Dick Moren isn’t in the Hoosiers’ starting lineup, but he might as well be.
The 88-year-old father of Teri Moren, the coach of the Indiana University women’s basketball team, he has two game-day outfits: one for home games, one for away games. He has routines before and after games that he follows religiously. His diet at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., has been on lock for nine seasons.
Now, Pops, as many members of the Indiana staff and team call him, is preparing for his biggest role yet: the No. 1 fan of a No. 1-seeded team that is trying to make its way to the Final Four.
“I couldn’t ask for more,” Dick Moren said over the phone, proudly sharing the team’s record entering the N.C.A.A. tournament: 27-3 overall and 16-2 in the Big Ten.
Since his daughter was hired at Indiana in 2014, Dick Moren has been a constant in the rotating cast of characters that make up college basketball. His relationship with his daughter and her team, his ever-present positivity and his dedication to all things Indiana basketball have made him a beloved face on the sideline.
On game days in Bloomington, he travels to campus from his home in Seymour, Ind., with Teri Moren and Leann Hutchinson, Teri’s older sister. The three must exit the same door on their way to the…
