IU is building a statue that honors a basketball player with a history of sexual assault

Tomorrow, the Indiana University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics will unveil five statues of some of IUBB's biggest names in Simon-Skjodt Assembly Hall. One of which is Isiah Thomas, a beloved basketball star who lost a sexual assault trial in 2007.

Thomas played for IU during the 1980-81 season and was drafted by the Detroit Pistons as a sophomore. He went on to win a NBA championship, and was named one of the 50 greatest players in history, among other accomplishments.

But does that mean IU should honor him?

"Most people definitely don't know about his sexual assault charge or they just ignore it," said IU senior Kelsey Prager. "He was a good basketball player but that doesn't mean IU should make a statue commemorating a sexual predator."

Out of the five statues being installed, only one of them plays tribute to a single player. The rest of them will honor IUBB team accomplishments, like Thomas' statue meant to represent tournament dominance.

Everett Dean

Hall of fame and Indiana's first All- American player, who then became a coach in 1926 and led the Hoosiers to its first Big Ten championship. He is now known as the father of Indiana basketball.

Branch McCracken and Bill Garrett

Branch Played on Indiana's 1928-1930 team and was named an All-American player in 1930. He went on to coach the Hoosiers in 1938. He was the first IU player to be inducted into the hall of fame because of his performance playing for IU.

Garret played on the 1949-51 team and was chosen as IU's most valuable player. He was the first African American player to play basketball in the Big Ten. He was inducted into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984 and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame 1974.

They teamed up and broke the Big Ten color barrier in basketball in 1947.

1975-76 national championship title run

One statue will include six players, starters, and seniors from Indiana's 1975-76 national championship team. The last major men's college team to have an undefeated season.

Steve Alford and Keith Smart

Alford was IU's 1983-87 team. Alford was one of the greatest shooters in IU's history. He led the team to win the 1987 national championship and he earned the team's first Big-Ten honors title.

Smart made the shot to win the 1987 championship with five seconds remaining. In 2017 he was inducted into the IU athletics hall of fame.

The public will be able to see the statues for the first time this Saturday to coincide with Hoosier Hysteria.