by The GM on January 12 at 5:33PM
The team that I am talking about is the IUPUI Jaguars. Who? What? The IUPUI Jaguars. IUPUI stands for Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis, which is the longest name for a school in Division I sports. IUPUI is also only one of eight schools that are located in a downtown metropolitan area. With close to 30,000 students commuting to and from campus everyday, the university seems more like an airport than a place of learning. Of those 30,000 students, 13 are currently on the men's basketball team. Most of the team is comprised of students within the Indianapolis area and transfers. The team is coached by Ron Hunter (pictured). He has been the head coach for 14 seasons and helped the school transition to Division I from Division II. He has the school record for career wins and coached the team to the NCAA tournament (16th seed, played Kentucky) in 2003. He also likes to contribute to other causes off the court.
As for the players, the team is lead by a trio of talented guards. George Hill, Gary Patterson (Butler transfer), and Austin Montgomery (Bowling Green transfer) lead the team's scoring attack and are all deadly from the perimeter. Hill leads the team in scoring (21.6 ppg), assists (4.1 apg), rebounds (6.8 per), and steals (2.1 spg). OH, he also shoots 58% from the field and 52% from three point range. How's that for accuracy? Ben Gordon and Mike Dunleavy, eat your heart out! My favorite player on the team is Billy Pettiford. The sophomore out of Marion, Indiana is the guy that does all the dirty work on the court. At 6'7 he is usually asked to play the role of the "big man" when on the court. He does a great job on defense and isn't afraid to bang with whoever wants some. Jon Avery, another 6'7 sophomore, is one of the smoothest players I've seen in a long time and his 12.1 scoring average ranks third on the team.
The team is currently 12-3 on the season and 4-0 in the Summit League (formerly the Mid-Continent Conference). The three loses are at Marquette (68-76), to Portland State (in Fairbanks, Alaska 73-75), and at Saint Louis (57-66). Keep a close eye on this exciting team, as they beat UMass in "The Jungle" right after UMass had beaten Syracuse. This team could certainly be one of those 12 seeds that could pull off an upset come tourney time.
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