Al Durham never knew he would play for Archie Miller. In fact, he wasn't even sure he wanted to stay at IU after the coach that recruited him, Tom Crean, was fired in 2017, just a few months before he was set to enroll at Indiana.
Three years have passed and now Durham is set for his final run in Bloomington. The Georgia native has experienced a lot during his college years, the coaching change, changes in his role every year, voted a captain by his teammates as a junior and a season that was cancelled due to a global pandemic. One thing he hasn't experienced is an NCAA Tournament game.
Going to a program like Indiana, you expect to be playing in Big Ten Championship games, Sweet Sixteen games and National Championships. Over the last decade, that unfortunately hasn't been the case for the Hoosiers, but with one last go-around, Durham could be the catapult to help IU get over the hump and find success come March.
Now as a senior, he knows he is needed not only on the floor, but also in the locker room.
"We have four freshmen that came in. They're young, just getting on campus so I've been trying to teach them the ropes, teach them how to workout and teach them the bits and pieces of our offense and defense and get them a head start on how we do things and how to prepare and be ready for the workouts," Durham said. "I just tried to talk them through it and keep them away from that freshman wall as much as I can."
As a junior, Durham came into the season looking at a much different role than he was used to over the course of the previous two years in Bloomington. Not only would he be used much more on the ball as a main ball handler, he was also expected to be a core leader and extension of the coach on the floor.
It was an up-and-down year for the 6-foot-4 guard. In 12 different games he failed to score more than six points. He also saw 220 more minutes on the year than both Joey Brunk and Rob Phinisee, but had only 20 more field goal attempts than both and even had four fewer made field goals than Brunk. Part of that was due to the ever-changing role, a role that will change again as a senior, but will remain consistent throughout the year.
"It's never been a problem with me being able to play in different positions but I do feel like it'll help (having a clear role)," Durham said. "It'll help a lot but at the same time I'm always ready to do whatever the team needs me to do."
Scoring hasn't been a problem for Durham, scoring 10+ points in 15 games last season and 32 for his career, but it has been that consistency. This year, he will be needed following the departure of Devonte Green (10.8 ppg) and Justin Smith (10.4 ppg). As the fourth leading scorer, leading three-point shooter (38.3%) and second on the team in made threes (36), knowing he will need to make plays for the team is critical in having that consistent confidence.
"I can still play two positions but they've given me clear directions that I can have the freedom to be able to make plays," Durham added.
As one of the most experienced and important players on the roster this year, trying to get the most out of his teammates, while taking on a lot of the offensive responsibility, is Durham's defined role in the 2020-21 season.
"I just want to try to give them (his backcourt teammates) as much faith as I can so they can play as well as they can and get things we want out of them, just the little things."
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