Dan Dakich

Dan Dakich
Sport(s) Basketball
Biographical details
Born (1962-08-17) August 17, 1962
Gary, Indiana
Playing career
1981–1985 Indiana
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1985–1997 Indiana (asst.)
1997–2007 Bowling Green
2008 Indiana
Head coaching record
Overall 159–144 (.525)

Dan Dakich (born August 17, 1962) is an American basketball sportscaster and radio host. He is a former player, assistant coach, and interim head coach for the Indiana University Hoosiers and the head coach at Bowling Green State University.

Playing career

Dakich attended Andrean High School in Merrillville, Indiana. He elected to play basketball for Indiana under coach Bob Knight from 1981 to 1985. He was a team captain during his junior and senior seasons and the Hoosiers finished with an 84–39 (.683) record during his career.[1] As a player, he helped Indiana win one Big Ten title (during the 1982–83 season), earn three NCAA Tournament berths and finish as the NIT runner-up his senior season. As a junior, he was named All-Tournament at the Indiana Classic and as a senior he earned similar accolades at the Hoosier Classic.

Dakich is remembered for his defensive effort against Michael Jordan in Indiana's upset of No. 1 ranked North Carolina in the 1984 East Regional Semifinal of the NCAA Tournament. It was Dakich's sixth start of the year, but coach Knight assigned him to guard Jordan the afternoon of the game. Knight told him, "Just don't let him dunk on you. That will embarrass you and me both."[2] Dakich later reported, "I went back to my room and threw up."[2] Jordan scored 13 points in what would be his final college game, and both Dakich and Jordan eventually fouled out of the game. Indiana won the game 72–68.[3]

Coaching career

Assistant coach

Dakich was first a graduate assistant coach at Indiana under Bob Knight from 1985–87 and then an assistant coach at Indiana from 1987 to 1997. He helped the Indiana program win 74% (283–101) of its games over the 12 years he served as an assistant coach. The Hoosiers won a national title in the 1986–87 season and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament in each of his 12 seasons on the staff. IU also captured four Big Ten titles while finishing third or better in 9 of his 12 years.

Dakich was the academic monitor on the Indiana basketball staff his last seven years and, under his guidance, every four-year player on the program graduated.[4] He also assisted in the development of six All-Americans and three national Player of the Year candidates, including 1993 Player of the Year Calbert Cheaney.

Head coach

From 1997 to 2007 he served as the head coach at Bowling Green State University where he compiled a record of 156–140 (.527). He tied for third all-time in victories among the school's coaches and also was just one of three coaches in school history to post four 18-plus win seasons or more in men's basketball. He saw 22 of 25 seniors complete their degree requirements and had 12 former players sign professional contracts, including former Indiana Pacers guard Keith McLeod. In addition, he had two players earn MAC Player of the Year and three lead the league in scoring during his tenure. During Dakich's tenure, BGSU went 0-0 in the NCAA tournament.

Briefly in 2002, Dakich was named head basketball coach at West Virginia University (WVU) to succeed Gale Catlett. During conversations with WVU players, Dakich learned that people affiliated with the basketball program may have been guilty of NCAA recruiting rules infractions. He allegedly attempted to renegotiate a higher salary at WVU and failed, thus returning to Bowling Green as head basketball coach after only a week at WVU.[5] WVU voluntarily reported results of its internal investigation to the NCAA, and the university was not penalized as a result of the infractions. The focus of the investigation, Jonathan Hargett, was banned from WVU athletics for his role in the reported violations.[6]

At the end of the 2008 season he served as the interim head coach at Indiana University, following Kelvin Sampson's resignation due to NCAA recruiting violations.[7] Under Dakich's guidance, the Hoosiers went 0-2 in postseason play, losing in the first rounds of the Big 10 and NCAA tournaments. After the season, IU declined to offer Dakich the job on a permanent basis, opting instead for Tom Crean.

Television and radio career

Dakich is the host of "The Dan Dakich Show"[8] on Indianapolis radio station WFNI, ESPN radio affiliate, 1070 The Fan. Dakich served as a college basketball studio analyst for the Big Ten Network for the 2009–2010 college basketball season. Beginning in November 2010, Dakich joined ESPN as a college basketball color commentator and studio analyst, replacing Steve Lavin.

While on air during a Big Ten conference game on January 20, 2015, between Wisconsin and Iowa, Dakich made contentious comments about Iowa Hawkeye player Adam Woodbury, calling him "gutless" and "cowardly"[9] after poking two Wisconsin players in the eyes, which Dakich considered intentional, while guarding them during the game. Woodbury was not called for a foul for either instance. After being told of Dakich's comments, Iowa's coach, Fran McCaffery took umbrage stating, "There’s absolutely no way Adam Woodbury did that on purpose. Dan Dakich is completely out of line...He’s not right, it was an accident."[10]

Head coaching record

Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Bowling Green (Mid-American Conference) (1997–2007)
1997–98 Bowling Green 10–16 7–11 8th
1998–99 Bowling Green 18–10 12–6 4th
1999–00 Bowling Green 22–8 14–4 1st NIT First Round
2000–01 Bowling Green 15–14 10–8 7th
2001–02 Bowling Green 24–9 12–6 3rd NIT First Round
2002–03 Bowling Green 13–16 8–10 9th
2003–04 Bowling Green 14–17 8–10 7th
2004–05 Bowling Green 18–11 10–8 8th
2005–06 Bowling Green 9–21 5–13 10th
2006–07 Bowling Green 13–18 3–13 12th
Bowling Green: 156–140 89–89
Indiana (Big Ten Conference) (2007–2008)
2007–08 Indiana 3–4 3–2 NCAA 1st Round
Indiana: 3–4 3–2
Total: 159–144

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Dan Dakich". Indiana University Athletics. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Hammel, Bob (1999). Glory of Old IU. United States: Sports Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-58261-068-1.
  3. ↑ http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/boxscores/1984-03-22-indiana.html
  4. ↑ "Dan Dakich Named Director of Men's Basketball Operations at Indiana". Indiana University.
  5. ↑ Smizik, Bob (April 15, 2002). "Smizik: WVU better off without Dakich". Post-gazette.com. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  6. ↑ "West Virginia suspends four players in internal probe". Sportsillustrated.cnn.com. June 21, 2002. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Indiana, Sampson reach $750,000 settlement to part ways". espn.com. February 23, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  8. ↑ "The Dan Dakich Show". WFNI. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
  9. ↑ http://whotv.com/2015/01/21/espn-broadcaster-calls-iowas-adam-woodbury-gutless/
  10. ↑ "McCaffery defends Woodbury from Dakich accusations". January 21, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
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