Victor Oladipo will bring winning attitude -- and more -- to Pacers

By Pete DiPrimio

Victor Oladipo is coming home.

What does that mean for the Indiana Pacers?

What does that mean for Indiana University?

For one thing, the Pacers are going to have to pay a lot of money to keep him. That is, if you consider $21 million a year a lot of money.

For another, they’ll get to market his light-up-a-room smile and charm.

As for the Hoosiers, they’ll benefit from an example of what the best of IU athletics can mean.

The former All-America is a high-leaping human billboard for what a Hoosier can deliver. He works hard, does things the right way, and radiates class.

He also can leap over coaches in a single bound.

He’s a defensive beast with plenty of offense. He’s averaged 15.9 points over his four-year pro career. He’s passionate and relentless and totally interested in winning.

You can’t get enough of those guys.

Oladipo was a huge personality for the Hoosiers. He personified what can happen when you combine elite athleticism with elite work ethic. He went from a lightly regarded recruit out of the Washington D.C. area to national player of the year.

The 25-year-old Oladipo is a Pacer thanks to a trade that sent superstar Paul George to Oklahoma City. Thunder forward Domantas Sabonis also joins the Pacers.

Oladipo was at Oklahoma City last year where he played with eventual NBA MVP Russell Westbrook, a triple double machine in the electrifying image of Oscar Robertson. Before that, Oladipo was with the Orlando Magic, who drafted him No. 2 overall in 2013.

Last year, the 6-4 Oladipo had perhaps the best season of his pro career. He averaged 15.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists. He set career highs in overall shooting (44.2 percent) and three-point shooting (36.1 percent).

Beyond that, his offensive rating per 100 possessions was 109. He defensive rating was 106. Those also were career highs.

What do those offensive and defensive ratings actually mean?

Who knows?

Should you care?

Only if your idea of a hot night involves solving Rubric Cubes and answering quantum physics trivia questions.

Anyway, Oladipo is only 25 years old, which should mean his best years are ahead of him. And after making $21 million in his four seasons combined, he’s set to make $21 million next season, which reflects a four-year, $84 million contract that begins now.

This is the reward for all the hard work Oladipo puts in. It surfaced from the moment he arrived at IU with limited hype given he was considered the No. 144 overall player in his high school senior class of 2010. As shooting guards go, he was rated no better than No. 39.

As a Hoosier freshman, he averaged 7.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals. As a sophomore, he was at 10.9 points and 5.5 rebounds. More importantly, he was part of the program’s return-to-glory movement that delivered a monumental upset of Kentucky (can you say thank you, Christian Watford?) and a Sweet 16 berth.

As a junior Oladipo had a season for the ages. He was an offensive and defensive monster for the nation’s No. 1 team. He averaged 13.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 2.1 assists. He shot 44.1 percent from three-point age, amazing for a guy who arrived as a perimeter shooting disaster.

He won basically every award except Dancing With the Stars’ top honor, and he might have won that if he had participated.

He was so good, with such a huge NBA upside, that he had no choice but to pass on his final college season to enter the draft.

So now he is a mega-millionaire about to be even more mega. His task will be to help the Pacers return to title-contending form.

Let’s just say Oladipo and the Pacers have a ton of work to do in that area. They’ll also do it with Sabonis, a 6-11 forward who averaged 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds as an Oklahoma City rookie last season out of Gonzaga.

Meanwhile, the trade gives Oklahoma City a one-year shot to overtaking Golden State in the West. Combining Russell Westbrook with George is a formidable duo, but then, given the rise of the NBA super team, nothing is ever enough, especially when you consider NBA champ Golden State is in the West.

That’s a topic for another day. For now, consider Oladipo’s return to the state of Indiana as a VERY good thing, and that includes helping Hoosier coach Archie Miller on the recruiting trail. Every recruit has NBA dreams and there’s no better example than Victor Oladipo.

So now you know.