Crimson Guard (basketball)

The Crimson Guard is the student section supporting the Indiana Hoosiers. Despite not having a unified section of seats, the Crimson Guard is one of the largest student sections in the nation.

Until Tom Crean became the head coach of Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball, the Indiana University did not have an official student section. Despite IU's storied basketball program and its established tradition, IU was one of the last schools in the Big Ten to have an official student section.

In 2007, during two home games against Purdue and Iowa, tension rose between the current students and alumni when the "cross-armed" alumni remained seated during the games. Beau Dunffee, an IU student at the time, began a "Stand up old people" cheer, which eventually led to the revolt to get an official student section at Assembly Hall. Kelvin Sampson, the then-head coach, also expressed his wishes for a student section, claiming that a unified student section seated near the court would provide a greater advantage for the team. Dunfee argued that when it comes to student seating, it's quality over quantity. Even though there were 8,000 [scattered] seats reserved for students, not all of them were looked upon favorably. A 2007 ESPN poll said IU's students' spirit was 4th among all universities, which made the push for a student section all the more reasonable.

Gaining attraction and having the platform to do it, D.J. White made one request during his speech on senior night. He asked that IU have a "real" student section, such as Michigan State's Izzone or University of Illinois' Orange Krush. He stated, "I want to give a special shout out to our sixth man, the student section. When I come back to visit, when I come back to watch a game, I actually hope we have a real student section, which we really deserve."

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