Indiana Hoosiers
From Hoopedia
Indiana University is the principal campus of the Indiana University system. It is also known as "Indiana University Bloomington", IUB, or simply IU. It is located in Bloomington, Indiana. 38,000 students attend IU, of which 30,000 are undergraduates.
Indiana University's athletic teams are called the Hoosiers, and their colors are cream and crimson, though red and white have been used at times in the past.
The basketball teams play their home games on the Branch McCracken Court in Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.
Men's basketball
The tradition of college basketball excellence that reigns at Indiana University can only be matched by a handful of other elite programs, while the fierce devotion of IU basketball fans has been selling out arenas and inspiring generation after generation of Hoosier fans for over a century. The Hoosiers have been ranked in the top 10 nationally in attendance 30 seasons since 1972.
As of 2006, the school has won five championships in men's basketball (1940, 1953, 1976, 1981 and 1987), the first two under coach Branch McCracken and three under Bobby Knight. The Hoosiers' five NCAA Championships are the third-most in history. Their eight trips to the Final Four ranks seventh on the all-time list. The Hoosiers have made the trip to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament 32 times, fifth in NCAA history. In those 32 appearances Indiana has posted 52 victories, the sixth-most in NCAA history. To date, Indiana University is the last men's college basketball team to go undefeated, posting a 32-0 record in 1976. For key dates in Hoosiers history, go to the Hoosiers timeline.
Men's basketball at IUB grew phenomenally popular under Coach Knight, especially in 1975-76 when he led the team to an NCAA championship without a single defeat in the season (the last men's Division I squad to achieve this feat). His 1981 team was led to the title by Isiah Thomas, and his 1987 team by Steve Alford. The 1987 championship game was capped by Keith Smart's jumpshot with less than one minute to play over the Syracuse Orangemen. Knight's volatile temper, though, often brought as much controversy to the school as success, and eventually led to his dismissal in 2000 by then-University President Myles Brand. (See Knight's Hoopedia entry for more details).
Students and alumni protested the Knight firing, and several players threatened to transfer unless Knight assistant Mike Davis was chosen to replace Knight; Davis ultimately got the job and took the team to the 2002 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship title game. After initial success, Davis struggled and was given an ultimatum to improve his team in the 2005-06 season or be fired. On February 15, 2006, Davis announced he would resign but remain with the team for the rest of the 2006 season.
On March 28, 2006, Kelvin Sampson, formerly a coach at the University of Oklahoma, was named the successor. He was forced to resign over NCAA allegations of major rules violations on February 22, 2008.
Women's Basketball
Indiana women's basketball began in 1975. In the previous 28 seasons, IU has compiled a record of 227-101 for an average of 8.1 wins to 3.6 losses a year and an overall winning percentage of .692. The women's team has entered the NCAA tournament three times.
