Ferrell returned for this chance at Indiana
After last season, following Indiana's opening loss to Wichita State in the NCAA tournament, guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell contemplated bypassing what would be his final year in college for the NBA.
After last season, following Indiana's opening loss to Wichita State in the NCAA tournament, guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell contemplated bypassing what would be his final year in college for the NBA.
Following deep deliberation, Ferrell, a 6-foot senior point guard, believed he had unfinished business in college.
That is why Ferrell will arrive Friday at the Wells Fargo Center, hoping to steer No. 5-seeded Indiana to an upset over No. 1 North Carolina (30-6) in an NCAA tournament Sweet 16 matchup.
The Hoosiers (27-7) beat Chattanooga, 99-74, in the first round and then defeated Kentucky, 73-67, in a Sweet 16-like matchup a round early. Ferrell averaged 19 points and seven assists in the two wins.
"I thought of leaving," Ferrell said Thursday outside the Indiana locker room at the Wells Fargo Center. "I was 50-50 and talked to some NBA guys, got my name out there, got information back and talked to [Indiana] Coach [Tom] Crean. My dad and we felt it was the best decision for me to come back and was probably the best decision I ever made."
Ferrell's size doesn't work in his favor, but everything else does. In addition to being a second-team all-American and two-time first-team all-Big Ten choice, Ferrell earned first-team honors on the all-Big Ten defensive team this season.
"Besides all he does on offense, he is really disruptive as a defender, too," North Carolina guard Marcus Paige said.
For the season, Ferrell is averaging 17.1 points, 5.6 assists, and 3.8 rebounds, and is shooting 41.9 percent from three-point range.
While a continued strong NCAA tournament could help his stock, Draftexpress.com lists him as the 56th player in its mock draft, a late-second-round selection.
Crean has a different view.
"Yogi is not only a guy that can make the NBA, but he's a guy that's going to be able to impact teams going into April, May, and June, and that's what you really want the deciding factor of a player to be," Crean said.
Ferrell said he got his nickname from his mother for one simple reason. "I used to eat a lot as a baby, so my mom named me Yogi, after Yogi Bear," he said.
UNC director of player personnel Sean May, who was the Final Four MVP when leading North Carolina to the 2005 NCAA title, is impressed by Ferrell's overall game.
"You can see the biggest attribute that he probably doesn't get enough credit for is his competitiveness," May said. "He competes, with the best of them."
May, who spent four seasons in the NBA, believes the competing will continue on the next level.
"I think guys like Steph Curry and some of the smaller guards like Chris Paul have helped a guy like Yogi Ferrell," May said. "He has something you can't teach, competitiveness, and he can shoot the basketball. So they will find a place for him even if it goes against the grain."
Right now, Ferrell is consumed only with winning a national championship. This is the deepest he has gone since losing to Syracuse in the Sweet 16 as a freshman, after beating Temple the previous round.
Ferrell, a high school all-American, averaged just 7.6 points that season on an Indiana team that featured future NBA lottery picks Victor Oladipo and Cody Zeller.
Since then, Ferrell has been the leading scorer the last three years.
Ferrell wears No. 11, which has great significance at Indiana. In 1981, another Indiana guard, Isiah Thomas, wore No. 11 in leading the Hoosiers to the national championship, which was played in Philadelphia.
"I know the significance, and I know Isiah Thomas did the same thing," Ferrell said. "I am trying to instill the will into my team just like he did back in '81 and just try to push our team to win."
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