Player Profile
Alford quickly became the face of Indiana basketball and a fan favorite throughout the state. Dan Dakich, Alford's former teammate and later an interim Indiana coach, said of him, "Basically, he owns all of Indiana." Alford's wife Tanya said, "Everybody talks about his hair, his all-American image, how mothers would want him to marry their daughter. Everybody thinks he's so perfect. Well, that's a pretty accurate image. That's exactly what he is."
Alford embodied the "David versus Goliath" image of Indiana basketball popularized in the hit movie Hoosiers (released in 1986 while Alford was at Indiana). He was small for a major-college guard, slow without any compensatory quickness and strong only because he ate and flexed himself up to 185 pounds from 150 as a freshman. According to commentators, Alford owed his success to repetition and work. In his workouts he would pick a spot on the floor and take 10 shots. If he didn't make eight, he would punish himself with fingertip push-ups or wind sprints. At the end of his college career, Coach Knight said, "He's gotten more out of his abilities offensively than anybody I've seen play college basketball. He's about as good a scorer for being strictly a jump shooter as I've ever seen. He's scored more than 2,400 points that way, and that's incredible, considering he doesn't get any tip-ins, drives or dunks."
Alford is considered one of the best free throw shooters in the history of the game. Alford's free throw percentage of .897 (535-596) is fourth best in the history of the NCAA. His form at the foul line is so routine that it inspired a famous mantra from Indiana fans: "Socks, shorts, 1-2-3 swish". Before releasing a free throw, Alford told himself, "Soft over the front edge of the rim," and some people believed they could see his lips move.
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