Aiden Fisher on Hoosiers' epic turnaround

For decades, Indiana University's assemblage shot programme was the worldly of legend, but not successful a bully way.

Correspondent Jon Wertheim was calved and raised successful Bloomington, Indiana, wherever IU is located.

"For many, many, galore years, this was a truly lousy shot program," Wertheim said.

Indiana started this play arsenic the losingest programme successful large assemblage shot history, having racked up implicit 700 losses.

But successful an epic turnaround, the Hoosiers are present undefeated, the No. 1 effect heading into the playoffs, and Big Ten Champions aft their triumph against defending nationalist champs Ohio State.

Star backmost and winner of this year's Heisman trophy, Fernando Mendoza, said the vibe connected Indiana's field is "electric," a implicit alteration from what it erstwhile was. 

"In January, I would beryllium [walking astir campus] and nary 1 would adjacent blink an eye, nary 1 would adjacent cognize who I was, adjacent if I introduced myself," Mendoza said. "They were like, 'Oh, cool. Alright. Cool. Whatever.'"

"And past now, whenever [they] spot immoderate of our players… a batch of radical are excited astir the shot team, excited astir the future, and excited astir the playoffs."

Linebacker Aiden Fisher said their occurrence tin beryllium summed up successful 2 words: "Coach Cig."

"The radical [coach Curt Cignetti has] brought successful person been phenomenal," Fisher said. "They privation to spot Indiana arsenic a winning program."

Notably, Cignetti recruited galore players from extracurricular of the NCAAF's top-ranked teams utilizing the transportation portal, a database wherever players who privation to transportation to different shot programs tin marque themselves disposable for recruitment.

The manager told 60 Minutes that his strategy was to worth "production implicit potential" — players who person a demonstrated quality to perform. 

"I deliberation erstwhile you spot a feline that's been productive for 2 to 3 years, it tells you a batch astir his discipline, commitment, enactment ethic, perseverance, quality to instrumentality with things, and enactment connected the field," helium told Wertheim.

And acknowledgment to a caller NCAA regularisation change, those transfers are nary longer required to hold a twelvemonth earlier they tin play.

"It's fundamentally escaped agency. And truthful you tin adhd and subtract from your roster beauteous quickly," the manager said.

Fisher himself is simply a transportation to the team. When Fisher was playing for James Madison University astir 2 years ago, quality broke that Cignetti, his manager astatine the time, had conscionable been hired by Indiana University. 

"All my friends looked astatine maine and they're like, 'You're going to Indiana,'" helium told Wertheim. "I was lone successful my 2nd year, truthful [it was] benignant of a weird thing."

According toFisher, helium and different players who transferred from lower-ranked schools person a definite "mindset" from being overlooked. 

"The spot connected our enarthrosis that we weren't wanted… we're ne'er going to look a squad that ever recruited me," helium told Wertheim.

"And I deliberation a batch of the guys successful that locker country — they weren't recruited by anybody… and the radical lasting crossed the sideline, they deliberation they're amended than you."

Wertheim asked Fisher if helium ever took a infinitesimal to admit however acold the squad had come. 

"The Big Ten Championship is nice, 13-0 feels good. But astatine the extremity of the day, it means thing if we don't decorativeness with holding up the nationalist trophy successful the end."

The video supra was produced by Will Croxton. It was edited by Nelson Ryland. 

Photos courtesy of Getty Images and the Heisman Trophy Trust

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