Hoosier hysteria refers to the excitement surrounding basketball in the U.S. state of Indiana. [1] [2] This excitement generally revolves around the Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament, the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team of Indiana University (IU), the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Indiana's passion for basketball was observed and written about by basketball's inventor, James Naismith. In 1925, Naismith visited an Indiana basketball state finals game along with 15,000 screaming fans. He later wrote that while it was invented in Massachusetts, "basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport". In the 1954 Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament, underdog Milan, with just an enrollment size of 161 students, defeated the heavily favored Muncie Central to win the state title. The 1986 David Anspaugh film Hoosiers , starring Gene Hackman, is loosely based on the 1954 tournament.
Since the late 20th century, numerous basketball stars have generated excitement and fan generation in Indiana. One of these players, Larry Bird, became one of the most marketed and popular Indiana athletes in history due to his play for the Indiana State Sycamores from 1976 to 1979, and for his head coaching tenure for the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. Players such as Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose became popular during Bird's tenure as head coach of the Pacers. In the 21st century, athletes such as Caitlin Clark, Paul George and Tyrese Haliburton have generated similar excitement to a lesser degree. The Caitlin Clark effect has particularly generated excitement around the Indiana Fever of the WNBA.
Indiana high schools boast a tradition of producing top caliber basketball players. Through the 2009-2010 NBA season, 152 Hoosier athletes have played professional basketball in the world's top league. Considering the size of the state (population 6.4 million), [3] this makes Indiana high schools by far the most successful at developing NBA players per capita. [4] Today there are 22 Hoosiers in the NBA - more than one for every 150,000 male residents. In 2017, Indiana natives won the NBA and D-league Dunk Contests, NBA and D-league 3-point contests, and won runner-up in the NBA Skills Challenge.
Historically, each of the several hundred small towns of Indiana had its own small school system. Before consolidation of many of these rural school districts in the last half of the twentieth century, Indiana high schools had fewer students than those of most other states; basketball was a natural game for these schools since it only required five starters and a few reserves and even a few great players could make a strong team.
The Franklin Wonder Five, led by Fuzzy Vandivier, was the first team to win the state championship in three consecutive years, from 1920 to 1922. This accomplishment would not be matched for over six decades.
After Milan's Miracle in the 1950s, no school with an enrollment of less than 500 won another boys' State title under the all-comers format. As school consolidation became more common and as more rural residents migrated to cities making large high schools grow even larger, smaller high schools had only a mismatch to look forward to come tournament time, as success concentrated in Indiana's large urban and suburban schools. Starting with the 1997–1998 season, Indiana established a controversial four-class system for its basketball championship, although many other sports remain single-class. The state's move to this new system has, to some extent, diminished the phenomenon and public opinion is widely split on the merits of "class basketball."
Aside from the "Milan Miracle," the story of Crispus Attucks High School ranks as one of the greatest in Indiana high school basketball tradition. In 1955, the year after Attucks had lost in the semistate final (state quarterfinals) to Milan's championship team, Attucks gained fame by winning the Indiana state championship, becoming the first all-black school in the nation to win a state title open to all schools regardless of race. Crispus Attucks repeated as champions in 1956, becoming the first Indiana high school team to complete a season undefeated. The Attucks teams of 1954 through 1956 were led by Oscar Robertson. Both stories, Milan and Crispus Attucks, are memorialized for their accomplishments and tradition at the Indiana State Museum as well as at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle.
A highlight of the single-class tournament was the 1990 State Championship game, in which the paid attendance was over 40,000 fans. This phenomenal turnout of fans who witnessed Damon Bailey's Bedford-North Lawrence Stars win the State Championship stands as the largest crowd ever to witness a high school basketball game.
After the 1997 season (when Bloomington North won the final single-class State Championship), the IHSAA controversially did away with the single-class system, ending the run of single-class champions in Indiana. Some argue Hoosier Hysteria was diminished as a result. In 2003, DeKalb High School (1200 students) nearly defeated Pike High School (3000 students). The Indiana tournament is still the most attended in the nation, with final four games for the two larger divisions regularly selling out Gainbridge Fieldhouse (formerly Conseco Fieldhouse and Bankers Life Fieldhouse).
Indiana also possesses a disproportionate share of the country's largest high school basketball gymnasiums, including nine of the ten largest high school gyms in the country [5] and eighteen of the top twenty. Seventeen venues in Indiana today have a capacity of over 6,000, the largest being the New Castle Fieldhouse, seating 9,325. [6]
Hoosier hysteria may have its roots firmly planted in the high school game, but the college tradition brings its own depth to Indiana's passion. In NCAA Division I basketball, Indiana's colleges and universities have a storied past. Big Ten rivals Purdue University and Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame are the most notable, with national and conference championships to boast. Smaller schools such as Indiana State University, Ball State University, Butler University, the University of Evansville, IUPUI, Purdue Fort Wayne, the University of Southern Indiana, and Valparaiso University add to the mix. Vincennes University boasts an outstanding national tradition in the junior college ranks. And in Division II St. Joseph's and the University of Indianapolis have added their own successes to the legend of Indiana basketball. Wabash College won the Men's Division III NCAA Championship in 1982 and their 1905 24–0 team was considered World Champions; DePauw University and Manchester College were Div III National Finalists. It is safe to say that the terms "Final Four" and "March Madness" have grown out of the tradition of Hoosier hysteria.
The Ball State Cardinals have won several conference championships and earned a number of NCAA Tournament berths over the years, including:
Indiana's collegiate basketball squad, the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team has several championships to their credit:
The Hoosiers' five NCAA Championships are the fifth in history, tied with Duke, and trailing UCLA (11) Kentucky (8) North Carolina (6) and Connecticut (6). Their eight trips to the Final Four ranks eighth on the all-time list. The Hoosiers have made 41 appearances in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament (sixth-most in NCAA history). In those 41 appearances, Indiana has posted 68 victories, the eighth-most in NCAA history.
With their only men's national championship coming in the days before the NCAA Tournament, the Purdue Boilermakers have a basketball history:
The Boilermaker women have one National Championship (1999), one national runner-up finish (2001 to Notre Dame), seven Big Ten Championships, and have won nine of the 25 women's Big Ten tournaments.
The Indianapolis Greyhounds, representing the University of Indianapolis (UIndy), have a storied basketball history. The Greyhounds were led by UIndy Hall of Famer Angus Nicoson throughout the 1950s and 60s, and Nicoson's teams won 8 Hoosier Conference Championships. More recent success has seen the Hounds ranked No. 1 in the country in Division II basketball in 2014, led by former USI standout, Stan Gouard.
They are members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the top Division II conference in the nation.
The Vincennes University men's basketball program is the 4th winningest junior college program in the country, with 1,470 victories. The Trailblazers trail Southeastern Iowa Community College (1,519), Moberly, Mo., (1,505) and Hutchinson, Kan., with 1,490. The Trailblazers' 4 National Titles place them tied with Moberly Area Community College and San Jacinto College - Central, which each have four titles. The Vincennes program began in 1903, however, no teams were formed from 1910 to 1912 and 1931–1950.
The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team that plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team is based in the state's capital and largest city, Indianapolis, located in the center of the state. The Indiana Fever of the WNBA, also owned by Melvin & Herb Simon, are the Pacers' sister team and also play in the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The Indiana Fever is a professional women's basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The team competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Their home arena is Gainbridge Fieldhouse located downtown. The Indiana Fever is the sister team of the NBA's Indiana Pacers, sharing ownership and administrative resources. Since drafting Caitlin Clark, they have sold a record breaking amount of tickets for a WNBA team. Lower level tickets for a single game have sold for as much as $4,000.
At the conclusion of the regular Big Ten season, a tournament is held to determine the conference winner, who receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Indianapolis has hosted all but one of the women's tournaments since its inception in 1995, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse has hosted every tournament since 2002, as well as the 2000 edition. The Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament began a five-year stint at the then Conseco Fieldhouse in 2008.
Indianapolis, headquarters of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and often referred to as the "Amateur Sports Capital of the World" has hosted a number of collegiate basketball events. Aside from the multitude of regional games held during the NCAA tournament, Indianapolis is tied with New York City for having hosted the second most NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships (1980, 1991, 1997, 2000, 2006, 2010, 2015, and 2021). [13] The city will host the men's Final Four next in 2026 and 2029. [14] Previous events were held in the Market Square Arena or the RCA Dome, but given the new stadium built for the Indianapolis Colts, Lucas Oil Stadium began hosting Final Four events in 2010. When the NCAA Headquarters relocated to Indianapolis, it was stated that Indianapolis would then host the men's Final Four once every five years.
In 2002, Indianapolis hosted the FIBA World Championship (now known as the FIBA Basketball World Cup), an event that takes place on even years opposite the Olympic Games. Since inaugural event in 1950, Indianapolis is the only city in the United States to have hosted the event.
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Here follows a list of notable Indiana natives, as well as non-natives who were raised in the state, who have achieved success in basketball.
Non-natives (i.e., those who did not arrive in Indiana before college) who gained basketball fame in Indiana's tradition include:
Basketball in Indiana is an obsession with far-flung psychological and social effects. Look, for example, what happens in Muncie.