"Do you know where I can find a guy that plays like Collin Hartman? I need one."
That was the message University of Cincinnati basketball coach Mick Cronin texted ESPN college basketball analyst Dan Dakich during an Indiana game that Dakich broadcasted last spring. Hartman was an indispensable member of the Hoosiers' 2016 Big Ten championship-winning team, starting 24 games last season. After he suffered a left knee injury during a non-contact drill last September, which sidelined him for the season, there was a chance Hartman's final game in an Indiana uniform would end up being the team's loss to North Carolina in the Sweet 16 last March.
That won't be the case.
Hartman announced his return to Indiana in a video he posted on Twitter on Thursday. His name was trending nationally on Twitter by 10 a.m.
While Hartman's return could make Indiana's scholarship situation a bit trickier for new head coach Archie Miller, the senior's return to Bloomington for a fifth year is a big boost for the team.
"We are thrilled that Collin has decided to come back and play next season," Miller said in a statement. "Having an individual who has won a Big Ten championship and had success in the NCAA Tournament gives our program a big lift. He brings leadership and intangibles that can do nothing but help us achieve our goals."
Hartman, the lone remaining member of Indiana's six-player 2013 recruiting class, is a career 40-percent three-point shooter, a selfless and heady passer who averaged more than three assists per game last season and during one stretch of the 2014-15 season, essentially played the "five" for Indiana. His career averages of 4.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game aren't flashy -- he has scored in double figures just seven times in 83 career games -- but he's an offensively efficient player who doesn't need the ball in his hands to make an impact.
That was the message University of Cincinnati basketball coach Mick Cronin texted ESPN college basketball analyst Dan Dakich during an Indiana game that Dakich broadcasted last spring. Hartman was an indispensable member of the Hoosiers' 2016 Big Ten championship-winning team, starting 24 games last season. After he suffered a left knee injury during a non-contact drill last September, which sidelined him for the season, there was a chance Hartman's final game in an Indiana uniform would end up being the team's loss to North Carolina in the Sweet 16 last March.
That won't be the case.
Hartman announced his return to Indiana in a video he posted on Twitter on Thursday. His name was trending nationally on Twitter by 10 a.m.
While Hartman's return could make Indiana's scholarship situation a bit trickier for new head coach Archie Miller, the senior's return to Bloomington for a fifth year is a big boost for the team.
"We are thrilled that Collin has decided to come back and play next season," Miller said in a statement. "Having an individual who has won a Big Ten championship and had success in the NCAA Tournament gives our program a big lift. He brings leadership and intangibles that can do nothing but help us achieve our goals."
Hartman, the lone remaining member of Indiana's six-player 2013 recruiting class, is a career 40-percent three-point shooter, a selfless and heady passer who averaged more than three assists per game last season and during one stretch of the 2014-15 season, essentially played the "five" for Indiana. His career averages of 4.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game aren't flashy -- he has scored in double figures just seven times in 83 career games -- but he's an offensively efficient player who doesn't need the ball in his hands to make an impact.