseball by the Chicago Cubs, yet declined and opted to play football even though he was continually told he was too small. He decided to attend Indiana, where he would go on to write the Indiana record books. Randle El became the first player in NCAA Division-I history to throw for 40 touchdowns and rush for 40 touchdowns in a career. He was named most valuable player of the Big Ten Conference in 2001, and finished fifth all-time on the NCAA Division-I yardage list. Randle El was also the first player in college football history to total at least 2,500 yards in four consecutive seasons.

Randle El also has a sense of humor, claiming that coach Knight refused to call him Antwaan Randle El:

“He told me your name is too long, so from now on you’re just Randy”

Randle El was the best, and has had some truly memorable moments on the field. Who could forget Randle El’s touchdown pass in Superbowl XL, the only touchdown pass thrown by a wide receiver in Super Bowl history. Currently, retired from the NFL, Randle El is working for the Big Ten Network as an analyst. Keep repping the Hoosiers, Antwaan.