TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — The year was 2010, Greg Lansing was in his first year as a head coach and three collegiate teammates were preparing for their first season.
“We wanted to play local if we could. To play at Indiana State was a dream come true. We didn’t know what it would look like, but we just took it one step at a time,” former Indiana State University player, Logan Eitel, said.
Alongside him, his twin brother, Lucas. Their point guard? It was former Amateur Athletic Union basketball teammate and rival in high school, Jake Odum. They were a team composed of local talent.
Below, hear about their first impressions playing against each other during holiday tournaments.
The 2010 season began with the Sycamores only winning two of their first eight games.
“There was a point about halfway through the season, when Coach Lansing got us all together and said alright. We’re not going to get an automatic bid, we’re not going to win the conference. The rest of our season, every practice, every film session, every weight lifting session, every game , is to prepare us for the Missouri Valley,” Lucas Eitel, former ISU player, said.
By the end, the team would finish the regular season with a 17-12 record.
“I think that the culture really changed, I think is when we went on that 5-6 game win streak during conference. It changed from maybe we’re good to actually believing that we deserved to be where we were going to be at,” Odum said.
Next for the Sycamores were three games in three days for the Missouri Valley Championship, with a automatic bid for the winner. Game one ended with a Jake Odum buzzer beater.
“It was.. I thought coach Lansing was pretty crazy when he drew that play up and told the freshman to get to the elbow and shoot that jumper,” Odum said. “But I guess he believed in me more than I believed in myself. It only met something from what we were able to do the rest of the tournament,”
After winning their third conference championship in school history, a match up with Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Orange was next.
“The first thing you think about is that 2-3 zone. Long lengthy guys, Fab Melo in the middle,” Lucas Eitel said. “Playing Syracuse was surreal. We get to play a top program and a top coach and top program in the whole country,” Logan Eitel said.
Although the Sycamores ended the season with a loss, Odum tells me he’ll never forget the madness in the Wabash Valley. Then and now.
“That’s how much it brought the community and gave Indiana State that spark. If you do something and their talking about it ten years later you really impacted somebody’s life,” Odum said.
Though disappointed with the recent coaching change at Indiana State University, both Odum and the Eitels said they are hopeful the next Sycamore tournament appearance will be sooner then ten years.
