In other words, the path to achievement is not necessarily the path of least resistance. There is no foolproof method for getting immediate findings from a group of young adults (aged 18 to 30).

Nonetheless, a team’s identity and spirit are sometimes obscured by the fog of their worst moments. Such a persona would either confront you head-on and slap you silly or suffocate you into submission and quitting.

The men’s basketball team at Indiana is no stranger to trying to find itself. Actually, for the past six years, Indiana’s most dreaded opponent hasn’t been found in the Big Ten or even in college basketball, but rather in a never-ending struggle with the Cream N’ Crimson that is Indiana itself.

There have been new managers, players added or taken away, and even a total retooling of the roster. There have been stretches of bad luck, erratic performance, and persistent pain.

And at the heart of IU’s years-long frustration is a Jekyll-and-Hyde character, one that has dug the Hoosiers into ruts much too deep to crawl out of, only for the optimism and hope of an upcoming season to level the playing field once again.

In contrast, the Hoosiers of this year’s crop appear to have hit upon a way to put an end to the team’s internal contradictions for good. More is the first word of the phrase.

Indiana’s head coach, Mike Woodson, begged for more from his squad in early January as the club was mired in a three-game losing streak and the once promising season was plummeting downward.

Greater resiliency. Added depth and personality. Greater faith is required. An uptick in the heat. Added responsibilities. It’s time for more, more, and much more.

“Mentally, we were struck in the face,” Woodson remarked in a press conference on January 22. “I’ve always felt as a coach that the only way to recover from a downward spiral is to actively begin climbing out of it, and that’s what we did when things started to go south.

So I increased the difficulty of practice and the standards I set for myself. A greater quantity was what I want.” Although Woodson’s strategy adjustment may have been a last-ditch effort to save an otherwise hopeless Indiana University season, it has paid huge dividends for the Hoosiers ever since it was implemented.

Now on a five-game winning streak and back in the hunt for the Big Ten championship, Indiana looks and plays like a team that has been given a new lease on life. This type of midseason revival, although not unprecedented, has not been the norm in Bloomington in previous years.

Despite recent evidence suggesting the Hoosiers weren’t capable of a turnaround of this magnitude, this version of Indiana has picked itself up and quit feeling sorry for itself despite suffering multi-week injuries to two veteran players.

Indiana University’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament were nearly dashed by a five-game losing run in February of last season. Archie Miller’s final season as head coach at Bloomington was cut short by a six-game losing skid in 2020-21.

The Hoosiers’ season ended in 2019-20 after a four-game losing streak. The 2018–19 season ended with IU participating in the NIT after a 7–game losing run was followed by a 5–game losing skid.

If you look at any season in recent memory, you’ll see that Indiana has no right to be behaving the way it is. There is little reason to believe that the current Hoosiers team, which includes veterans like Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson, has the mettle to overcome a rough patch and react with an even stronger run of success.

However, that is precisely what has been demonstrated and accomplished by Indiana during the past month. They’re not the type to give up,” Woodson remarked. “In the past, I’ve been on teams where one person would just give up and declare that they were finished. However, these individuals have something to play for. The Big Ten crown and championship is yet to be decided. Someone has to come out on top.”

But it took more than a few significant figures to get to this point, where Indiana’s preseason goals don’t appear nearly as onerous as they were a few weeks ago. Jackson-Davis, who has destroyed every team that has tried to slow him down over the past two weeks, is the epitome of the Hoosiers’ progress.

At a time when it seemed like Indiana University’s season was headed for another midseason slump, the 6-foot-9 star forward took the bull by the horns. In his three years as a starter, Jackson-Davis has observed the red flags, and his leadership has been rewarded.

The Hoosiers have gone where Jackson-Davis has gone. Jackson-example Davis’s has been taken up by students of all ages, from freshman to senior. Creative playmaking by Trey Galloway. The shooting of Tamar Bates. The vitality of Jordan Geronimo. The resurgence of old Malik Reneau.

The calm temperament that Jalen Hood-Schifino always maintains. Name a player, and you can bet that they’ve improved significantly in the last month.

Woodson and his coaching staff deserve credit as well for maintaining player morale in the face of adversity. The most recent illustration of this was in Indiana University’s victory over Ohio State, when freshman forward Kaleb Banks saw action for the first time in over a month and contributed significantly in his 12 minutes off the bench.

In the last five games, Indiana has been able to rely on practically every member of their roster. You probably couldn’t have said that eight or ten games ago.

To help these young players develop, “my staff has done a wonderful job,” Woodson said. And naturally, not everyone will be as talented as Jalen Schifino and Malik Reneau.

There’s no assurance that Indiana will keep up its strong play over the final 10 games of the regular season and into the playoffs. Even Indiana’s current winning streak will stop at some point, and trouble is never far away.

The Hoosiers’ championship aspirations on the court and the team’s long-term development will be shown by how they handle the remaining challenges of this season.

While Indiana’s character has evolved from game to game, his true identity is still unclear. However, the Hoosiers’ successes in the face of adversity are contributing to their maturation and strength of character as a people.