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Top 20 Indiana basketball players of all-time

By Connor O’Keefe

Former Indiana Hoosiers head coach Bob Knight . (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
Former Indiana Hoosiers head coach Bob Knight . (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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Indiana Head Coach Mike Woodson shoots during Hoosier Hysteria /

Indiana basketball career stats: 19.8 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 50.5 FG%,104 GP

Mike Woodson, the current head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, never really had a down season when he played under Bob Knight. Unfortunately, Woodson only played 14 games in his senior season due to injury, but he could’ve been on his way to some all-time numbers.

Though Indiana basketball did not win a national title when Woodson was playing there, the success and foundation laid by him, Ray Tolbert, Randy Wittman, and freshman Isiah Thomas. Woodson had some pretty impressive NCAA Tournament games, averaging 19.2 points and 5.0 rebounds on 50.7 percent shooting from the field.

Despite a shortened senior season, Woodson ranks in the top 10 in plenty of statistical categories, cementing his legacy in Indiana basketball history:

  • Points: 2,061 (5th)
  • Points per game: 19.8 (5th)
  • Minutes played per game: 35.1 (4th)
  • Field goals made: 821 (3rd)
  • Field goal attempts: 1,626 (4th)
  • Free throw attempts: 537 (10th)
  • Points (single season): 714 (tied for 7th)
  • Minutes played (single season): 1,224 in 1978-79 (3rd)
  • Minutes played per game (single season): 36.0 in 1977-78 & 1978-79 (tied for 9th)
  • Field goals made (single season): 265 in 1978-79 (6th)
  • Field goal attempts (single season): 532 in 1978-79 (6th)
  • Free throws made (single season): 184 in 1978-79 (7th)
  • Free throw attempts (single season): 241 in 1978-79 (9th)
  • Steals (single season): 53 in 1978-79 (tied for 8th)
  • Steals per game (single season): 1.6 in 1978-79 (8th)

Woodson was then drafted 12th overall in the 1980 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks and averaged 14.0 points in his career playing for New York, New Jersey, Kansas City/Sacramento, Los Angeles (Clippers), Houston, and Cleveland. His post-playing career included assistant coaching for 13 seasons and becoming a head coach for Atlanta and New York for nine seasons. Before coming back home and becoming the head coach for the Indiana basketball program, Woodson was an assistant under Doc Rivers for the Clippers for four seasons and one season under Tom Thibodeau for the Knicks.

After looking at all of those statistics, how could anyone leave the 1980 Indiana University graduate off of the top 10 Indiana basketball players of all time?

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