New Era

New+Era

Bailey Blum, Sports Editor

As Harrison Niego ‘15 laced up his shoes for his first basketball game of the 2015 season, he took one final look into the roaring crowd. For the first time in four years, it wasn’t a sea of blue and gold he was staring into, but one of cream and crimson. This wasn’t “Chaos on Cossitt.” This was Assembly Hall, home of the Indiana Hoosiers, and it was a whole new ballgame.

“I had spent so much time working up to that moment, and I just couldn’t wait for it to get here,” Niego said. “It was a huge step of my life, but one I was really excited for.”

Niego entered his first college basketball season as a preferred walk-on and backup point guard at a Big Ten school of 31,000 students, nearly eight tim00es the size of LT. He didn’t have to take this step alone, however. Standing at 6-foot 4-inches alongside him was LT alumnus and redshirt senior Nick Zeisloft ‘11, who is entering his second season with the Hoosiers after transferring at the end of his sophomore year from Illinois State University. The two will be pairing up under Head Coach Tom Crean, and are the only two players on Indiana from the same high school.

“[Zeisloft] and [Niego] are outstanding young men from great families who were well-coached and prepared for the college level,” Crean said. “[Zeisloft] will provide senior leadership and is one of the best three-point shooters in the Big Ten. We look for [Niego] to continue to improve every day and grow like any freshman would.”

As the season progresses, Niego hopes to bring his basketball IQ, ability to knock down shots and relentless tenacity on defense to the program, Niego said. Despite his strengths, Niego recognizes that he still has much to learn throughout his four years as a Hoosier, as the college basketball game is very different from high school.

“I hope to learn a professional’s mentality,” Niego said. “Everybody here prepares like crazy for games, because they have dreams of going to the NBA. I hope to learn what that’s like.”

Despite new teammates, new jerseys and a different stadium, there are aspects of the college scene that compare closely to LT, Niego said.

“Practices here are very intense, and demand that you go 100 percent all the time,” Niego said. “It’s very similar to LT, though. Lots of the drills I did with [LT varsity Head Coach Tom Sloan] I still do here, and he did an excellent job of preparing me for Hoosier basketball.”

This season, the duo of Niego and Zeisloft hope to use their remarkably similar strengths to the team’s advantage. Both are extremely effective shooters, as Zeisloft held the LT career three-point record for four years until Niego broke it his senior year, finishing with 149 shots from beyond the arc. Last season, Zeisloft shot 45.3 percent from the three-point line, a mark that put him second in the Big Ten in three-point shooting percentage.

“Zeisloft is a scouting report kind of shooter,” Sloan said. “He’s the kind of guy other teams talk about before games, and make it a priority to shut down.”

As of Dec. 1, Indiana is 7-2 on the season. Zeisloft is averaging 19.4 minutes and 8.6 points per game, whereas Niego is averaging 3 minutes per game and 0.8 points per game.

“I think [Niego] and [Zeisloft] teaming up at Indiana is really cool,” Sloan said. “The fact that they are both with such an amazing program at the same time is unreal. I can’t even explain what a fantastic year this is going to be for them.”