As soon as rumors started to swirl regarding assistant coach Bruiser Flint potentially leaving Indiana, many jumped to the same conclusion.
It must relate back to that caught on camera moment involving Flint and head coach Archie Miller, right?
One thing is certain about that intense conversation in West Lafayette back in February.
People noticed.
“I’m sure a lot of people have viewed it,” Flint said earlier this week on ESPN Louisville radio.
Things seem to be going well on the @IndianaMBB bench… pic.twitter.com/pOE7KXhO57
— Nick Yeoman (@NYeoman) February 28, 2020
With Indiana down big to Purdue, it seemed easy to extrapolate that the moment had significance. Perhaps there was a fracture in the relationship between the head coach and his assistant?
But as many recognize, this kind of heated exchange is fairly common at the highest level of sports — it just happened to be caught on camera.
For Flint, it was much ado about nothing.
“It was not as bad as it looked,” Flint said. “I was a little demonstrative I think which made the situation you’re talking about something. That was it really.
“In the world today, those things blow up and people think they are something that they really aren’t.
Immediately after the television cameras captured the moment — it went viral. Cell phone recordings were posted to Twitter, and millions of views later, many wondered if there was an issue.
After the game, Miller and Flint caught wind of the fact that they were a hot topic on social media. And at that point there was really only one thing left to do.
“We got it a little bit of a laugh out of it really,” Flint said.
While the fiery back-and-forth was not significant, Flint still regrets that it happened.
A loyal assistant, he was disappointed that he had a hand in Miller looking bad on national television.
“I didn’t mean to put him in that situation, but it wasn’t as bad on the sideline as it looked on TV,” Flint said.
HIGH EXPECTATIONS FOR INDIANA IN 2020-21
Flint has of course now joined his good friend John Calipari as an assistant coach at Kentucky.
But he was with Miller and the IU program for three seasons, and he was involved for several months in the planning for the 2020-21 campaign.
Flint knows this IU roster well, and he was with the team for workouts in July. He saw something different in this year’s squad.
“I think they are going to be really good next year,” Flint said. “Returning a lot of good players. I think this summer because I actually had a chance to have workouts with the guys because this thing (taking a job at Kentucky) happened really late, I think the focus is going to be unbelievable. I look for some big things from the Hoosiers this year.”
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