It’s not exactly riding off in the sunset to end my journalism career with The Lantern, but hey, it’s cool.
Sure the downtown Marriott in Indianapolis is nice, but bunking with six males, two queen size beds, four towels and Aunt Polly’s 2:50 a.m. delivery spread will compromise the Marriott experience.
Now, Iowa’s Luke Recker knows how to ride off towards the horizon line when the day turns to dusk.
In the semi-final match against Indiana, Iowa got the ball to Recker near the baseline in a tie game with a few precious seconds left in the game. He drove, pulled up and let loose a 10-foot jumper with time expiring.
Nylon meets revenge.
Iowa’s bench broke out into jubilation. After suffering through a disappointing season the Hawkeyes were now one game away from making their way to the dance floor. Recker mobbed by his teammates ran over to the Indiana populated crowd.
“What’s up?” Recker screamed to the red and white, with teammates draped on his back.
It was a sweet moment for Recker.
“I’m happy for Luke. He has been through a lot,” said Indiana coach Mike Davis.
You may have seen “Hoosiers.” Indiana loves basketball like Ohio loves its football. I never had a firsthand experience with the Hoosier basketball fan until Saturday, when I had a few thousand of them in attendance behind my seat in press row. It was obnoxious to say the least, the obnoxious equivalent to the on-court play of Indiana guard Dane Fife.
Recker was Indiana’s Mr. Basketball in 1997, so he was treated like, and acted like, a rock star entering the Bloomington campus as a freshman. He didn’t disappoint, scoring a lot of points and playing a lot of minutes as a freshman and sophomore. So the Hoosier fan fell in love with him; only one problem, he had a change of heart for the campus.
The people of Indiana also changed their opinion on Recker. Just ask Justin Zwick, who left Orrville to play high school football at Massillon, how quickly that can happen.
Things went downhill from there.
Recker left Indiana, transferring to Arizona in summer of 1999. Shortly after that Recker and his then-girlfriend were involved in a near fatal car accident, which left her paralyzed and nearly severed Recker’s left ear among other injuries. The three-car accident was caused by a drunk driver and left the driver of the third car dead.
After recovering from the accident Recker decided to return to the Midwest, transferring to Iowa where he could be closer to his family and his paralyzed girlfriend, who later became his ex-girlfriend.
However, the Indiana basketball fan doesn’t care about Recker’s tribulations. Everytime he touched the ball on Saturday he was booed viciously by the contingent. Everytime he came near the Indiana rowdies behind me he learned how much he sucked.
“It’s just those 5 percent of fans that have acted in a classless manner that have made this more pleasurable for me to win … That’s where the tears come out. I can’t describe what it feels like,” Recker said.
When he touched the ball for the final time on Saturday, those in the red and white, were silent, their expressions similar to a Boeing 747 passenger reaching for a bag.
Recker’s career, and Iowa’s seven straight Big Ten tournament wins, ended yesterday against Ohio State – which means no dancing for Iowa.
But, Recker always wanted a storybook ending, and he got it by reminding those from Indiana who put him through hell who has the last word. The Hoosier fan is once again waiting for a corsage, having been stood up by Luke.
Travis Sawchik is a senior in journalism who does not want anyone getting too emotional reading his last column. He can be reached at [email protected].
