1986 Kansas City, Mo. Sixth grade. Basketball was everything. So I signed up for the team at my humble little Catholic School. We were all poor inner city kids. Also known as the absolute worst in all our three sports for decades. A complete embarrassment of the city. As the season started, after two practices the coach just didnt even show up. We were that bad. Now hear me out.... It gets good. My single father asked me "How was practice?" So I told him that there wasn't even a coach and we all just basically played around and got into fist-to-cuffs. From that moment on he just took over. Didn't ask the school's permission. He just became our coach. Try that today and you get arrested. He was a very busy man struggling to raise two kids who lost their mom to a random killer and also run a fledgling business. He was beyond stressed. But he knew basketball. And he cared. There was only one other teammate who had a father in his life. So my Dad became everyone's Dad... for one magical season. He would break into the college across the street and train the forwards and the center at their position. He actually broke in to the building. He put and end to all squabbles and barked at us for not passing correctly, not paying attention and not caring about the team. My mates hated it at first but they yearned for a father's influence and quickly got on board. He taught us plays, game plan and most importantly, ethics. We won our first game. WOW. We had a taste of victory and we wanted more. No one missed practice after that. Basketball became our world. The season progressed and we kept winning. The worst school and the most messed up kids had suddenly gotten a reputation amongst the other schools. We were for the first time in our lives FEARED. I remember a time that dad took us all out for pizza, soda and video games. It cost him just over a hundred dollars. That was big money back then. Especially in the neighborhood we all came from. We were a real team. Basketball warriors. Towards the end of the season he took us all to go see this new movie called Hoosiers. The impact it made on us little impressionable boys was nothing less than life altering. We came out of that theatre with pure determination. Greatness was possible. We became a family and went on to win second place in the city tournament. Not too shabby for our band of Misfits. At least three hundred people showed up for our last game. The atmosphere was electric. The whole school gave us a special ceremony at lunch. Every boy received a trophy. None of us had ever had much to be proud of. That trophy gleamed on each of our dressers every night for years to come. So, thank you Dad. Thank you Hoosiers team, and thank you Saint Francis Xavier grade school for giving us all an opportunity to become young men. We did it. A boy can't ask for much more than that. Jim Naismith deserves endless credit.

Their home gym was in my hometown, Knightstown, Indiana, and was the gym we used for P.E. class in elementary school. Most things in the gym are just like we had it for school. The major things they changed were the paint scheme on the floor and the old style scoreboard. We got out of school for a few days to be extras in the crowd. You can now visit the gym as a tourist destination. This movie will always be a favorite for me!

Did not know they originally intended for Shooter to be at the Championship game. So glad Hopper convinced them that it would be better to have him listening on the radio at the hospital. It's one of the best scenes in the movie, and he does it with such convincing emotion.

Hoosiers earned two Academy Award nominations - Dennis Hopper for Best Supporting Actor and Jerry Goldsmith for Best Original Score. Goldsmith, well-known as one of the most talented, prolific and creative composers of the 20th century, was one of the masters at integrating classical orchestral music with synthesizer and unusual instruments. Hoosiers was no exception. The idea of using synthesizers in a film that took place in the 1950's would have been unheard of in the hands of a mediocre composer, but, as usual, he pulled out an effective and highly emotionally charged score.

I was a crowd extra in this film when I was eleven. It was a great experience, and I'm still glad that I did it. Awesome film.

I always thought the shot Jimmy missed when coach finished talking to him was part of the script.

Another cool fact about Hoosiers: I was in the ARMY with Brad Boyle. When I first met him in 1995 other soldiers would walk up to him and say "I ain't no gizzard". Not knowing that he played in the movie, I felt uncomfortable and had to ask him "what was that all about?". At first he said "nothing", but eventually he confessed to the fact that he was in Hoosiers and even let me know how he was selected. He said that at the time of auditions, he had just finished Basic and AIT (as a National Guardsman) and when he returned home he still had his military style haircut, which the director loved. Brad was a good player and that helped a little also. And the rest is history! He says that he gets a little royalty check every now and then, "but not much".

My son and I went to visit as many filming locations from Hoosiers in June of 2019. My son just graduated high school and he and I love the movie. The main gym is a tourist attraction in Knightstown, IN. One of the playoff games’ gym is at Saint Phillip Neri School, in Indianapolis. This gym has not been preserved well. Butler field house, where the state championship was filmed, is exceptional, and the Cafe was in New Richmond, Indiana. Another playoff gym is in Lebanon, Indiana. That gym is part of a senior living facility. The old Hugh school has been converted, and other living corridors have been constructed. If it had not for the head maintenance man, we would not had been able to play on it. This gentleman, and everyone we met in Indiana, were unbelievably kind and welcoming to their Texas visitors. It was so cool to visit those sites.

The greatest sports movie ever. Gene Hackman is one of my favorite actors.

The first time I saw Hoosiers was at a new supervisor training seminar for the Martin-Brower Company in 1991. Our mentor used the movie to show the different phases of management. An example is when Gene gets himself ejected to allow Dennis to be the coach. Showing confidence in your subordinate and letting them step ip and lead is a powerful tool of leadership. I remember the lessons and use them today.

Great video. I was there for the four days they filmed the final game. In fact, you can see me walking behind the huddle during the first time out. I also ran out on the court to celebrate the winning shot. I can verify they told us all to rush the court no matter what, but he did nail the shot the first try. That was a lot of fun that night

Personal opinion, the greatest sports movie of all time.

I've lived in Danville, Indiana most of my life. During the brief period when I didn't, I'd put this movie on whenever I felt homesick because it captured the feeling of home so well. It looked like it could have been shot in my backyard. It wasn't until later after I came back, I learned that several locations used in the movie are just minutes from my house and that I knew or had some sort of connection to the people who owned some of those spots. Definitely makes this film all the more special to me.

Your description of the final shot was absolutely correct. I covered the filming at the Hinkle Field House for a feature on "Entertainment Tonight." My camera crew and I were on the opposite side of the court, facing the benches. The fans were induced to come to the filming with a couple of other high school games played beforehand. The "fans" received 50s clothing from wardrobe racks as they entered the Field House. (You might see some designer jeans in the court storming following the final winning shot. :) ) As for Maris Valainis's butterflies, you got that right, too. He couldn't "draw iron" in rehearsal. Everything was a brick. By then, the "fans" were getting antsy, having sat through two basketball games, plus the filming. It was nearing midnight when the director told everyone: "If he misses it, he makes it!" A closeup of the ball going through the basket would be edited in. But you could tell the director and crew were very apprehensive as faking a made shot wouldn't have the emotion of actually hitting one. As the cameras rolled - and it was one take from the time out to the winning shot - Maris pulled up, fired his jumper - and caught nothing but net! Place went crazy! Fans flooded the court as much in relief as in ecstasy. For an instant, I thought about joining the celebration. Only one problem - A videotape camera would have screwed up the whole sequence! Luckily, my cameraman was more composed than I and we stayed put. It was an incredible moment to remember. - Mike Leiderman

As I sit here watching this video in my Jimmy Chitwood #15 jersey I reflect on my watching of the movie on VHS. I burned through 3 VHS tapes (over a 1000 viewings) during a 3 year time span. Many times watching with my four sons and wife. I am sure glad I know have the two-set DVD (my sons keep trying to take it home with them). For my 60th birthday my sons took me to Knightstown. They were having a BB awards banquet, but were just finishing up. The man overseeing the facility took me on an individual tour in the facility and locker room. He allowed me to have a basketball after the banquet ended and I had the opportunity to shoot hoops with two of my sons and three of my grandsons. What an experience to share with my family over the years. My birthday comes every four years (Feb 29th). Maybe I will head back to the Gym again to shoot some hoops. Hickory!!!

A little related trivia- The even smaller town of Wingate Indiana won 2 state championships, including eliminating Milan. Wingate High school had no gym, so much of their practices were outside or in a basement. Coincidentally, Wingate played their home games at a nearby school in New Richmond which was the filming location for Hickory.

The NCAA actually fined amateur players for acting in a movie as basketball players? What a goddam set of balls they have!

Actually if you are a fan of this great film, these are 15 facts that you need to know.

I am real Hoosier. This storied basketball team was before my time but basketball was king when I was in school. When I saw this movie, I cried like a baby. So many memories came flooding back. I actually seen high school basketball played in a couple of the gyms in the movie. The excitement, sights and sounds came flooding back. I know of other Hoosiers my age and older who had the same reaction. Imagine grown men sobbing during a movie. It happened. The movie was well done. It captured the spirit of Indiana basketball during that time. Well done. BTW, Gene Hackman was a much better choice than Jack Nickelson. He captured the essence of Indiana men during that time. Dennis Hopper was great. He captured the excitement we all felt during those games.

I grew up directly west of Indiana, in west central Illinois, in a small town just like in the movie. The high school was exactly the same type of building, the gym, was small like that, but the stage was on one side and the crowd all sat on one side. When I was young, I played in many gyms just like you see in the movie. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. It really captured what living in a small midwestern farming town, where local boys become legends, and everyone backs the team. Those gyms were full back then. Great movie. Great times. Great memories!

The opening scenes with Hackman driving were shot along Indiana State Road 52 between Indianapolis and Lafayette. My grandparents were married in the old church he passes.

Great video dude. Anyone with kids playing sports needs to watch this movie with them, so many great messages were delivered: accountability, respect, teamwork, and never giving up.

When Hackman came to my hometown of Dayton, Ohio to plug his Civil War book at The Greene bookstore a few years ago, the lines for his autograph were a mile long. I didn't care about his book or getting his signature. Some friends and I were filming our own reimagined version of Hoosiers, starring John Staley as "Gizzard" and Joe Staley as "Jimmy Chitwood". I couldn't cut the autograph line as it would take hours. I saw an elevator on the floor the CW lecture was to be held. That's it! He's going to come up quietly the back way. I stalked the elevator for 15 minutes and suddenly, out pops Hackman accompanied by two highway patrol troopers. I got his attention with my little flip video camera and yelled out, "You take the last shot, Jimmy!" He looks over at at me, smirks a bit like "Who is this fool?" winks and keeps right on moving. We got the footage we needed...

In case it hasn't already been mentioned, the game winning shot was designed to mirror the same game winner from Milan's 1954 championship game. I know they didn't want this to be a retelling of the true story so it was nice to see a couple of easter eggs thrown in as a tribute. The movie saved the Knightstown, IN gym used as Hickory's home court. The attention from the movie pumped a lot of money into renovating the building and it is now used several times through the season, usually hosting 3 or 4 games on a given day to give high school teams an opportunity to play a real game there.

You are wrong, I did need to know some of those things! Thanks for sharing. My all time favorite movie!

I’ve seen this movie a dozen times and never knew any of this. What a great video to stumble upon. Ain’t UKposts great. Thanks.

I was a latecomer to the party...I had never watched it until a couple of years ago. Now, I watch it whenever I`m in need of an attitude adjustment, lol, a VERY uplifting and inspiring movie!!! Thanks for the vidieo!

I am a Hoosier born in 1950, only four years old when Milan won the State Championship, and I have known of the Milan championship for as long as I can remember. If you want to know what small town life was like in rural Indiana in the 1950s watch this movie. It was no fluke that Milan won the championship in '54, they had advanced to the final 4 of the tournament the year before when they lost in the afternoon game. Three of the five starters for Milan were from the town of Pierceville located about 3 miles west of MIlan. Pierceville would probably have had a population of about 100 people at the time (my guess). The town of Milan had a population of 1150 in 1954 but when they won the championship more than 40,000 showed up for the victory celebrtion. People lined the roads for many miles when the team returned to Milan after the game. At least 3 of the Milan players went on to play college ball at the division 1 level. Two played under Tony Hinkle at Butler University, where the state championship game was played, both in 1954 and in the movie. There is a museum in Milan dedicated to the 1954 team. A must see if you are a basketball fan and in the area. ( Milan is one hour due west of Cincinnati.) On their way to the state championship Milan defeated Indianapolis's Crispus Attucks in a semi final game. Attucks had a sophomore on that team named Oscar Robertson. Attucks won the state title the following two years, 1955 and 1956. Oscar and Bobby Plump, the player that made the winning basket for MIlan, had/have a charity that they work on together. There is a signed basketball in the museum from Oscar to Bobby.

I sure wish they didn't cut an hour out of this movie when it was edited. This movie is so good that an hour longer would be welcome.

I somehow talked my dad into a weekend road trip where we would visit St. Louis and Chicago from my hometown in northern Indiana. When we stopped for the night, it wasn't at the hotel I had wanted, a Holiday Inn with a pool and everything (which we found the next day was at the next exit) but this hotel did have a movie theater nearby, and it was showing Hoosiers. I had already seen it once, and I told my dad we had to go see it together. And we did. My dad grew up in a small northern Indiana town called Argos, and the team had an unbelievable regular season run where they won 76 games in a row. He had season tickets during that run, and so did I, even though we lived 10 miles up the road in Plymouth at the time. They made it to state, still under the one class system, in 1979, losing to Anderson in the semifinals. So I knew he would like the movie. It's just one of those childhood memories I'll never forget.

Tom Carnegie, who played the P.A. announcer in the championship game, called the State Championship games on WFBM-TV channel 6 here in Indianapolis for years. His color commentator was Tony Hinkle, who was the coach of the Butler Bulldogs, and whose name was bestowed on the then Butler Fieldhouse in 1966, thus becoming Hinkle Fieldhouse. Carnegie became the sports director for then WFBM in 1953 which was the same year WFBM started televising the tournament. I'm pretty sure that he also called the 1954 Milan-Muncie Central game which would have included Bobby Plump's (Jimmy Chitwood's) game winning shot. I cannot personally verify that as my family didn't have a television set til 1956 when I was just 5 years old. Tom Carnegie was also the P.A. announcer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from 1949 til his retirement in 2006. His most famous pronouncements being "he-e-e-e's on it!" and "It's a ne-e-e-w tra-a-a-ack record!".

I went to high school with one of the basketball players, he played whit. He now is a physician’s assistant at my doctor’s office.

Thank you for doing this! I am a Hoosiers fan. I love the opening scene, especially the music, and the scene where Hackman is abou to walk out onto the courts and says "Welcome to Indiana basketball. I knew some of what you brought up, but not all of it. The scene where Joey Chitwood (Maris) was always one I could relate to, having played hours on a dirt court where the ball barely bounced because it was 40 degrees and raining. It was incerdible, watching him nail shot after shot, only to miss as Hackman walks away. These were very special moments that only a farm kid from Indiana could understand. In my opinion, this was the best sports movie of all time that was based in reality.

Jack Is a great actor but he would not have been as good as Gene In this movie. Plus , Hopper should have won the Academy Award.JMHO

Terhune 5 in the scene with Dennis Hopper when he comes on court drunk is Jim Rayl Jr. His dad Jimmy Rayl was an All American at IU and also played for the Indiana Pacers. Jim Rayl Jr was also one of the players suspended by the NCAA. He played for IPFW.

I'm glad you explained that about Buddy. It drove me crazy because in the final cut, the team starts off with 7 players, two leave, then 1 comes back, then Jimmy comes on, leaving 7. But there were 8 players on the team in the end! I figured it was just a cut scene that showed Buddy coming back on but it's nice you provided that confirmation. That said, they should have found a way to mention Buddy was back on the team.

Hey Jeff, really great stuff here. I'm a fan of the movie, have seen it several times, and knew quite a lot about it, incl. Hackman's critique while shooting. But you brought some really great info here and presented terrifically. I look forward to more of your vids. :-)

20 yrs ago when I was coaching my son's 9 and 10 yr old little league team, as we huddled before the championship game (which we came from behind and won), I got to end my little pep talk with a line from this movie... "I love you guys."

Compared to the things we "didn't know" videos, this one actually had all new information that I found very interesting. Well done!

Whenever Hoosiers is televised I watch it. Hoosiers, along with Rudy are my must watch movies. Both endings always elicit a few tears from my old eyes. My dad, who was a teacher and basketball coach at Worthington High School in Worthington Ohio, remembered the game and the coach back when it all happened. I appreciate your video Jeff and yes it answered a lot of questions I had about it.

Best basketball movie.... I always go back to this movie every year when I begin coaching my basketball squad especially in the playoffs... I started coaching a basketball team that never made the playoffs and had to "build them back up" like the movie....which led to an undefeated season all the way to the championship game....This movie is inspiring... I had my kids on the team watch the movie and everyone wanted to be like "Jimmy" and play hard like Hickory.

Best sports movie I've ever seen

That was a great video. Lots of facts in there I didn't know. Really enjoyed it, well done!

I am a Butler grad few tidbits about venue for final game. Butler held back a year from renevetting Hinkle Fieldhouse. Butler moves from a paler shade of blue to Navy Blue right after the game. Also the according to a friend that was at filming the crowd was moved regularly to give appearance of a packed stadium. Most of the shots were taken from eastern side of Hinkle, to minimize the need to move the crowd.

Really enjoyed the video. One piece of trivia you left out: Although not appearing in the movie, a member of the 1954 Miland team became a professional actor: William Jordan, who starred in the TV series Project: UFO, and portrayed a character based on Norman Schwartkoft in the TV movie Friendly Fire, and John F. Kennedy opposite Paul Witfield in the mini-series King..

Indiana has always been America's basketball state. Four decades ago a small community in the northern part of the state added to the lore. When visiting Argos, IN once I took this picture of the famed 1979 Argos High Dragons. In Indiana's 1 class state tournament (where for decades schools of all sizes were in the same class) this little school with 250 students in a town of 1500 went all the way to the State semi finals in 1979. They were 28-0 with State Tourney wins over schools like Plymouth with a young Scott Skiles, Elkhart Central, which had a towering front line of 6'11", 6'8" and 6'5", Fort Wayne Harding (with Mr Basketball Jim Master, a Univ of Kentucky recruit) and the fearsome Marion Giants along the way, before losing to Anderson in Indy. Argos had a wonderful coach in Phil Weybright. He took over a losing program in 1973-74 and produced 10 straight winning seasons. From 1978 to 1981 Argos would win 76 straight regular-season games, still a state record. One reason they were better was the basketball coach in the 60's, Ralph Powell, started soccer at Argos in 1963 partly as off season conditioning for the basketball players. The 1979 basketball team had started fall soccer practices with 10 mile runs in the morning. They often wore down teams with their conditioning. The 1979 Argos team and their run from 1978 to 81 remains one of the greatest Indiana high school sports stories of all time. Charlie Adams I miss the good ol days of us small schools against the big schools.

That 1954 championship game ripped a hole in the heart of every Muncie Central fan, including me as I watched it at my uncle's house. It took me years to summon the courage to watch Hoosiers. It is a great movie and accurately captures Indiana high school basketball in the 1950s. Congratulations to Milan's coach for his stall tactics that nullified the speed and size of the Bearcats. Congratulations also to the players of that team who executed that strategy brilliantly. As a side note, Muncie went on to win a total of eight state championships.

Hoosiers is one of the few movies that, if it is playing when I walk into a room. I will stop what I am doing and watch it. Be it from the beginning or somewhere after, it is mesmerizing. I don't even really like basketball, but I like this film!

Thanks for posting this excellent story about Hoosiers. It is one of my very favorite films and I have two copies of the DVD. You've inspired me to get the special edition. It was nice to learn that the person who called the original game and who played the announcer in the film are the same person. He performed it just like it was 1952.

One of the score board shots shows the team "Decatur", which is the small Indiana town director David Anspaugh was born and raised in.

I remember when the filming of Hoosiers (fall 1985) was taking place. The local TV stations were pleading for people to fill the stands (dressed in 50's attire), for about a week or more of filming. They were disappointed at the turnout, because Indiana was such a basketball state, and Bobby Knight was still coaching at IU. It was reported that the producers had to pay attention to the positioning of the crowd and specific angles of filming so that the stands always looked full. Read a critic's article shortly after, that either Gene Hackman was disappointed or the critics were disappointed because he was the only talented actor in the movie. Either way, the focus of the movie was about basketball, and not a side romance or external drama that seems creep in most movies. The movie worked 100% for me.

My dad is from a small town in Indiana, Brownsburg if I remember right. We watched the movie together when it first hit video. He paused the movie just before the start of the final game and said that he had played on that very same court I think in 1955.

When the directors cut DVD set came out, I bought two. One I kept, The other I gave as a gift to a friend who grew up in a small town in Rural Indiana. He played 4 years for his school's varsity team....

0:52 My highschool (Delta HighSchool) was in the last state championship before they began separating the schools into classes. Left a little mark on a very important part of Indiana history. That’s what made Indiana basketball so unique. Every team had a shot to win it all. It’s created legendary moments like no other.

One of my favorite films! Thanks for the background info Jeff. It made my appreciation for this classic film that much greater.

This movie was required viewing for my high school basketball team. Our coach was also the PE teacher so I probably saw it multiple times every year from the time I was in fifth grade until I graduated high school. Fortunately, it’s a great movie and still stands as one of my favorites.

I was raised in Niles, Michigan (about 10 miles north of Notre Dame) but for high school basketball I listened to and much preferred Indiana basketball specifically because the schools were not divided into classes (as they were in Michigan). I used to climb on the roof and adjust the antenna to get decent radio reception of the games. I remember very well the nail-biting games of 1954 and 1955 (which is when I joined the Air Force as a 17-year-old.) Here's a bit of trivia to prove how wrapped up I was with Indiana basketball. Oscar Robertson set a scoring record for the "Sweet Sixteen". Who broke that record? It was none other than Ron Bonham, who played for the Boston Celtics for a couple years. Absolutely love basketball!!

The guy who played Ollie has a sister who was one of the Hickory cheerleaders.

It's amazing how many 50 year old (in 1986) Indiana guys I have met who SAY they played against Milan high school in basketball in 1952. There are thousands of them.

I ran across this movie after not seeing it for some time and my kids came into the room... "what is this?" "this looks boring" (typical response when seeing movies I grew up on). After 30 seconds of complaining about no CGI or shooting scenes they were hooked... I love it. great movie and neat video.

Being a Hoosier myself, I always thought this was based on "a true story", even my aunt that went to Muncie central, said it was. Oh well, I guess being "inspired by" actual events is close enough for me. My sister actually got to be in the crowd AND meet Gene Hackman, said he was very nice. I was in the Army stationed at Ft. Lewis at the time otherwise I too would've been in the movie!! Great video too!!

When I was a senior in high school my basketball coach took us to the actual gym in knightstown where the guys played. Everything was exactly like in the movie. Even the locker room. We played a game while there and it was a really cool experience. Have always loved the movie.

HOOSIERS makes me cry like a baby every time I watch it! And I'm 69. Gene Hackman's performance is among the greatest of his career. When the ref comes over to him to tell him "you've only got 4 players" his reply and facial expressions were incredible as he said sincerely with a point of his trusty rolled up notebook: "my team's on the floor" Wow! !

"Hoosiers" is also noteworthy in which its score by Jerry Goldsmith used actual basketball sounds incorporated in the score, which blended synthesizers with orchestra (and Goldsmith got some heat because the score was recorded in then "Communist Hungary" which was spotlighted in rather tasteless ads in its Oscar campaign. Goldsmith was nominated anyway).

My dad, who played at Hanover, would cut out the bracket from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette every year, it covered one side of the refrigerator. Great time for Hoosier Hysteria and I don't believe my dad ever recovered from the switch to a class system. Great movie and great memories for me.

My late grandfather taught physical education & coached baseball @ Franklin University in Franklin, Indiana from the mid 1950s until 1963. He told me that he had 2 of the players from the 1954 Milan team in his classes, Gene White & Roger Schroder.

I can never get enough of Hoosiers! Thank you for this.

One of my favorite all-time movies.

Simply outstanding.....not a dirty moment in it.

The announcer is Tom Carnagie, who was indeed the announcer at the Milan -Muncie Central game. He was crippled with polio and was much beloved in Indiana. He was the sports guy for one of the Indy TV stations. I knew Tom, a friend of my dad. And I was at the game behind the basket at the opposite end where Bobby Plump made THE SHOT. I was 10 and dressed in an Indian headdress. My dad and later I attended Tech High School, Muncie Central's archrival. Muncie defeated Tech for the 1952 state championship. Any opponent of Muncie Central was a team I loved for a moment.

Ray Crowe, a well known coach in Indiana played the part of the Muncie Central coach in the movie.

one of my all time favorite movies!! Thanks for the insight!

Being a native Hoosier I can add that the gym the movie was filmed in is still around and in use. Located in Knightstown Indiana. A little east of Indianapolis and open for tours and rental to play basketball. The school which was in a different town burned down years ago.The final game was filmed in Butler Fieldhouse which is were it was played back in the 50s. Hilliard Gates Is and Indiana Sports legend. Being from Fort Wayne Always enjoyed listening to him on the nightly news sports

Good job on the video. Hoosiers is my favorite sports film. I purchased the collector's edition and the actual final game between Milan and Muncie Central is on one of the DVDs.

I love Hoosiers. Thank you for such an informative video about the production of the movie. It was very interesting.

In the late 80's I was in the Navy stationed in the UK and found the movie Hoosiers in a video store under the name 'Best Shot'. The cover art had also been redone and I nearly didn't realize what the movie was even having seen it about 10x by that point. I didn't realize until then that movie titles were sometimes changed for overseas releases.

Great video! Thanks for uploading it.

I would love to see the fully restored director's cut.

Indiana high school basketball has really taken a hit since the switch to class ball. Back in the 70's when I was in high school, the gyms would be PACKED and LOUD during sectional games, requiring about a half dozen county deputies present to keep the peace. The regional games at Seymour were even louder in that big gym. Quite an atmosphere I have found no where else. Curse you class ball...

Hey man, great vid. Really learned a lot from it. Hard to believe the players did not have prior acting experience. Kudos to the director; he did a great job.

Thanks, that answers a lot of questions especially about Buddy that's been kicking in my head for about ten years.

This review makes me want to watch the movie. Thanks.

Oscar Robertson, the great NBA player, in real life, was playing for a Indiana school named Crispus Attucks High School, and they lost to the eventual Champions Milan in the semi-finals that year.

Very well done. Thank you.

I agree with your family. When I watched the movie, I had the same reaction: Where did that kiss come from? Why didn't she slap him? One of my favorite scenes is in the fieldhouse, when Hackman gets them to measure the distances, and mentions that "those are the same measurements as our gym back at Hickory." Thanks for the video and the backstories.

The romance begins during the first game of the season in the scene where Coach Dale goes with only 4 players on the floor. We see pretty much everyone in the gym screaming at him like he's crazy. But we also see Shooter up in the rafters smiling as he's the only one who really gets what Coach Dale is doing. And then we see Myra sitting there with a puzzled look on her face. She doesn't really know basketball well enough to fully understand what Coach Dale is doing, but she's starting to realize that the Coach is quite different from her first impression.

I played Indiana HS Basketball for a school similar to Hickory, 53 and 54 years ago. Hilliard Gates radio broadcast one game I played in. Hilliard's favorite all-time player, Willie Long, of Fort Wayne South Side HS, was used, in name, as the Muncie Central hotshot in the movie. When Hilliard's scenes were set to be filmed, an oversight was revealed: Hilliard's eyeglasses were not time appropriate. Hilliard needed to read his lines from a script but could not see the paper, and there was obviously no time to get retro-eyewear with his prescription, so Hilliard just said it was no problem. You must understand Hilliard had instant recall. In the Fort Wayne War memorial Coliseum he came into our dressing room for like 3 minutes, memorized our names and uniform numbers and never forgot any of us. So he just asked for one minute to read and memorize his lines. He was not reading the papers he was looking at in the film. He nailed it from instant-recall.

Kent Poole, who played Merle of "Picket Fence" fame (he hit the shot), tragically committed suicide in 2003. I saw Hoosiers for the first time when I was 14, and now, as an adult who coaches, my teams watch it every year. Tradition.

Thank you so very much for this. New Richmond, IN being just a short drive north of me, I had a chance to be in the game crowds and walking around the town, but people had to provide their own '50s clothes, none of which I owned. I still wish I could have. (They did the same thing in "The Natural" for the game crowd scenes.)

You went to work to make some money? You owe us 5% lol ridiculous. Great movie

My father-in-law played against the Milan team. He grew up in Sheridan. He loved this movie.

Outstanding job on this. Interesting info and very well presented.

My biggest surprise was the age of the movie. I saw it for the first time many many years later. I just assumed it came out around when I was in elementary school. As A kid in a poor home with a mom and sister, no way I would have seen the movie then. But now I realize it came out during my first year as a young US Marine. Those were not casual easy times, Cold War and all. I guess I gotta give a bit of blame also to another Marine. Gene Hackman just has that look that makes him look old at any age. Semper Fi

A Million Movies. I like it! I love a good movie channel and yours is great! UKposts suddenly suggested this 8 month old video (by the recent dates on the other comments, it looks like I'm not the only one) and I just kept watching 😂 Great work. Looking forward to watching a new one someday. #Subscribed

Great video. Thanks for posting.

This movie is my all time favorite and i still listen to the music in my car ! Also enjoyed reading all the extra bonus facts in the comments. Also pretty sure jimmy got that role because he was a hunk! God Bless you all!

Just tell them...time passes ...things people and situations change ...and there's never enough time to show all details. Sometimes you just have to assume what happened an move on. Thanks for this video 👍😁💗

Freakin great video! This makes a spectacular movie even better!

Sheb Wooley who plays the principal and assistant coach in the movie wrote and performed the song "The Purple People Eater" I grew up on Indiana high school basketball but now live in Illinois. One thing is certain, you can't take the "Hoosier" out of the boy!!! I love this movie!!!

My parents were in the making of the movie, specifically the final game. Those involved in the movie put out in the paper calling for extras. My dad had hurt his foot a few days earlier and had to wear the shoes they wore in the 50s which weren't comfortable. While my dad stood in line to get refreshments, Gene Hackman walked by and accidentally stepped on his foot. My dad yelled out a few choice words and Gene looked back at him as if to say "What the hell is your problem, buddy?" So if I ever get a chance to meet Gene Hackman, I've got a funny anecdote to share with him.