Even now, I can picture the poster in the basement of my childhood home. The red uniforms stood out brightly against the fake wood paneling of the wall, as did the shock of thick white hair on the most imposing man on the poster: coach Bob Knight.
It was a poster of the Indiana University (IU) men's basketball team. One of my parents is an IU alum, but more than that, we were all born in Indiana, flat land of cornfields and quarries, churches and schoolhouses, often the punchline of other states' jokes. It was home to legendary basketball programs at both the college and high school levels.
