Dan Dakich Biography
Dan Dakich is a basketball sportscaster, radio show host, former coach, and former basketball player born in Gary, Indiana. Dakich attended Andrean High School in Merrillville, Indiana, then played for Indiana University. He played the guard position for the Hoosiers for four seasons between 1981 and 1985. He was recruited by and played under Bob Knight. The 6’5” guard was team captain of the Hoosiers in 1983-84 and 1984-85, his junior and senior seasons. As a player, Dakich helped IU win a Big Ten title, make three NCAA Tournaments, and finish second in the 1985 NIT.
He gained notoriety for his stifling defense against basketball legend Michael Jordan in IU’s upset victory over North Carolina in the 1984 NCAA Tournament. Dakich served on Knight’s staff for 13 years after graduating IU, first as a graduate assistant from 1985-1987, then as a full-time assistant from 1987-1997. Dakich served as the head coach at Bowling Green from 1997-2007, accumulating 156 wins and recording two NIT appearances.
Dakich became Director of Basketball Operations at IU in June 2007, and was announced as the interim head coach in February 2008, after an investigation into basketball recruiting violations drove head coach Kelvin Sampson to resign. Dakich began hosting The Dan Dakich Show in September 2008 on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis, and joined ESPN as a college basketball analyst in 2010. In 2006, Dakich was named to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame High School Silver Anniversary Team, as one of 16 high school players who had graduated 25 years earlier.
- Name: Daniel John Dakich
- Position: Point Guard / Shooting Guard
- Nationality: USA
- Age: 62 years old
- Birthday: August 17, 1962
- Born: Gary, Indiana
- High School: Andrean High School (Merrillville, Indiana)
- Height: 6’5″ (190 cm)
- Seasons: 4 (1981-1982, 1982-1983, 1983-1984, 1984-1985)
- Jersey: #11
- Education: Telecommunication
- Current Profession: Radio Talk Show Host, College Basketball Analyst
Social Media
- Twitter: @dandakich
- Instagram: @ddakich
- YouTube: 1075 The Fan – The Dan Dakich Show
Awards and Accolades
- 1983: Big Ten Champion
- 1982-1984: NCAA Tournament Appearance
- 1984: Elite Eight Appearance
- 1983: All-Tournament team, Indiana Classic
- 1984: All-Tournament team, Hoosier Classic
- 2006: Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame High School Silver Anniversary Team
- 2016, 2018: Barrett Sports Media #1 Mid Market Midday Radio Show
Dan Dakich’s High School Career
Growing up in Northwest Indiana, popularly known as “The Region”, Dakich attended Andrean High School in Merrillville and played for coach Dan Rogovich. During his time as a 59er, Dakich led his team to the state semifinals at Market Square Arena in 1980, and to the semistate finals in 1981. At Andrean, Dakich played with two other Division I players: Ray Gough, who attended Eastern Illinois, and James Bullock, who went to Purdue. Furthermore, Dakich once scored 49 points in a single game (at Lowell), which, to this day, despite the advent of the three-point line, is still the most points ever scored by an Andrean player on a single night.
Dakich graduated from Andrean in 1981. Dakich, who also was adept at playing baseball, has been named to the Andrean Athletics Hall of Fame. He also conducted a basketball camp at the high school for over twenty years. Last spring, Dakich was the keynote speaker at a ceremony that recognized the 2018-2019 Andrean boys’ basketball team as 2019 IHSAA Class 2A State Champions.
Dan Dakich’s Seasons with the Hoosiers
19-10 (12-6 Big Ten)
🏅 NCAA Second Round
24-6 (13-5 Big Ten)
🏅 NCAA Sweet Sixteen
22-9 (13-5 Big Ten)
🏅 NCAA Elite Eight
19-14 (7-11 Big Ten)
🥈 NIT Runner Up
Indiana University Career Statistics
Season | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | FT | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1981-1982 | 29 | 10 | 406 | 35 | 68 | 0.515 | 18 | 27 | 0.667 | 54 | 60 | 19 | 1 | 38 | 46 | 88 |
1982-1983 | 17 | 1 | 102 | 8 | 22 | 0.364 | 12 | 19 | 0.632 | 18 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 15 | 11 | 28 |
1983-1984 | 24 | 7 | 336 | 30 | 55 | 0.545 | 33 | 53 | 0.623 | 28 | 49 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 47 | 93 |
1984-1985 | 28 | 11 | 448 | 61 | 114 | 0.535 | 25 | 34 | 0.735 | 56 | 76 | 14 | 0 | 26 | 39 | 147 |
Total | 98 | 29 | 1292 | 134 | 10 | 2 | 88 | 133 | 0.662 | 156 | 196 | 45 | 2 | 99 | 143 | 356 |
Dan Dakich’s Indiana Basketball Career as a Player
Dan Dakich came to Indiana University in 1981 along with four other freshmen including Winston Morgan, Uwe Blab, John Flowers, and Rick Rowray. Besides Uwe Blab, who joined the Indiana Basketball program from Munich, Germany, the entire freshmen class was composed of players from the state of Indiana. Right away, Dan Dakich got a taste of the NCAA post-season with the Hoosiers receiving a berth to the 1982 NCAA Tournament. Indiana finished 18-9 in the regular season and 12-6 in the Big Ten.
In the first round of the 1982 NCAA Tournament, the fifth seeded Hoosiers played in the Mideast regional and they were matched up against No. 12 Robert Morris. Indiana handled business effectively with a 94-62 victory over Robert Morris in Nashville’s Memorial Gymnasium (home of the Vanderbilt Commodores). Indiana would not see similar success as the season ended the very next game against a fourth-seeded University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Dakich’s sophomore year was highlighted with more success as the Hoosiers won the 1983 Big Ten title outright with a final conference record of 13 and 5. Indiana was undefeated against non-conference opponents in the regular season during the 1982-1983 season. As the number two seed in the Mideast Regional once again, the Hoosiers had a similar fate of winning against seventh-seeded Oklahoma but then losing to the rival Kentucky Wildcats in the Sweet Sixteen.