| | BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Bob Knight was reported to be in Spain on a hunting trip Tuesday, keeping his customary high-powered company: Norman Schwarzkopf and George Bush, Sr.
|  | | Mike Davis admits he felt plenty of jitters on his first night as a head coach. |
It was a safe remove from stateside upheaval for two old generals and the father of the maybe/maybe not president-elect. There was an electoral crisis to avoid in Florida and an identity crisis to avoid in Assembly Hall.
Pertaining to the latter, there was a pressing question to be answered in Assembly Hall. It came on the two-sizes-too-tight T-shirt worn by a chubby guy:
"Hoosier Daddy Now?"
No need for a paternity suit here. The new head of the Indiana University household is Mike Davis, and he officially debuted last night with an 80-68 victory over Pepperdine.
For now he must be termed a stepfather. That's what the tag interim coach gets you.
And for now he presides over a dysfunctional family.
The attendance for this momentous season opener was a startlingly sparse 12,025, a good 5,700 less than capacity. Attribute that partly to the fact that IU students, among the most zealous basketball supporters in the nation, did not receive Preseason NIT tickets as part of their season-ticket package. Attribute the puzzling lack of a pep band to a scheduling conflict with a concert. But attribute some of the empty seats and the cautious atmosphere to the fact that Knight's parting gift to the school he brought both glory and shame is a vague aura of quiet conflict.
Perhaps for some IU fans, the safest way to handle this emotional hot potato of an opener was to stay away.
"Maybe they're waiting to see what kind of team we are before they pack the house," said mystified IU guard Kyle Hornsby.
Probably so. Nothing would heal deep wounds faster than a bunch of early victories.
But until that shakes out, this journey into the great unknown will be tinged with an indecision on how to act.
Some Knight loyalists undoubtedly stayed home Tuesday night in silent protest, probably hoisting cups of purple Kool-Aid in bitter salute to the Hoosiers' 12-for-30 foul shooting -- a sure signal that Fundamentals and Discipline have gone to hell without The General.
Some True Believers attended wearing Knight totems, memorializing his firing as if it were the death of a head of state. On the other end of the spectrum is the IU athletic department response, which has given a fairly breathtaking bum's rush to The General's conflicted legacy.
Other than team pictures, the IU media guide contains exactly one photograph of Knight. It's on page 124, with the terse caption, "Bob Knight is Indiana's winningest coach with 661 victories."
In the IU gift shop, the only sign of The Genny is a Knight doll behind the counter with a sign on it saying, "Display only, not for sale."
There certainly was little hint of Knight on the bench or in the interview room. The red sweater was replaced by suit and tie. The rant and rage was replaced by spot bursts of anger, but mostly quiet.
That is the Davis M.O. The man from small-town Alabama who overcame a childhood stutter speaks confidently, but at a decibel level that is minute compared to Knight's. He stays in his chair most of the time. He gave the officials almost no grief all night. On his way off the floor, he did something the winning coach hasn't done in years around here -- he smiled and gave a small wave to the fans, including his mother, Vandella.
The victory was in hand for virtually all the second half. But when IU came out incredibly tight, Davis opted for a stealthy side attack on the problem. He pulled guard Dane Fife out of a team huddle and told him, "We've got to get this team to chill out."
At the pregame meal, the players could tell how uptight their coach was. After the game, Davis candidly addressed his case of jangling nerves -- an admission of humanity unlikely to come from Knight unless he was under oath. Maybe not even then.
"You know how sometimes when you're walking, you can't feel your legs?" Davis said, describing his entry to a standing ovation that was less than robust. "I was trying to play it cool. I was just hoping I didn't trip over the lines."
Mission accomplished, Davis watched a team full of athletes in the frontcourt and still searching for a backcourt comfortable with the fast tempo he desires. The culture shock will carry over to style of play as well, as Indiana converts from a more walk-it-up style.
On the whole, Davis saw sloppiness spiced with intermittent excellence, and an untapped upside.
It will be Mike Davis' job to tap that. If he does it well, he might upgrade from Hoosier Stepfather to fulltime Hoosier Daddy.
Around the South
The University of Louisville left Wednesday morning for a four-game trip to Hawaii and did not expect its likely starting center to make the trip. Nigerian Muhammed Lasege, who has been waiting for more than 500 days since signing a letter-of-intent for clearance from the NCAA to play college basketball, apparently must wait a little longer.
U of L officials had hoped for a ruling on Lasege's eligibility before the Cardinals left for a Friday game against Hawaii and three games in the Maui Classic. But there was no ruling as of the close of business Tuesday, and the Cards made plans to go without the 6-foot-11 Lasege, who originally had to jump through academic eligibility hoops but now is caught up in an investigation of his brief stint as a pro in Russia.
Without Lasege the Cards are dreadfully thin up front, starting two freshmen at forwards and likely going with a redshirt sophomore at center who has scored 10 career points. None of the frontcourt backups has played a college game.
Reserve forward Simeon Naydenov made the trip but must sit out the first three games by NCAA ruling. He'll be available for the final game of the Maul Classic.
The fact that Louisville opens that tournament with talent-laden Maryland only makes the assignment more difficult.
The Southeastern Conference has started off winless in this newborn season. Mississippi State lost in overtime to California in the Preseason NIT, and Kentucky dropped to 0-2 for the first time since 1975 by losing two in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Madison Square Garden.
The Wildcats plummeted in the polls after blowing a four-point lead in the final 10 seconds against St. John's, then turning around and losing to UCLA in overtime the following night. The Cats also lacked poise against the Bruins, giving up an 11-0 run in overtime, despite the fact that UCLA leading scorer Jason Kapono had fouled out with 3:35 left in regulation.
That rocky start already has the impatient populace in the Bluegrass howling at coach Tubby Smith, but Smith's track record at Kentucky has been characterized by slow starts.
"It's four months before the SEC and NCAA Tournaments," Smith pointed out.
Kentucky's last four games have all been heart-stopper specials. The Cats beat St. Bonaventure in double overtime in the first round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament, then lost at the buzzer to Syracuse in the second round.
Alabama coach Mark Gottfried has continued his sparkling work on the recruiting trail, getting the expected letter-of-intent signature from premier point guard Marshall Williams. The next trick is getting his blue-chippers to stick around in Tuscaloosa long enough to build a powerhouse.
Schea Cotton ill-advisedly left last spring for the NBA, and already many observers think the clock is running on sophomore wingman Rod Grizzard and freshman forward Gerald Wallace. If Grizzard and Wallace play for the Crimson Tide next year alongside Williams, it could be the premier perimeter trio in the nation -- but that's far from a done deal.
Pat Forde of the Louisville Courier-Journal is a regular contributor to ESPN.com
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