Man, the memories. I was absolutely in love with Alford during his IU career. Loved AJ during his IU days. You took me back to a simpler time in my life when IU basketball was my passion. Thank you.
What a breath of fresh basketball air, A.J. Loved what you got out of Alford and can't wait to listen to more interviews. I loved Steve Alford's book Playing for Knight, which made me appreciate the Indiana program even more. Today's college basketball is wonderful, but I don't think there are any coaches still around who emphasize academics like Coach Knight did. A coach today might develop a couple of professional basketball players every year or two, but year in / year out getting the best out of everyone throughout your program along with getting them to graduate is almost forgotten about. Thanks for the reminder.
i remember i was 13 years old, it was 1987. My dad and i watched the miracle that happened that year. My best times with my father, outside of fishing, was watching Steve alford and the 1987 team win a national championship. IMO Alford represents everything Indiana is and will be. Thanks for the great memories!
I thought that I was the only person in the world that had the 1987 championship game recorded on a VCR tape and I still have it but I haven't watched it for a while. But now thanks to today's technology you can just ask you smart phone and the game can be put on your phone in just moments.
I was 13. 8th grade. The entire school was wild with chatter of Smart's game winning jumper the next morning. Only the Purdue kids and one Syracuse fan was bummed. The way everything was centered around basketball was one of the few things that was great about the small Indiana town I grew up in.
This was a great interview. As a native of Indiana, I watched all the IU games on channel 4 and later ESPN. Alford was a “dead eye” shooter and always Mr. Smooth on the court. He was never emotional or out of control. I’m surprised he has never received a call. He is one that would understand the culture and expectations of the job
Wow, I enjoyed this interview so much! I don’t know how I missed it until now! 🤷🏼♀️ Anyway, I have been a Steve Alford fan since he was in high school and definitely when he decided to go to Indiana U. For me and my family, it was the best! I’ll never ever forget that ‘87 season and the National Championship. 🏀❤️ You could of heard us cheering and screaming miles away! It was THE best. I’ll never forget watching Coach Knight. I agree with Steve, he sure didn’t deserve the way Miles Brand and his colleagues did Coach in firing him from IU. I’m so thankful Coach came back to Indiana, for the reunion, so everyone could show him just how much he is loved and respected to this day. AJ, I watched you play, too, and enjoyed what you did for the team. So much fun! It was so good to see and hear Steve and hear the stories he had to share. I was smiling ear to ear. 😊 Thank you again AJ, for having Steve on your podcast, even though after 2yrs, I’m just now seeing it. God Bless and be with you both in all you do. 🙏🏻❤️ Love and prayers from Lapel, In. , Marilyn Barker.
AJ’s an excellent interviewer and I always liked Steve Alford but after hearing this interview, I have even more respect and admiration. He’s a class act. 👍
AJ this was an exceptional and insightful interview with Steve Alford. I loved watching you both play and also the many players before you that played for Coach Knight. Thank you for sharing your playing years with an outsider who also loves the greatest game ever invented. Take Care.
Guyton let's guest talk,asks great questions,good depth,,also Guyton should be a highly paid,big time coach. A.J. overachieved at everything basketball. A winner. Great job A.J.!
Great interviewer! And Steve A is a great interview! My kids and I watched his videos which helped them not just in BB but with life lessons... thanks 🙏
Nice seeing A.J. A.J if you see this my best friend went to IU and while visiting him once I saw you and thought it was so awesome! I wanna say it was computer laid in Brisco dormitory lol.
I am from Washington Indiana. Sam graduated from Washington High School. So we in Washington feel a connection with Steve. I appreciate Steve has had as an assistant Craig Neal who graduated from Washington as an Indiana All Star.
Damn AJ. You guys both look like you can still ball!!!! You guys made my childhood. Had my mom singing Indiana Our Indiana after 87 Final (Steve) You guys were both very good players. Do either of you know how to fix the current team? Go Big Red. Hoosier born. Hoosier always. #HoosierNation
Steve was the best high school player I ever saw in Indiana. He averaged 37 a game his Senior year in the NCC conference, that was probably the best high school conference in America.
No he was not. He wasn’t even the best player in the state that year. That would be James Blackmon. Alford winning Mr. Basketball over Blackmon was pure political 🐎 💩.
@@broaddusmarines Please, Alford averaged over 37 a game while shooting 60% fg and 90% ft and he was the National Player of the year. Blackmon was without a doubt one of the best players I ever saw but he could not shoot like Alford.
@Anthony Broaddus I'm from Marion.. I grew up watching Blackmon and Edwards play.. Both of those guys were better than Alford.. Alford averaged more points because he was the only person on his team who could score.. Marion was loaded that year, our entire starting lineup could score.. That's why we won 3 state Championships in a row.. There was a stretch where we won 5 state Championships in 10 years..
IU needs to hire him. He deserves a chance and the fans need it too. I can’t say coaches such as Archie Miller deserve it more. We at least need to see what he could do.
still got your number 12 iu jersey steve, wore it the entire year when i played league basketball at the ymca, told my dad who was the coach that we should sacrifice the first pick of players in exchange for making sure that we were the red team
I agree...in a perfect world,when Indiana gets 3 all-americans, Steve Alford returns to coach the Hoosiers to a NCAA title and Bobby Knight is alive to witness it.
this is an amazing video, if your an iu fan, or just a fan of basketball(especially the big 10) this is a must see....very informative and extremely enjoyable
Nobody today knows anything about b-ball as Coach Bobby Knight , he coached the last undefeated NCAA college team to a national championship, a couple have come close, Gonzaga comes to mind, it's just shows how hard that is to do in today's game. The focus, dedication and attention to detail. Coach K the winningest coach is a disciple of Bobby Knight. Alford is a good coach winning back to back chips at Florida.
@@aarondigby9859 Are you thinking of Billy Donovan at Florida? As an IU fan I take great pride in the fact Indiana is the last undefeated team. There have been some challengers over the years. Kentucky about six or seven years ago got beat by Wisconsin in the Final Four. The biggest challenger was probably UNLV who got beat by Duke in the early 90's in the Final Four.
The wigwam is the actual largest high school Gym on earth, because of bogus overall original sizes might have claimed, but here me out... technically, in the max attendance category, it is kind of a tie!..... there are more seats at the now newly renovated, and ready for 22/23 Anderson High School basketball year "the Wigwam" the largest and loudest High School Gym on earth,... and that is according to hired statisticians..... both gyms have a max admittance of 10,000 (as id bet that Steve remembers, being the reason for several 10,000 in attendance high school games) I actually attended Steve alfords Basketball camp in 1995 at franklin university.... i actually rebounded for Coach Alford while he was presenting us with an amazing free throw demonstration..... easily still shooting nearly perfect! those are amazing and cherished memories for sure! #BeBlessed #MuchLove
I was at IU at the same time as Steve Alford and met him through CCC, Great guy! I was also sitting on the opposite side of the court when Coach Knight threw the chair. Great interview!
AJ Interesting interview! I thought AJ was the Athletic Director for Peoria Schools?? Followed Indiana when Rayl and the VanArsdales played then when Coach Knight came to IU I worked camps and still today run Motion Offense! Good job!
As much as I idolized Steve as a player, I'm not sure he would have been successful there as a coach. Would be sad to see an IU legend getting torn to shreds by disappointed fans.
@@SamWesting don’t know till you try! Can’t be any worse than what they have tried 🤣🤣🤣 really the biggest problem is how the administration runs the whole show on recruiting!
Did anyone do the Dirty Thirty! Galesburg Illinois Coach came up with the various workouts! When you were done with those workouts you were truly exhausted!
Blackmon and Edwards both went to the same high school I graduated from, Marion.. I was only 5 or 6 years old at the time, but I remember it like it was yesterday.. They won the state championship 3 years in a row.. My aunt was a cheerleader at IU while Edwards was there.. I remember going down to assembly hall and watching a couple games with my dad and grandpa.. It's a shame that neither one of those guys could get their acts together.. They both could have had amazing NBA careers, but they threw it all away for drugs..
Steve has other people make that call. But IU is stupid not to bring him back. I'm a Purdue fan so I actually enjoy the average coaches they get but I miss the rivalry.
steve alford vs steve hicks, who won both matchups...in case you don't know, hicks played for cathedral and later notre dame....funny that hicks owned alford in high school but in college-alford owned hicks but hicks always played him tough
James Blackman was regarded as a traitor when he chose Kentucky over IU. It got so bad that there were death threats against him. Not a good look for the Indiana fan base. Pretty amazing that James Jr. did choose IU.
steve alford vs scott hicks, who won both matchups...in case you don't know, hicks played for cathedral and later notre dame....funny that hicks owned alford in high school but in college-alford owned hicks but hicks always played him tough
Man, the memories. I was absolutely in love with Alford during his IU career. Loved AJ during his IU days. You took me back to a simpler time in my life when IU basketball was my passion. Thank you.
Great interview. A former IU player under Coach Knight knows questions for Alford that journalists would never think of. Nice podcast, AJ.
What a breath of fresh basketball air, A.J. Loved what you got out of Alford and can't wait to listen to more interviews. I loved Steve Alford's book Playing for Knight, which made me appreciate the Indiana program even more. Today's college basketball is wonderful, but I don't think there are any coaches still around who emphasize academics like Coach Knight did. A coach today might develop a couple of professional basketball players every year or two, but year in / year out getting the best out of everyone throughout your program along with getting them to graduate is almost forgotten about. Thanks for the reminder.
Two high class people. Thank you for the wonderful interview.
The days of the culture of outside pickup basketball. Elevated college basketball to new levels. Wonderful interview.
i remember i was 13 years old, it was 1987. My dad and i watched the miracle that happened that year. My best times with my father, outside of fishing, was watching Steve alford and the 1987 team win a national championship. IMO Alford represents everything Indiana is and will be. Thanks for the great memories!
I recorded the national championship game on a VCR against Syracuse back in 87 and I still have it in my collection. 🤒
I thought that I was the only person in the world that had the 1987 championship game recorded on a VCR tape and I still have it but I haven't watched it for a while. But now thanks to today's technology you can just ask you smart phone and the game can be put on your phone in just moments.
I was 11 yrs old that yr and I remember watching that game with my family too and just jumping up and down in the living room going nuts.
I was 13. 8th grade. The entire school was wild with chatter of Smart's game winning jumper the next morning. Only the Purdue kids and one Syracuse fan was bummed. The way everything was centered around basketball was one of the few things that was great about the small Indiana town I grew up in.
This was a great interview. As a native of Indiana, I watched all the IU games on channel 4 and later ESPN. Alford was a “dead eye” shooter and always Mr. Smooth on the court. He was never emotional or out of control. I’m surprised he has never received a call. He is one that would understand the culture and expectations of the job
Wow, I enjoyed this interview so much! I don’t know how I missed it until now! 🤷🏼♀️ Anyway, I have been a Steve Alford fan since he was in high school and definitely when he decided to go to Indiana U. For me and my family, it was the best! I’ll never ever forget that ‘87 season and the National Championship. 🏀❤️ You could of heard us cheering and screaming miles away! It was THE best. I’ll never forget watching Coach Knight. I agree with Steve, he sure didn’t deserve the way Miles Brand and his colleagues did Coach in firing him from IU. I’m so thankful Coach came back to Indiana, for the reunion, so everyone could show him just how much he is loved and respected to this day. AJ, I watched you play, too, and enjoyed what you did for the team. So much fun! It was so good to see and hear Steve and hear the stories he had to share. I was smiling ear to ear. 😊 Thank you again AJ, for having Steve on your podcast, even though after 2yrs, I’m just now seeing it. God Bless and be with you both in all you do. 🙏🏻❤️ Love and prayers from Lapel, In. , Marilyn Barker.
Two of the many Hoosier greats!
I grew up in Indiana, followed IU and Alford, I knew AJ played there but never knew much about him, now I know way more, he's cool!!
AJ’s an excellent interviewer and I always liked Steve Alford but after hearing this interview, I have even more respect and admiration. He’s a class act. 👍
AJ this was an exceptional and insightful interview with Steve Alford. I loved watching you both play and also the many players before you that played for Coach Knight. Thank you for sharing your playing years with an outsider who also loves the greatest game ever invented. Take Care.
Great interview. I am old enough to have watched both of you play and be great! Thank you for being Hoosiers
I admire and respect Steve a lot. Great guy
Great Interview AJ! I’ve always admired Steve!
Guyton let's guest talk,asks great questions,good depth,,also Guyton should be a highly paid,big time coach. A.J. overachieved at everything basketball. A winner. Great job A.J.!
Socks, hips, 1...2...3, swish!!! Loved growing up watching both of you play and looking up to you both.
Great interviewer! And Steve A is a great interview! My kids and I watched his videos which helped them not just in BB but with life lessons... thanks 🙏
Nice seeing A.J. A.J if you see this my best friend went to IU and while visiting him once I saw you and thought it was so awesome! I wanna say it was computer laid in Brisco dormitory lol.
Awesome interview! Being from New Castle and having the fortune of being an IU Freshman in 1976, this brought back so many great memories!
Hell yeah! Good to see AJ doing his thing.
Great job, AJ. As a Michigan man I wasn’t a fan of you on the court, but I certainly am now.
Such an outstanding interview with Coach Alford.
I had no idea IU paid tribute to him. It was great to see. Thanks for sharing.
Uhhhhh hey, Indiana. What are you thinking? Go get this guy!
Two great Hoosiers
Great interview, gentlemen. Thank you both for your contributions...and for sharing a few memories with your fans for life. Take care.
I could not hit the like button enough times.. great stuff!
His Dad Sam coached my cousins, The Riggs boys, in the late eightys/early ninetys. They loved him to death!
I am from Washington Indiana. Sam graduated from Washington High School. So we in Washington feel a connection with Steve. I appreciate Steve has had as an assistant Craig Neal who graduated from Washington as an Indiana All Star.
I played at Mt Vernon against Shane Riggs. Good player and good fella.
I remember Sean really well!
Damn AJ. You guys both look like you can still ball!!!! You guys made my childhood. Had my mom singing Indiana Our Indiana after 87 Final (Steve) You guys were both very good players. Do either of you know how to fix the current team? Go Big Red. Hoosier born. Hoosier always. #HoosierNation
Treasure trove for any Hoosier fan. Thanks guys. Subscribed.
Steve, the majority of Indiana fans would love for you to coach Indiana. If the offer presents itself, come on back home!
Steve was the best high school player I ever saw in Indiana. He averaged 37 a game his Senior year in the NCC conference, that was probably the best high school conference in America.
i would say hes second to that Bailey guy but hes right there lol
No he was not. He wasn’t even the best player in the state that year.
That would be James Blackmon. Alford winning Mr. Basketball over Blackmon was pure political 🐎 💩.
@@broaddusmarines Please, Alford averaged over 37 a game while shooting 60% fg and 90% ft and he was the National Player of the year. Blackmon was without a doubt one of the best players I ever saw but he could not shoot like Alford.
@Anthony Broaddus I'm from Marion.. I grew up watching Blackmon and Edwards play.. Both of those guys were better than Alford.. Alford averaged more points because he was the only person on his team who could score.. Marion was loaded that year, our entire starting lineup could score.. That's why we won 3 state Championships in a row.. There was a stretch where we won 5 state Championships in 10 years..
Hoosier legends! Great interview !
IU needs to hire him. He deserves a chance and the fans need it too. I can’t say coaches such as Archie Miller deserve it more. We at least need to see what he could do.
still got your number 12 iu jersey steve, wore it the entire year when i played league basketball at the ymca, told my dad who was the coach that we should sacrifice the first pick of players in exchange for making sure that we were the red team
I agree...in a perfect world,when Indiana gets 3 all-americans, Steve Alford returns to coach the Hoosiers to a NCAA title and Bobby Knight is alive to witness it.
this is an amazing video, if your an iu fan, or just a fan of basketball(especially the big 10) this is a must see....very informative and extremely enjoyable
Really nice interview 😃 thank you!
Awesome!!
Wolverine here and growing up watching those Michigan vs Indiana games was classic.
I remember seeing Steve Alford play in the berry bowl my freshman year in 83
WAS in the Army in Germany in 87 watched the game on Afn
What a great podcast
Two Indiana Icons.
New Subscriber... American... writing from Xiamen, CHina
in 92 Barkley was asked about the team from Angola. He said, "I don't know anything about Angola, but Angola's in trouble". lol
Nobody today knows anything about b-ball as Coach Bobby Knight , he coached the last undefeated NCAA college team to a national championship, a couple have come close, Gonzaga comes to mind, it's just shows how hard that is to do in today's game. The focus, dedication and attention to detail. Coach K the winningest coach is a disciple of Bobby Knight. Alford is a good coach winning back to back chips at Florida.
@@aarondigby9859 Are you thinking of Billy Donovan at Florida? As an IU fan I take great pride in the fact Indiana is the last undefeated team. There have been some challengers over the years. Kentucky about six or seven years ago got beat by Wisconsin in the Final Four. The biggest challenger was probably UNLV who got beat by Duke in the early 90's in the Final Four.
That was awesome!
The wigwam is the actual largest high school Gym on earth, because of bogus overall original sizes might have claimed, but here me out... technically, in the max attendance category, it is kind of a tie!..... there are more seats at the now newly renovated, and ready for 22/23 Anderson High School basketball year "the Wigwam" the largest and loudest High School Gym on earth,... and that is according to hired statisticians..... both gyms have a max admittance of 10,000 (as id bet that Steve remembers, being the reason for several 10,000 in attendance high school games)
I actually attended Steve alfords Basketball camp in 1995 at franklin university.... i actually rebounded for Coach Alford while he was presenting us with an amazing free throw demonstration..... easily still shooting nearly perfect! those are amazing and cherished memories for sure! #BeBlessed #MuchLove
We need our hero back in assembly hall!!!! Come back home coach alford.
Wonderful interview
I was at IU at the same time as Steve Alford and met him through CCC, Great guy! I was also sitting on the opposite side of the court when Coach Knight threw the chair.
Great interview!
Love this. Was it a hundred makes on the free thro line
AJ Interesting interview! I thought AJ was the Athletic Director for Peoria Schools?? Followed Indiana when Rayl and the VanArsdales played then when Coach Knight came to IU I worked camps and still today run Motion Offense! Good job!
Steve really needs to coach IU!
He stayed loyal to UCLA when the IU job was open and paid the price by getting fired.
@@wardripj88 yep😃
As much as I idolized Steve as a player, I'm not sure he would have been successful there as a coach. Would be sad to see an IU legend getting torn to shreds by disappointed fans.
@@SamWesting don’t know till you try! Can’t be any worse than what they have tried 🤣🤣🤣 really the biggest problem is how the administration runs the whole show on recruiting!
Steve should be coaching IU !
Today's coaches nothing like Bobby Knight. He knew how to get the most out of the player.
Would’ve liked to hear Steve talk about Damon Bailey...
You just reminded me. Where was Steve when Coach came back?
I wished he could have been there too...
He had a game
Saw Steve Alford play in Berry bowl in 83
Should be the head coach at Indiana university.
Love Bob Knight ! Go Tulane ! So happy the denied LSU hahahaha
Did anyone do the Dirty Thirty! Galesburg Illinois Coach came up with the various workouts! When you were done with those workouts you were truly exhausted!
2 class gentlemen
Also remember seeing James Blackmon play in the berry bowl in 83
Blackmon and Edwards both went to the same high school I graduated from, Marion.. I was only 5 or 6 years old at the time, but I remember it like it was yesterday.. They won the state championship 3 years in a row.. My aunt was a cheerleader at IU while Edwards was there.. I remember going down to assembly hall and watching a couple games with my dad and grandpa.. It's a shame that neither one of those guys could get their acts together.. They both could have had amazing NBA careers, but they threw it all away for drugs..
Steve has other people make that call. But IU is stupid not to bring him back. I'm a Purdue fan so I actually enjoy the average coaches they get but I miss the rivalry.
Also saw James blacmon sr and Jr play in berry bowl
Don’t forget shoveling snow off the playground courts!
I've heard Coach Knight say Barkley didn't make the cut because of weight issues.
How did they not call Steve about the IU job
Steve had a shooting drill video he probably made 51/53 shots
Beautiful beautiful
I’ve been looking for a copy of that all American workout for years. Wish I could find one. If anyone has one message me.
Too many outside principals moved into IN and ruined Indiana BB
Steve did you respect Ron felling?
steve alford vs steve hicks, who won both matchups...in case you don't know, hicks played for cathedral and later notre dame....funny that hicks owned alford in high school but in college-alford owned hicks but hicks always played him tough
Hire him!
Steve's got a hair out of place. Dang Covid!
Looks like he's really let himself go!!! Lol
That was epic. I joke that hairspray sales plummeted in Bloomington in '88.
Classic butt cutt….
Notre Dame is open
James Blackman was regarded as a traitor when he chose Kentucky over IU. It got so bad that there were death threats against him.
Not a good look for the Indiana fan base. Pretty amazing that James Jr. did choose IU.
Dakich thinks it may be the right time for you. He may be right for once.
The way Alford left Unm was wack. Seemed like he was too focused on the UCLA job to coach a team that could have gone far in the tournament that year.
Thanks for beating Jordan, Steve.
because every other team cheated--knight never did----ever--he was the best coach
The deserted spinach eventually shrug because museum progressively snore abaft a immense waiter. spotty, mountainous crocus
Alford is a crappy coach who almost single-handedly destroyed the UCLA basketball program.
Alford also inserts his fake religiousness into his coaching. What a terrible coach.
What do you mean?
steve alford vs scott hicks, who won both matchups...in case you don't know, hicks played for cathedral and later notre dame....funny that hicks owned alford in high school but in college-alford owned hicks but hicks always played him tough