Prior to the 1998 season, Jim Izard announced that his team was one of the top three teams in the conference and would challenge for the championship.  His "best recruiting class in school history" were seniors and he felt they were ready to lead his team to the next level. 

The rest of the league thought the Hoosiers would be good, but not one of the best.

Everybody was wrong.

The most senior team in the league finished with a ten-game losing streak, during which most of those seniors packed it in early.

Izard abandoned his normal strategy of playing a cupcake non-conference schedule in favor of one that featured such nationally prominent programs as Vanderbilt, SW Missouri State and Western Kentucky.  His team responded by jumping out to an 11-3 record.  But then reality, or rather the Big 10 season, hit and the team finished with 2 wins in its last 17 games.

It's not always easy for a mediocre program to hold the interest of seniors if a season goes downhill.  They can become more concerned with their lives after college than in finishing one more disappointing year.   That appeared to be a major problem for the Hoosiers, as his seniors lost interest one by one.

A lack of interest, or intensity, is most evident on defense and in rebounding.  To call the Hoosier's defense porous would be a gross understatement.  They gave up an unreal 82.1 points against Big 10 opponents, with 8 of the 17 scoring at least 85.  The Hoosiers also gave up more rebounds than any other team in the league.

There were some nice offensive players, but few teams can win when they have to score 80+ points.  Indiana wasn't one of those few.

The two bright spots for Indiana were the one senior who played hard all year, Cindy Kerns, and freshman Jill Chapman. The two scored consistently and were the players who carried the Hoosiers. But they couldn't beat teams by themselves and they got little consistent help.

Heads shook at the close of the season when Izard blasted his players and blamed them for the team's failure. Sports are about numbers. Only the woeful Cheryl Littlejohn has a lower winning percentage in Big Ten games than Izard has put up in his 11 years at Indiana. There is a reason for that.

 

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