Indiana travel diary: An NCAA Tournament experience unlike any other

Everything fell apart for the Utah State men’s basketball team in the second half of its first round tournament game on March 19. 

But despite the quick exit, they had the opportunity to experience March Madness under the most peculiar of circumstances and come together with everyone experiencing a unique dose of basketball mania. 

The entire men’s 2021 NCAA basketball tournament has been, and will continue to be, played in the basketball mecca of Indianapolis, IN, and its surrounding areas in reduced capacity arenas, all in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. 

This provided the Aggie team with an authentic experience of staying in a “bubble” in downtown Indianapolis, and a chance to play on one of the biggest stages of basketball — and for its small contingent of supporters to watch — at one of its most historic venues. Assembly Hall at Indiana University in Bloomington.

“Out of all the teams that are in the NCAA only a couple get to play here so it’s just a great experience for us,” said junior center Neemias Queta. “We just wanted to try and learn from everything around us. I feel like we did a pretty good job of it but we didn’t get the outcome we wanted.”

Assembly Hall allowed just 500 fans into the arena for the game that afternoon, and the Aggies 250 allotment of tickets went to USU administrators, including president Noelle Cockett and athletic director John Hartwell, and family members of the student-athletes and coaches. 

Families weren’t permitted into the Thomas and Mack center the week prior in Las Vegas for the Mountain West tournament, so Shauna Bean, the mother of junior forward Justin Bean, wasn’t taking anything for granted. 

“It’s amazing. It was so disappointing to miss Vegas so it’s great to be here,” she said. “I’m just grateful that they found a way to do it because you know we’ve seen Justin on a personal note but I know that all the guys have worked so hard to get here and so we’re just really grateful they found a way to make it happen.”

Assembly hall, the steep double-decker sidelined arena, is home to several historic moments — including legendary former head coach Bobby Knight tossing a chair across the court, Christian Watford’s buzzer beater to beat Kentucky, and the setting for much of the Hoosiers 32-0 season and national championships in 1976. 

It’s a special place, according to Andre Thomas, the cousin of USU assistant coach David Ragland. 

“Growing up as a kid we always wanted to play here, and so to watch him coach on this floor it’s just exciting,” said the Evansville, IN native. “In any other state it’s just basketball, but in Indiana, it’s basketball, you know what I’m saying?”

Nebraska native and 25-year Montana resident Rollie Worster Sr., the grandfather of freshman guard Rollie Worster, was also impressed by the scenery. 

“They call it the house that Bobby Knight built and so I’ve watched this game on tv for my whole life when Indiana’s on tv, so it’s kind of surreal to be here in person,” he said. “I wish we had a bunch of fans here but it’s just the way it is.” 

Although tickets were not available to the public, it was a step toward normalcy for those in attendance. Concessions were available for sale, and the neutral court crowd seemed to provide a different, almost greater, sense of drama.

For the Aggies, the local media was represented quite well. Mitch Harper and Sean Walker of KSL, Shawn Harrison of the Herald-Journal and Jeff Hunter of the Deseret News joined me in the arena — filling out all five of the USU media openings. There appeared to be just two reporters covering the six seeded Red Raiders, who, in their previous NCAA Tournament appearance, made it all the way to the title game.

By all accounts, the players were prepared to play. Bean was “less nervous” than the Aggies first-round game against Washington two years ago according to his father, Gordon Bean. Worster Sr. said his grandson was on cloud nine for his first shot at the big dance. But the anticipation to actually step out on the court presumably couldn’t have been any higher, the team spent the whole week in an Indianapolis hotel room, waiting to play. 

After USU lost to San Diego State in the Mountain West final, they stayed at South Point in Las Vegas, expecting to hear their names called for an at-large tournament bid on selection Sunday. Players did laundry, trying to pass the time, and waited in angst. 

When they got the news that they had been selected, they hopped on a plane and went straight to Indianapolis, where they entered the one-of-a-kind NCAA tournament bubble. 

A roughly three-block conglomeration of hotels and a convention center in downtown Indianapolis became home to all 68 teams that Monday. After quarantining in their rooms at the JW Marriott for the first 24 hours, the Aggies were able to roam around a bit. They had a team dining area, a place to work out and had the chance to go across the street to Victory field — home of the Cleveland Indians Triple-A affiliate — to get some air. 

“We tried to enjoy it,” Queta said. 

Although everyone was socially distanced and wearing masks, having over a dozen teams in their own hotel made the bubble an opportunity for the Aggies to meet other players. 

“One of the cool things about everybody being here is Justin (Bean) and the rest of the team have been able to see so many other players and coaches,” said Gordon Bean. “They’ve been running into a lot of players and coaches and kind of having that whereas in the past you’re kind of on your own and then you get to the arena and you do your thing. So it’s been a unique experience but they’ll never forget that’s for sure.”

One interaction of note was Queta getting to meet fellow Portuguese native Hugo Ferreira of Cleveland State. 

Os portugueses Neemias Queta (Utah State) e Hugo Ferreira (Cleveland State) já se encontraram em Indianapolis e já têm patch da @NCAA nos equipamentos para a estreia na #MarchMadness. pic.twitter.com/snD5o1c2fS

— Ricardo Brito Reis (@rbritoreis) March 19, 2021

Outside the confines of the player bubble, there was a contingency of fans bustling around the city, walking to games, taking photos in front of the giant bracket, and checking out the Circle Centre Mall. Lucas Oil Stadium and Bankers Life Fieldhouse are both located downtown, and held 22 percent capacity (6,900) and 19 percent capacity (3,800) respectively. This meant tickets to the downtown were available to the general public, and people took advantage, creating a fun scene around the city on Friday and Saturday. 

Considering that there were 68 teams all gathered in the same spot, it was a rather small group of fans that followed. But being in one city full of people that all carried the same interest — basketball — made for a memorable and intimate setting. 

I spoke with a group of cheerleaders from Grand Canyon University on mid-day Saturday that were thrilled to be a part of the first NCAA tournament appearance in the school’s history. Just flying in from Phoenix that same morning, the group was hopeful of their school’s chances, despite having to face No. 2 seeded Iowa and likely player of the year Luka Garza. 

“We have to win,” one girl said. “If we don’t, we fly back to Arizona tonight.” 

Just outside the gates of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday morning, my buddy and I met an older man that was a fan of No. 2 seeded Houston. He said back in “H-Town” his nickname was “Donald the Crazy Coog” and he’d been present for every big sports moment in the school’s history, from three straight final four appearances from 1982 to 1984 with Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon’s Phi Slama Jama squad, to the seeing the Houston football team beat Florida State in the 2015 Peach Bowl. 

Despite it all, aside from being a proudly married man of 40 years, he had one ultimate dream — for Houston to win the national championship.

“We’ve never won it all. Maybe this is the year,” he said.

Beyond those two interactions, I rubbed shoulders with fans from Gonzaga, Missouri, Creighton, UCSB, Iowa, Grand Canyon, BYU, UCLA, Purdue, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech, Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Houston and Cleveland State. Despite the differences from each person I spoke with, all these basketball lovers wanted the same thing: For their team to win. 

Obviously, not every fan got their wish. Craig Smith said it best in the post-game press conference after his team’s defeat: “There’s only one team that’s not disappointed at the end of the year, and that’s the national champion.”

But for everyone there, the Aggie players and family, and the fans I spoke with, this sense of anticipation, a hope that some madness could occur, made the “flyover state” of Indiana a magical place to be. 

For the Aggies, this magic ended pretty rapidly. Following the game, they received a police escort back to their hotel, hopped on a plane and landed in Utah before midnight. 

But it won’t take away from what they experienced. 

Just one year after everything fell apart, the student-athletes and everyone involved with the 2021 NCAA tournament will remember the year everybody came together in Indiana.

@jacobnielson12

—sports@usustatesman.com