To know Al was to like him.
Remembering Some Hoosiers is a brand new series here at The Crimson Quarry. Have you ever gone out for a beer with the fellas, suddenly remembered an athlete who used to play for your team and shared memories with your buds? Same concept.
Aljami Durham, typically known as Al, originally committed to Indiana during Tom Crean’s tenure as head coach. A 3-star prospect out of Lilburn, Georgia, he opted to stay with the Hoosiers upon the hiring of Archie Miller. He spent four years in Bloomington before heading to Ed Cooley’s Providence as a graduate transfer.
Al is the perfect kind of guy to start this series with, because he played during a weird era for the program, but still had a career worthy of some crimson-tinted nostalgia.
One of the things that made Durham so likable was his willingness to leave it all on the court. From his first minutes as a freshman, it was clear that Al was going to get his, one way or another.
Every drive to the basket looked like he was trying to earn a starting spot, despite his starting nearly every game after his freshman season. He’d leave the ground with one single goal: scoring the basketball, no matter what it took.
That he was available for so many games – almost 90 starts as a Hoosier – felt slightly miraculous given the reckless abandon he played with. Whether it was a layup, loose ball, or chase down attempt, him hitting the floor hard was guaranteed to happen a few times per game.
Part of this surely was due to just how poor Indiana was as a 3-point shooting team under Miller, as teams could regularly pack the paint with three guys ready to meet Al at the rim. He was never deterred though, always trying to be the spark when the offense began to stall and sputter.
He did his part as a shooter, too. Durham was top three on the roster in 3-point percentage in his final three seasons at Indiana.
The adversity he faced at Indiana was not limited to on-court or coaching staff issues, either. Watching his Indiana highlights, some of his best games came in front of empty arenas during the season that was shortened by COVID-19.
Given how hard it is to separate Al from that, uh, tough time for Indiana hoops, it was hard to blame him when he transferred to Providence. In four years at Indiana, he had never played in an NCAA tournament game, so it was great to see him help lead Providence to a Sweet 16 in his final year of eligibility.
At the end of the day, the lack of team success he experienced at Indiana was not his fault, and he’s a great Hoosier to remember because of just how much he did to make those teams better.