Looking for Fans With a Great Story from Chad Austin's Game-Winner at Assembly Hall in '97

[Sperri]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Sophia, and I am producing a documentary for Big Ten Network (BTN) about Chad Austin's game-winner at Assembly Hall in 1997 (as well as his game-winner in '96). We are looking to hear stories from fans who have a great memory of watching the game, whether you were at the game in person, or watching it on tv.

Some fun stories we've used for past shows are a fan who listened to the game on headphones during a church wedding, and a fan who kept his student wristband to the game on for over 1,000 days (and even wore it to his wedding!).

Please respond to this thread with your memories, and I may reach out to connect over the phone to hear your story in more detail.

I look forward to reading these!

Best

 

[BoilerMaker P]

Watched it in my dorm room in Hillenbrand. Went crazy after he hit the shot, called my dad to make sure he had seen it (he had), and then walked over to the Harrison Hall Grill for some nachos. Great night.

 

[Sperri]

Watched it in my dorm room in Hillenbrand. Went crazy after he hit the shot, called my dad to make sure he had seen it (he had), and then walked over to the Harrison Hall Grill for some nachos. Great night.

Hah! Love that! Do you have any photos from that year/basketball season by chance? Photos in your dorm, at a Purdue game, in Purdue gear, etc?

 

[BoilerTom90]

 

[meenie]

I was sitting second row mid court at both games. I was with my father who passed away last month at the age of 94. My friend and his dad took us to both games. They are big iu donors and had 4 seats together. Both games were fantastic finishes, if you are Purdue fans. We always stayed pretty quiet until the end, since we were surrounded by rabid iu fans. My friends dad always drove us because he had a great parking pass by the front door to the arena. Both rides home were very quiet, but I’ll never forget the smile on my dad’s face the whole way home. What great memories

 

[KentuckyBoiler]

I grew up in a small Indiana town about an hour away from Bloomington, so I grew up in IU country. The majority of my family and friends during that time were IU fans. My dad got his masters from IU. I think in my HS years ago that it was IU, UK, UL, and Purdue was probably a distant 4th from who my classmates rooted for.

Even though most of my family and friends had went to IU, I chose a different path. I went to Purdue for Engineering, but I ended up switching majors and graduating from Purdue's business school. It was always a big rivalry when IU/Purdue met in basketball for my family. Sometimes, my parents would have friendly wagers with me, like they would have to wear Purdue shirts, if Purdue won the game, for a couple days or vice versa. We might have to put a sticker of the winning team on our car for a week or so. Little things like that.

We had already beat a ranked team IU earlier in Mackey that year, so my family was expecting this to be a split with Purdue coming to Assembly Hall. I had graduated from Purdue about 3 years earlier, so I was already out of college. I lived in the Louisville area, so I drove up to watch the game on tv with family and friends.

It went back and forth that game. My dad and I were both very competitive in nature, so we had friendly banter, but make no mistake we both wanted our team to win. We sometimes had to leave the room during parts of games, because we both would get upset. This game was going back and forth, but my family was still confident that IU would win. Chad Austin hit that shot and my parent's house went dead silent, except for me being the only Purdue fan there that day. I think I ran outside and started screaming about the victory. My parents literally did not talk to me for a couple of days (wouldn't take my phone call) after that game.

A lot of family on both my mom and dad's sides have passed away now. My dad has now been gone for almost 7 years. However, I remember those times of watching those IU/Purdue games with my family. That game in particular stood out. I think I had a smile on my face driving back the entire way home that day to where I lived in Louisville at the time.

 

[Sperri]

I was sitting second row mid court at both games. I was with my father who passed away last month at the age of 94. My friend and his dad took us to both games. They are big iu donors and had 4 seats together. Both games were fantastic finishes, if you are Purdue fans. We always stayed pretty quiet until the end, since we were surrounded by rabid iu fans. My friends dad always drove us because he had a great parking pass by the front door to the arena. Both rides home were very quiet, but I’ll never forget the smile on my dad’s face the whole way home. What great memories

Thanks so much for sharing this story. Love that you were at both games! Do you have any photos from these games, or of you and your dad growing up in Purdue gear, or the ticket stubs for these games?

 

[Sperri]

I grew up in a small Indiana town about an hour away from Bloomington, so I grew up in IU country. The majority of my family and friends during that time were IU fans. My dad got his masters from IU. I think in my HS years ago that it was IU, UK, UL, and Purdue was probably a distant 4th from who my classmates rooted for.

Even though most of my family and friends had went to IU, I chose a different path. I went to Purdue for Engineering, but I ended up switching majors and graduating from Purdue's business school. It was always a big rivalry when IU/Purdue met in basketball for my family. Sometimes, my parents would have friendly wagers with me, like they would have to wear Purdue shirts, if Purdue won the game, for a couple days or vice versa. We might have to put a sticker of the winning team on our car for a week or so. Little things like that.

We had already beat a ranked team IU earlier in Mackey that year, so my family was expecting this to be a split with Purdue coming to Assembly Hall. I had graduated from Purdue about 3 years earlier, so I was already out of college. I lived in the Louisville area, so I drove up to watch the game on tv with family and friends.

It went back and forth that game. My dad and I were both very competitive in nature, so we had friendly banter, but make no mistake we both wanted our team to win. We sometimes had to leave the room during parts of games, because we both would get upset. This game was going back and forth, but my family was still confident that IU would win. Chad Austin hit that shot and my parent's house went dead silent, except for me being the only Purdue fan there that day. I think I ran outside and started screaming about the victory. My parents literally did not talk to me for a couple of days (wouldn't take my phone call) after that game.

A lot of family on both my mom and dad's sides have passed away now. My dad has now been gone for almost 7 years. However, I remember those times of watching those IU/Purdue games with my family. That game in particular stood out. I think I had a smile on my face driving back the entire way home that day to where I lived in Louisville at the time.

Thanks for your response! Do you have any photos from around this time of you wearing Purdue gear, or of any of the lost bets (ie someone in the other teams shirt or a sticker on their car)?

 

[KentuckyBoiler]

Thanks for your response! Do you have any photos from around this time of you wearing Purdue gear, or of any of the lost bets (ie someone in the other teams shirt or a sticker on their car)?

I really wish I did, but no I don't have pictures of that stuff. Some photos probably got thrown out when my dad died. My mom is a nursing home with Alzheimer's, so items like that were tossed out by family members. Unlike today, where everything is on social media or is digitized, unfortunately, it was a different era back then.

If you have anything else that I can answer for you, please let me know. I would be more than happy to do it. It brings back great memories. The funny thing was that over time, especially after Knight left, my parents actually started to follow Purdue and root for them, because of me graduating up there. They went to games at Ross Ade with me, wife at the time (ex wife now), and others many times and really enjoyed it. I like to say that I converted them from the Dark Side.

 

[Blutarsky62]

 

[Sperri]

I was sitting second row mid court at both games. I was with my father who passed away last month at the age of 94. My friend and his dad took us to both games. They are big iu donors and had 4 seats together. Both games were fantastic finishes, if you are Purdue fans. We always stayed pretty quiet until the end, since we were surrounded by rabid iu fans. My friends dad always drove us because he had a great parking pass by the front door to the arena. Both rides home were very quiet, but I’ll never forget the smile on my dad’s face the whole way home. What great memories

Hi there! Checking in again to see if you have any photos from around that time. I'd love to schedule a call to learn more about this. Its a great story. Please let me know if you are interested in moving forward.

 

[Schnelk]

Get the video of Todd Foster jumping on the IU logo after the game winning bucket. It's pure Gold! (and Black!)