I don’t want to be a one-trick pony and only write about sports, but March feels like a time for basketball reflection.

Like most Hoosier kids, my love of basketball began by playing pick-up games with an old hoop in my grandparents’ driveway. I cannot say I am the most athletically gifted person, but as a kid, I could hang in there during a game of HORSE.

What accelerated my love of basketball was Friday nights packed into my high school gym with many of my fellow residents of Ellettsville, Indiana. Edgewood High School was pretty good my junior and senior years, going undefeated my junior year. We had high hopes for a state championship during that time but unfortunately ran into the Zeller brothers in Washington.

It’s hard to sit through the energy of an Indiana high school basketball game and not feel at least a little invested. Some of my favorite high school memories are cheering courtside in the student section during rivalry games against Spencer’s Owen Valley High School. Those games felt personal and were a matter of town pride.

When I got to IU, my love of basketball only grew. Assembly Hall is a magical place where you can feel the weight of so many historic basketball moments. My childhood friend, Stephen, and I had season tickets every year, and we rarely missed a game. We were side-by-side when IU beat Kentucky in 2011, and that memory will stay with us forever.

Many of our out-of-state college friends didn’t understand why we were so dedicated to the outcome of the basketball season, but Stephen and I grew up attending impassioned games in standing-room-only gyms that required the fire marshal to turn people away at the door. Those are memories that stay with you, too. As they say, in 49 states, it’s just basketball, but this is Indiana.