Indiana's big man on campus: Brett Finkelmeier, the Carmel Kid

October 7, 11:27 AMCollege Sports ExaminerJacob Osterhout

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  Somebody get this kid the ball.

Due to NCAA violations stemming from over 100 impermissible phone calls to recruits made by former coach Kelvin Sampson, when Indiana University officially kicks off the men's basketball season on October 17th, the team will only feature two returning players from last season.

One of those players, Kyle Taber, is a senior forward recovering from off-season knee surgery who will probably still be rehabbing during the beginning part of the season.

That leaves sophomore guard Brett Finkelmeier as the only returning player who will be on the court for Hoosier Hysteria, the first scrimmage of the season.

My guess is that you probably don't know too much about Finkelmeier, but the Carmel Kid represents the hopes and dreams of all the small, skinny, guards out there who are headed off to college and aren't ready to give up on their hoops dreams just because they didn't get a scholarship.

Finkelmeier hails from Carmel, Indiana, and graduated in 2006 from Carmel High School, where he averaged 13 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in his senior season.

The young Hoosier excelled both on and off the court. A first-team All-Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference all-star, Finkelmeier was also a first-team All-State selection.

Despite his high school accolades, Finkelmeier was not offered a basketball scholarship at Indiana, probably due to his undersized 6-foot-1 frame and the fact that he wasn't nationally recruited.

But the lack of a scholarship was only a minor setback for the Carmel Kid. Finkelmeier got into Indiana on his academic prowess - he's a finance major - and then promptly walked onto the basketball team.

As a freshman, Finkelmeier was at the end of coach Kelvin Sampson's bench. On the season, he only played 11 minutes, racking up a grand total of two points on a pair of free throws against Western Carolina. But, occasionally, during blowouts Finkelmeier got a few minutes of playing time. He made his Big 10 debut against Iowa and also saw a few seconds of court time in Indiana's games against Michigan State and Minnesota.

Still, last season, there's no denying Finkelmeier's role as a walk-on, a bench warmer, a player who was expected to go all-out in practice and cheer hard from his seat during the actual games.

Then, Kelvin Sampson picked up the phone, more than 100 times, and in twist of fate that no one could've predicted, the Carmel Kid went from the end of the bench to the leader of the Indiana University men's basketball team.

Finkelmeier's supporting cast this season includes Taber, two junior college transfers and eight freshman. Only three of those players are taller than 6-foot-6.

So chances are that the Carmel Kid could see significant playing time under new coach Tom Crean. And wouldn't it be an awesome victory for all the walk-ons out there, all the overlooked, undersized guards, if Finkelmeier defied expectations and outplayed all those other high-profile guards who have been recruited since they could dunk as a sixth-grader.

For his part, Crean isn't too optimistic. "I think what we'll go through this winter with our youth and inexperience," he said. "It's going to be a very, very difficult experience for all of us, all of you and all Hoosiers fans."

Maybe so, but as a former walk-on who failed to make the Dartmouth basketball team, (yeah, that's bad,) I'll be rooting whole-heartedly for Finkelmeier and his team of unheeded Hoosiers.