Damon Bailey (born October 21, 1971) is an American former professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
player. He rose to national prominence after being recruited by
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
coach
Bob Knight
Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...
as an 8th grader, an unusual move at the time. Bailey went on to become Indiana's men's all-time high school leading scorer and would earn All-America honors playing for the
Indiana Hoosiers
The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...
. He became a cult figure during the late 1980s and early 1990s in Indiana.
Bailey was an assistant coach of the
Butler University's women's basketball team from 2014 to 2017.
Prep career
In early 1986, when Bailey was a 14-year-old eighth-grader, Indiana coach
Bob Knight
Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...
watched two games featuring Bailey's team. At the time, Knight and his
1985–86 team were being covered by author
John Feinstein for his book ''
A Season on the Brink'', which would later go on to be a national best-seller. After taking in the game, Knight remarked to his assistant coaches that "Damon Bailey is better than any guard we have right now. I don't mean potentially better, I mean better today."
Due to the national and statewide popularity of Feinstein's book, Bailey's legend took off.
Later that year, as Bailey was entering
Bedford North Lawrence High School (BNL) and Feinstein's book was being published, the acclaimed basketball movie ''
Hoosiers'' was released. Comparisons between the movie and Bailey's career were frequently made. He told ''Sports Illustrated'', "BNL had a lot in common with Hickory. Not because we're a small school. We're one of the biggest in the state. But we had nobody over 6'3", and no one thought we could win it."
In November 1986, as his freshman year of high school was beginning, ''Sports Illustrated'' tabbed him the country's best ninth-grade hoopster.
That freshman year he led BNL to the state Final Four, averaging over 23 points a game in the process.
His team's tournament run ended to two-time defending champion
Marion in the semifinals. Bailey scored 20 points in that game and BNL trailed 47–46 after three quarters, but he fouled out with 2:06 to go and the opposing team – led by Lyndon Jones and
Jay Edwards – prevailed 70–61 en route to their third straight state title.
Bailey was named First Team Indiana All-State that year, and every other year of his high school career.
The next season, with Bailey as a sophomore, BNL again qualified for the final four, this time facing
Muncie Central. Bailey totaled 25 points, 10 rebounds and four assists, but it was not enough as Muncie Central went on to post a 60–53 victory.
As a senior Bailey led his team to the 1990 Indiana state championship. Their opponent,
Concord High School, was undefeated and led by future University of Nebraska standout Jamar Johnson. Before a crowd of more than 41,000 people at the
Hoosier Dome in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
– the most people to ever attend a high school basketball game – Bailey scored 30 points, including his team's final 11, in a 63–60 come-from-behind win. Bailey told ''Sports Illustrated'', "The greatest thrill in winning was proving to people that we could. We didn't walk out on the floor and scare anybody. We just had a lot of heart."
Bailey finished his high school career having appeared in three state Final Fours and scoring a record 3,134 points, a record that would stand for 26 years until broken by
Jackie Young in 2016 with 3,268. He played in 110 varsity games and reached double figures in all of them, including a career high of 51 against Jeffersonville as a sophomore. He averaged 28.4 points per game over his four years. Bailey was named
Indiana Mr. Basketball, earned McDonald's All-American honors, and was tabbed the 1990 consensus
National Player of the Year.
Bailey elected to play college basketball for
Bob Knight
Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...
's
Indiana Hoosiers
The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...
. After winning the state championship, Bailey told reporters, "Now, I'm his boy."
College career
Bailey was a four-year starter for
Bob Knight
Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...
and the
Indiana Hoosiers
The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...
from 1990 to 1994. In Bailey's first three seasons (1990–93), he and the Hoosiers posted 87 victories, the most by any Big Ten team in a three-year span, breaking the mark of 86 set by Knight's Indiana teams of 1974–76. Teams from these three seasons spent all but two of the 53 poll weeks in the top 10, and 38 of them in the top 5. They captured two Big Ten crowns in 1990–91 and
1992–93, and during the
1991–92 season reached the
Final Four
In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...
. During the
1992–93 season, the 31–4 Hoosiers finished the season at the top of the
AP Poll, but were defeated by
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
in the
Elite Eight
In the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, NCAA men's Division I basketball championship or the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, NCAA women's Division I basketball championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight t ...
.
Teammates from this era included
Greg Graham, Pat Graham, All-American
Alan Henderson, and 1993 National Player of the Year
Calbert Cheaney. With such talented teammates around him, Bailey largely served as a role player, averaging 11.3 points per game his first three years. Nevertheless, Indiana's athletic offices got more requests for paraphernalia and autographs for Bailey than any of the team's other stars, including Cheaney.
In his senior season, 1993–94, with many of the team's previous stars having graduated, Bailey served as the team's leader. In a game on December 4, 1993, in the
Indiana–Kentucky rivalry
The Indiana–Kentucky rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the Indiana University Hoosiers and the University of Kentucky Wildcats. The rivalry between these two schools, located about apart, dates to their first college football ga ...
, UK was ranked number one in the nation, but Indiana upset the Wildcats. Bailey hit 16-of-19 free throws (record for a single game) to score 29 points.
Bailey's performance in the upset earned him a spot on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'', which has since become an iconic image among Indiana fans. The Hoosiers finished the season 21–9 overall, 12–6 in the Big Ten (3rd), and advanced to the
NCAA Sweet 16.
Bailey finished sixth on Indiana's all-time scoring list with 1,741 points. He averaged 13.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game for his career. He also garnered a third-team
All-American
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
award and a first-team All-
Big Ten
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...
award.
College statistics
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
1990–91
, style="text-align:left;",
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, 33 , , 14 , , 26.0 , , .506 , , .434 , , .692 , , 2.9 , , 2.9 , , 1.2 , , .3 , , 11.4
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
1991–92
, style="text-align:left;",
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, 34 , , 27 , , 27.1 , , .497 , , .471 , , .765 , , 3.6 , , 3.1 , , .8 , , .0 , , 12.4
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
1992–93
, style="text-align:left;",
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, 35 , , 24 , , 27.2 , , .459 , , .418 , , .728 , , 3.3 , , 4.1 , , .6 , , .2 , , 10.1
, -
, style="text-align:left;",
1993–94
, style="text-align:left;",
Indiana
Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, 30 , , 30 , , 33.9 , , .481 , , .423 , , .802 , , 4.3 , , 4.3 , , 1.5, , .2 , , 19.6
, - class="sortbottom"
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career
, 132 , , 95 , , 28.2 , , .485 , , .437 , , .754 , , 3.5 , , 3.6 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 13.2
Professional basketball career
Bailey was selected with the 44th overall pick in the
1994 NBA draft
The 1994 NBA draft took place on June 29, 1994, at Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. Two NBA rookies of the year were picked in the first round, as Jason Kidd and Grant Hill were co-winners of the award for the 1994–95 NBA season. Kidd and Hill ...
by his hometown team, the
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
. Bailey was cut after one season of being on the team's injured list, and a series of pre-season games the following year. Briefly in January 1999 he signed with the
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...
, but was soon let go. Bailey never played in an NBA regular-season game.
Bailey played in the
Continental Basketball Association
The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...
(CBA) with the
Fort Wayne Fury. He was selected to the All-CBA First Team in 1998, while ranking third in the league with 7.3 assists per game, and to the Second Team in 1999. He was named American Conference Player of the Week three times in his CBA career. On November 1, 2003, Bailey retired from professional basketball.
Life after pro basketball
He was later employed as the boys'
basketball coach
Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...
for his
alma mater
Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...
,
Bedford North Lawrence High School. The team finished 11–10 in Bailey's first coaching year. ''The Times-Mail'' in
Bedford, Indiana reported on March 1, 2007, that Bailey had resigned as coach of BNL after two seasons, he finished with a 23–19 overall record.
Bailey was the assistant coach of the BNL Lady Stars basketball team for four seasons, including the 2012–2013 Indiana high school state basketball championship winning team. Bailey was named the head coach of the Lady Stars in May 2013, replacing Kurt Godlevske, who left to be an assistant coach for the
Butler Bulldogs women's basketball team. As the head coach in the 2013–2014 season, Bailey led the Lady Stars to their second consecutive state title.
In May 2014, Godlevske was promoted to head coach for Butler's women's team, and Bailey again joined him as an assistant at Butler.
In April 2017, Bailey resigned as the
Butler Bulldogs women's basketball assistant coach after three seasons. Bailey stated that he was leaving coaching to focus on Hawkins Bailey Warehouse distribution company, a business in
Bedford, Indiana, of which he is a co-owner.
References
Further reading
*.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Damon
1971 births
Living people
All-American college men's basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in France
American men's basketball players
Basketball coaches from Indiana
Basketball players at the 1999 Pan American Games
Basketball players from Indiana
Butler Bulldogs women's basketball coaches
Élan Béarnais players
Fort Wayne Fury players
High school basketball coaches in Indiana
Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players
Indiana Pacers draft picks
McDonald's High School All-Americans
Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in basketball
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
People from Bedford, Indiana
Point guards
Bedford North Lawrence High School alumni
Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games
20th-century American sportsmen
United States men's national basketball team players