10/2/2019 basketball Edit

Al Durham has helped bridge Archie Miller to year three, is now a captain

Taylor Lehman • TheHoosier

Staff

Indiana junior guard Al Durham was convinced by head coach Archie Miller to remain committed to Indiana in 2017, and now he embodies what Miller and the staff hope to see out of all their players in 2019-20.

Indiana junior guard Al Durham said Wednesday that he always wanted to be a team captain at IU.

When Archie Miller was hired to be the head coach at Indiana in the spring of 2017, there was an immediate task at hand – he needed to retain the commitments of three committed recruits.

Those three commits were Justin Smith, Clifton Moore and Al Durham, and Miller convinced them all to remain committed to and to play for him at Indiana. Smith and Durham became immediate contributors as true freshmen, and Moore eventually transferred to La Salle after the 2018-19 season.

But in his third season, with the majority of his inherited players out of the program – save for seniors De’Ron Davis and Devonte Green – Miller has found a player he can count on in Durham to impress upon his teammates the values he hopes to implement within the Miller system.

That’s resulted in Durham being named a team co-captain for his junior year.

“Over the course of time, he’s stayed with what we’ve tried to emphasize,” Miller said at Big Ten Media Day in Chicago on Wednesday. “Through year one to two, he’s been an everyday guy. He’s been a guy that we can count on and can show the right way to do things on and off the floor.”

The path to being named a team captain began near the end of the non-conference schedule of his freshman year in 2017-18, when he came on strong for his reliable ball-handling and ability to convert near the basket. That eventually translated to significant minutes in big games against teams like Duke, Michigan State, Louisville and Michigan.

Miller said Wednesday that the toughest adjustment for any freshman to make is conditioning himself against the consistent, grueling conference season, and Durham got into 31 games as a freshman.

“The learning curve was big my freshman year, but I learned from it,” Durham said. “My sophomore year, I came back better. And now my junior year, you know what your coach wants. You know what he expects. You want to make sure you’re helping the others become accustomed to how he wants it.”

It’s the adjustment more so than the production he’s had during his career – 6.6 points per game, 1.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists. He started 30 games as a sophomore but represents the most tenured and understanding presence within Miller’s system he always intended to put in place once he’d been in Bloomington long enough.

Durham knows what Miller wants, and that – along with Green’s comfort at the shooting guard position – is why he will be splitting touches with Rob Phinesee at the point.

“He really works hard. He’s the hardest working guy,” Miller said. “Been around a long time, loves working on his own game. You can see his improvements physically and where he’s come from. As he enters his junior year, he’s prepared. He’s ready to go. Al is set up to lead our group.”

Off the court, Miller, who had suspended players in his time at Dayton before taking over a program who not too long ago had multiple players suspended on the same team, said Durham is the model for what he hopes for the future of Indiana. Nobody has a negative word to say about Durham, he’s a great teammate, and everyone in the program respects him, he said.

And for Durham, the feeling is mutual.

“I guess it was more like I want to be it,” Durham said. “I wanted to be a captain. I wanted to be a leader. I wanted to make my presence felt on this team. I feel like it was more of a character thing in me than it was an expectation. I care for everyone on the team. I treat them as if they’re my brother at home. I really care for these guys like they’re my family.”