During a practice in the 1978-79 basketball season, Bob Knight calls his team together for a loose ball drill. In this drill, two players dive for a ball that is tossed out in the middle of the court. The drill rewards aggressive behavior and encourages players to be tenacious during games.

Freshman Landon Turner causally dives after the ball when his turn comes. He is confused by the drill. He is not used to diving after balls.

Knight notices Turner's passive behavior and orders him to take on the entire team in the drill, one by one.

"I was kind of shocked I had to do it," Turner says, during a phone conversation from his Indianapolis home. "I wondered why."

By the time he gets done taking on all of his teammates in the drill, Turner has become aggressive. Knight is encouraged by the display and praises Turner for his newfound approach. Looking back, Turner understands he wasn't giving his all on the court that day.

"I had a long way to go to reach the best of my ability," Turner reflects. "I don't think I ever reached that goal. I had a lot more improving to do."

Landon Turner first realized he had basketball skills when he was growing up in Indianapolis. His father, Adell, built a basketball court in the backyard so he could practice year-round.

Landon became a star at Indianapolis Tech High School. In his junior year, he led Tech to the city championship. His senior season, Turner averaged 21.4 points and 15.8 rebounds. He made several All-America teams and over 300 schools wrote to Turner and expressed interest in recruiting him, including the University of Southern California. Turner, however, ignored all the letters.

"I knew I was going to stay in-state," Turner says. "My father wanted me to. I think he wanted me to go somewhere where he, my mother and my brother could see me play."

Turner chose Indiana over Purdue. More specifically, he chose Knight over the new Purdue coach, Lee Rose.

"I wanted to go with the best coach, but I also wanted to go with the coach who could make my game a lot better. Bobby Knight was it," says Turner.

Turner became a role player at Indiana as a freshman and sophomore. He averaged just 5.5 points and 3.4 rebounds his freshman year and 7.4 points and 4.4 rebounds as a sophomore.

Turner admits his focus wandered during those years.

"I was always in trouble in school," he says. "I had an immature attitude and I let other influences get in the way of my priorities. I had friends who always wanted me to go out and party with them."

When times got tough for Turner, he would turn to teammate Ray Tolbert, who was one grade ahead of Turner. To Tolbert, Turner was more than a teammate.

"I had always wanted a little brother, and Landon seemed to be into the same things I was into, as far as becoming professionals one day and helping our families," Tolbert remembers.

As each season progressed, Turner's academic problems would fade and he would play his way into the starting lineup. In his freshman year, he helped the Hoosiers to an NIT championship. In the final game against archrival Purdue, Turner scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds and made two steals. He also limited Purdue's star center, Joe Barry Carroll, to 11 points.

As the 1980-81 season approached, Turner's basketball career was at a crossroads. According to The Champs, the book about Indiana's 1981 NCAA championship team, Knight decided to play to Turner's strengths. Turner could shoot an 18-foot jumper facing the basket. He was also the tallest player on the team and could help Tolbert with rebounding. Knight told Turner to just worry about the area around the basket.

Knight's advice and Turner's attentiveness in practice helped take his game to another level. Turner scored 73 points and grabbed 20 rebounds over a four-game stretch in early December. He was the MVP of the 1980 Indiana Classic, leading the Hoosiers to victories over California and Baylor. Turner and the Hoosiers seemed primed for a run through the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu.

Their dreams in Hawaii were dashed by a last-second tip-in by Clemson. Turner was not a big factor in the game and he was dropped from the starting lineup.

Around the middle of his junior year, Turner decided to change his priorities and devote more time to his studies. Consequently, his play began to improve again.

"It all coincided," Turner says. "My mind was clear."

Turner had always believed in his talents as a basketball player, but his improvement in academics made the difference. He was confident about his performance, both in the classroom and the court.

Turner hit four of five shots in just nine minutes during a blowout win over Northwestern. That was the turning point for Turner as a player.

Knight started Turner and Tolbert in the frontcourt against Minnesota and the combination clicked instantly. The two combined for 35 points and 14 rebounds, as the Hoosiers won, 74-63. They had half of IU's 29 rebounds. Tolbert and Turner worked well together because they were similar.

"We both liked to score, we were quick around the basket, and we were competitors each minute we were on the court," Tolbert says.

The pairing of Tolbert and Turner sparked the Hoosiers. They won their final 10 games of the season, capturing the NCAA Championship. In the championship game, the Hoosiers defeated North Carolina, 63-50.

"(Winning the championship) is always going to be special as long as I live," Turner says. "As an individual and as a team, it is your goal to win the national championship."

It was also Turner's goal to dominate as a senior the following season, but he never got the chance.

On July 22 1981, Turner was driving three friends to Kings Island, an amusement park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a foggy day. Turner was driving from Bloomington on a narrow section of State Road 46. Just east of Columbus, Indiana, he had an accident. The car slipped on wet pavement and went off the road. Turner managed to get the car back on the road, but lost control of the car when he had to swerve to avoid hitting a van. The car flipped. Turner's friends had minimal injuries, but Turner sustained a concussion, bruised his spine and broke his C-6 vertebrae. He was rushed to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Paralyzed from the chest down, he would never walk again.

Tolbert was in Los Angeles playing in the summer pro leagues when friends told him about the accident. He was on the next plane to Indianapolis. When Tolbert arrived, Turner was in a drug-induced coma, which he stayed in for five days.

"I started talking to him the day he came out of the coma," Tolbert says. "And I prayed with him." Tolbert spent lots of time with Turner, trying to help him through the tough times.

Turner was shocked when he woke up and discovered he was unable to walk.

"In the beginning, I felt sorry for myself," Turner says. "Then, my winning attitude took precedence and I wanted to be as independent as possible."

Knight and all of Landon's IU teammates pitched in to help. A trust fund was set up for Turner. Knight raised money by giving speeches and many of the players participated in a benefit game that raised $85,000. In all, Turner received about $400,000 in donations. With the money, Turner was able to purchase a van and equip it with a lift and special hand controls, so he could drive it himself.

Through therapy, Turner was able to build strength. After about a year of living with his parents, he returned to Bloomington to finish his degree in physical education, which he earned in 1984.

Meanwhile, Knight went to a draft camp in Chicago before the 1982 draft. While there, he met Bill Fitch, coach of the Boston Celtics and Celtics general manager Red Auerbach. Auerbach told The New York Times that Knight suggested it would be great if one team would draft Turner anyway. Auerbach and Fitch told Knight that the Celtics would.

True to their word, Auerbach selected Turner with the final pick in the draft. Bob Ryan, a sportswriter for The Boston Globe, was intrigued with the choice.

"Now, at least, he can say he's an honorary Celtic," Ryan wrote.

That honor means a great deal to Turner.

"It was a great thing for them to draft me," Turner says. "They showed a lot of class. It made me feel great to be drafted by such a prestigious team."

Today, Turner lives in Indianapolis. He gives motivational speeches throughout the state. At one point in a recent speech, he asked the crowd to give the Celtics a big hand for drafting him. He encourages people to challenge themselves and reach their potential, insisting that the sky is the limit.

In his spare time, Turner enjoys fishing and hunting and going to dinner with friends.

"I don't feel sorry for myself," Turner says. "I'm glad I'm alive."

Today, Landon Turner is aggressively pursuing every loose ball that life offers him, just like he did in a drill with Knight 24 years ago.