Big Men on the Big Stage in Bloomington - Historical Snapshot

    Recently fourth-year senior and All-American (hopefully) basketball big man Trayce Jackson-Davis earned a triple double over Nebraska, a team that took highly ranked Purdue to the wire yesterday (and lost), and before that, the Cornhuskers upset a highly ranked Creighton team (missing their big man, I think), scored a triple double in points, rebounds, and assists. His last pass made it ten in that column. The team was gunning for him to get that achievement, only the third time in the history of Indiana men's college basketball for a player to acquire double digits in three columns. No small feat, I say. Hard to do, worth some accolades.

    Way to go, Trayce! He was overwhelmed yesterday by some Arizona bigs, with no help from the referees, including a stupid goal tending not called on their large Wildcat dude Oumar Ballo, from Mali, and a big inadvertent elbow to the face from another guy, a Lithuanian or Estonian. Arizona is good. IU will hope to get them back at them in the tournament in March. 2023. But this is about some big men in Indiana basketball history, including the two other guys who accomplished triple doubles.

    Bill Garrett - African-American Hoosier who broke the Big Ten Conference rules by joining the team.

    Don Schlundt - Big guy who helped the Hoosiers bring their second title to Bloomington.

    Steve Downing - First man to earn a triple-double, the last column being 10 blocked shots. (Wow!)

    Kent Benson - Helped IU get its third national championship, and achieve the last perfect college season in NCAA men's basketball history. (1976)

    Landon Turner - Helped IU get banner number four, and was paralyzed for life not long after that championship, in a bad car wreck. This ring was the second for Coach Bobby Knight. Well, he got a ring for winning the National Invitational Tournament in 1979, two years before, but not as many people care about those rings. Thanks UCLA! John Wooden... Purdue guy.

    Dean Garrett - Junior college transfer who helped the Hoosiers win it all in New Orleans. Knight's third and last winner of it all.

    Jared Jeffries - Monroe County native who led IU to the national championship against Maryland.

    Juwan Morgan - Power forward who helped IU was they struggled to win with Coach Archie Miller.

    Trayce Jackson-Davis. 17 points, 13 rebounds?, and 10 assists.

    

To be continued.