LAS VEGAS -- Mike Davis positioned himself along the baseline in clear view for Greg Oden.

 

The Indiana head coach represented one of many high-profile schools that lined the perimeter of the Basic High Auxiliary gym Thursday night to watch the 7-foot Indianapolis Lawrence High center, the top player in the class of 2006 and a potential No. 1 draft pick if he opts to skip college.

 

 

Indiana coach Mike Davis is looking for a big improvement on the Hoosiers' 14-15 record last season.

Oden is the main attraction for Spiece Indy Heat here at the Big Time Tournament, which is sponsored by Reebok and is going against two other summer-league tournaments sponsored by adidas and Nike this week in this sweltering city.

 

Indiana Pacers scout George Felton was also in the gym to watch Oden. Other NBA scouts will surely follow.

 

But Oden has consistently said he wants to go to college, and that's why Davis isn't going to leave Las Vegas until Oden does this weekend. Davis has a plan to resurrect the Hoosiers, and Oden is one of the final pieces.

 

But Davis knows he can't afford to wait or even bank on an Oden freshman season in 2006-07 for the Hoosiers to become a national power again. It has to happen sooner, much sooner, as early as the 2005-06 season, which culminates with the Final Four in Indianapolis in April 2006.

 

"We have a chance to be there; everything has to go right, of course, but we could have a chance," Davis said as he stood outside the Basic High gym. "I know we can't go 14-15 again. We could surprise a lot of people this coming year. We could win 20."

 

Davis is optimistic, especially after the Hoosiers missed the NCAAs in 2004 for the first time since 1985 and suffered their first losing season since 1969-70. But Davis has to be positive because his critics are ready to pounce on his every possible misstep.

 

Davis loves to see if people are listening to him. He tested the other Big Ten coaches when he jokingly told them in a meeting this spring that he didn't know if he should be on a committee because he might not be back in a year.

 

He said he's just playing along with the feeding frenzy that always occurs with his job status. He has four seasons left on his contract, yet by listening to some of his rivals, you would think he's in his last year. According to coaching chatter he's out and Iowa's Steve Alford is in is rampant enough that Davis said recruits ask him all the time if he's going to be at Indiana for the long term.

 

He said that's his plan, and akin to when Steve Lavin was at UCLA, he couldn't willingly leave one of the best jobs in the country for a rather pedestrian gig at Auburn or Clemson.

 

But to avoid Lavin's fate (he was fired a year ago), Davis knows he has to turn around the Hoosiers beginning this season.

 

Forget that he coached Indiana into the title game two years ago against Maryland with just one NBA player (Jared Jeffries). Davis is being judged by his 14-15 season of a year ago, his 7-9 Big Ten finish and the blowout losses to Wake Forest (100-67), Kentucky (80-41) and Wisconsin (79-45) that left the program bruised all of last season.

 

Turning around the Hoosier hysteria of a program going south begins with Bracey Wright. The junior guard is once again the leader of this team, but unlike a year ago he potentially has more help. That doesn't take away the sting of last season or the immense pressure to produce every night.

 

The Hoosiers were predictable with Wright a year ago because he was the only legitimate scorer. He led the Hoosiers with 18.5 points a game, but shot only 37.4 percent. The second leading scorer, junior guard Marshall Strickland (10.8 ppg), scored 222 fewer points than Wright. That's the largest gap between first- and second-leading scorers at Indiana since 1995-96.

 

Wright's dominance and the lack of offensive balance for the Hoosiers were even more evident when he had 12 20-plus games and the rest of the team had a total of five. Wright averaged 21.1 points and shot 44.9 percent overall, 44 on 3s in the Hoosiers' 14 wins. In the 15 losses, he was the only player in double figures (16.1 ppg) and shot 30.7 percent and 26.5 on 3s.

 

Indiana went 1-7 from Jan. 31 to Feb. 25, a stretch that saw Wright average 18 points, shoot 31.6 percent on 3s and 35.7 overall.

 

Wright is the top returning scorer in the Big Ten (Minnesota freshman Kris Humphries and Wisconsin junior Devin Harris left for the NBA). And that puts even more pressure on him to lead the Hoosiers out of the muddled middle of the Big Ten.

 

"It was very frustrating," Wright said last week in New Jersey while trying out for USA Basketball's World Championship Qualifying team that will play next week in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

"We had a lot of team problems, and it showed when we got blown out. We never put it together. The whole chemistry was off."

 

To be fair to Wright, he wasn't 100 percent after missing May, June, July and August the previous offseason recovering from back surgery. But injuries to inside players George Leach and Sean Kline crippled the inside scoring.That put even more emphasis on Wright to be the savior, something he couldn't do on his own.

 

Wright said the rest of the team got tired of the media always looking at him as the team's only option.

 

"If Bracey had one more guy, that would have helped," Davis said. "But he was the only player returning who had scored in double figures."

 

"If we had another scorer inside, then we could have won eight more games and been 22-7 instead of 14-15."

 

The gap inside was caused by a few recruiting misses. Davis cited the recruiting class after getting to the title game in 2002. During that season, the Hoosiers couldn't land Bloomington North High forward Sean May, son of former Indiana forward Scott May. May went to North Carolina.

 

Trying to land Charlie Villanueva last year was also a failed opportunity, according to Davis. Indiana was probably a reach to get Villanueva away from Connecticut after he said he didn't want to go to Illinois (where he originally committed) once Bill Self left for Kansas.

 

Davis said he also tried last August to get Lawrence Roberts after he was allowed to leave Baylor without sitting out a year. Roberts was likely choosing between Arizona and Mississippi State. He chose the latter and wound up as the SEC player of the year.

 

So the Hoosiers were left with a senior who never reached his potential in Leach, and a still-developing junior in Kline and a freshman named Patrick Ewing Jr. (2.8 ppg, 11.8 mpg), who wasn't ready to play major minutes.

 

Davis again went for the headline frontcourt recruit, signing Josh Smith out of Oak Hill Academy (Va.) and originally from Georgia. Smith signed but won't play for the Hoosiers after he declared for the NBA draft and went No. 17 to Atlanta.

 

But Davis did get some help, enough that he's confident -- as is Wright -- that the Hoosiers won't be one-dimensional again.

 

The Hoosiers do have Kline back after a knee injury, but more importantly, they added 6-9 freshman D.J. White and 7-1 freshman Robert Rothbart. Davis said White could be a double-double performer. Rothbart, who declared for the NBA draft but withdrew his name after he couldn't get a first-round guarantee, has the potential to be a solid, but not a star, Big Ten center if he sticks around for two to three seasons.

 

Add White and Rothbart to freshmen guards Robert Vaden and A.J. Ratliff and Davis said the Hoosiers have the depth, shooting and toughness to ease some of the pressure on Wright. And Davis is also expecting Strickland to be even more productive.

 

"The chemistry wasn't there last year," Wright said. "You didn't see us huddling up as a team. It was like five individuals playing for the first time and it showed.

 

"The same amount of pressure will be on me this year, and I'm ready for that," Wright said. "But we've got things moving forward. The freshmen that are coming in are really good and will help give us a frontcourt to go with our guards."

 

But the schedule isn't going to allow this team to grow. Indiana is waiting to see if the NCAA wins its appeal to keep the 2-in-4 rule (two exempt tournaments in four seasons). If the NCAA wins the court case, then Indiana would lose the chance to open the season with four potential wins at an exempt tournament at Texas A&M- Corpus Christi.

 

The Hoosiers' December is absolutely brutal: North Carolina (Dec. 1), at Connecticut (Dec. 4), Notre Dame (Dec. 8), Kentucky in Louisville (Dec. 11), at Missouri (Dec. 19) and Charlotte (Dec. 22). Every one of those teams should be an NCAA team next season with Carolina, Connecticut and possibly Kentucky competing for the national title.

 

The question is, will Indiana fans be patient to weather the daunting non-conference schedule?

 

? We will be better next season (in 2004-05). The people in Indiana want Indiana to be successful. We played for the national title with one NBA guy. We had a bad record at 14-15 last season. We were overwhelmed by Wake Forest, Wisconsin and Kentucky. But no one is working harder to get us back. I'm always driven to do that. ?

? Mike Davis

"They're so used to winning titles and Big Ten titles, so they don't have patience with losing," Wright said.

 

The Hoosiers admit they've got to win at least two of the tough six December games, as well as wrap up any other guarantee-type non-conference games, to save face going into the Big Ten.

 

Competing in the Big Ten isn't a tall task. Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin are in a first tier, Michigan and Iowa in a second with Indiana trying to crack that group by nudging past Purdue, Northwestern, Ohio State and Minnesota.

 

Davis said the Hoosiers could finish in the top five in the Big Ten. Doing that doesn't guarantee an NCAA berth after only three made it a year ago. Finishing in the top five would be a first step in the rebuilding phase. The other two steps: a new staff and a pair of Auburn transfers were also a part of the longer-term plan.

 

Assistant John Treloar, who was with Davis when the two worked under Bob Knight, left for LSU. Assistant Ben McDonald is also out. Thad Fitzpatrick could be gone by the start of the season, too.

 

Davis added former Utah interim coach Kerry Rupp, and the plan is to add former Florida International coach Donnie Marsh and Utah assistant Eric Jackson to the staff next month.

 

The Auburn transfers were a bit of an odd move since they have only one season of eligibility remaining. But Davis envisions forward Marco Killingsworth potentially teaming with Wright, Strickland, Vaden, and White in leading the Hoosiers to that '06 Final Four at the RCA Dome.

 

Killingsworth, who declared for the NBA draft but withdrew once he wasn't getting a sniff, didn't want to play for new coach Jeff Lebo. Killingsworth averaged 13.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and shot an SEC-high 58.7 percent from the field. Davis also took oft-injured Auburn point Lewis Monroe, who missed the first 11 games a year ago with a broken foot.

 

Wright said both transfers are going to push the team in practice, and they have already made the pick-up games better in Bloomington.

 

"We will be better next season (in 2004-05)," Davis said. "The people in Indiana want Indiana to be successful. We played for the national title with one NBA guy. We had a bad record at 14-15 last season. We were overwhelmed by Wake Forest, Wisconsin and Kentucky. But no one is working harder to get us back. I'm always driven to do that."

 

That's why he has to stay on Oden. He doesn't have a choice. But he must get the program back in position to land Oden if given the chance, and that means competing once again in the NCAAs and contending in the Big Ten over the next two seasons.

 

we could be either real good this year led by Bracey Wright, or we could have another rebuilding year ans say good bye to Mike Davis midway in the year

Hey Ramp, would you want Steve Alford as your next head coach if you had the chance?

 

He's been on thin ice with a lot of us Iowa fans. Me personally, I like him and I like this team he has assembled for the upcoming year.

I like the guy but he would have alot more pressure here than in Iowa.

 

Id like Dane Fife to be our next coach

Some think if he doesnt make the dance this year he may get canned.

you talking Alford or Davis?

Alford

yea, he should get canned if he cant get em in the dance

 

seems like a good guy though, and he always gets standing O's when you guys come into Bloomington

Alford=Good coach, TERRIBLE recruiter.

 

As for Indiana, I got them pegged to finish 4th in the big 10 behind Illinois, Michigan State, and Wisconsin, and to return to the Big Dance.

5 people tell me if they actually read that article in whole.