Hoosiers is a 1986 movie, based on a true story, about a small-town high school basketball team that made the state finals, telling the story of a coach with a spotty past, and the town's basketball-loving drunk, who lead their team to victory. It stars Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper and Sheb Wooley.
The movie was written by Angelo Pizzo and directed by David Anspaugh. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Dennis Hopper) and Best Music, Original Score (Jerry Goldsmith).
Hoosiers was recently the choice of the readers of USA Today newspaper as the best sports movie of all time. In 2001 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
The film is loosely based on the story of the 1954 Indiana state champions, Milan (MILE-an to English-speakers; SAMPA 'maIl@n) High School. In most states, high schools are split into classes, usually by enrollment, and separate state championship tournaments are held for each classification. However, at that time, Indiana conducted a single state basketball championship for all schools, and continued to do so until the 1990s.
Some elements of the film do match closely with those of Milan's real story. Like the movie's Hickory High School, Milan was a very small high school in a rural Indiana town, although Milan's enrollment was roughly double that of Hickory's. Both schools had undersized teams. Both Hickory and Milan won the state finals by two points: Hickory won 42-40, and Milan won 32-30. The final minute of the Hoosiers state final holds fairly closely to the details of Milan's 1954 final; the final shot in the movie was taken from virtually the same spot on the floor as Bob Plump's actual game-winner. The movie's final game was even shot in the same building that hosted the 1954 Indiana finals, Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
However, some key details differ radically. In the movie, Hickory only had a six-man team; Milan had a larger roster. The controversy surrounding the coach and his methods, an important element of the movie's story, was completely absent in Milan. Hickory was depicted as a massive underdog; Milan entered the 1953-54 season as one of the favorites to win the state title. In the movie, Hickory defeated an all-black squad in the finals; Milan's final opponent, Muncie Central, was integrated, as was its team. Finally, Milan's real-life coach, Marvin Wood, was not a middle-aged former college coach with a shady past; he was only 26 when he won the state title. (Wood died of bone cancer in 1999.)
In an interesting historic connection between the movie and real life, the losing coach in the movie's state final was played by Ray Crowe, who coached all-time great Oscar Robertson at Crispus Attucks High School in Indianapolis. In 1954, Robertson's sophomore year, Milan defeated Attucks in the quarterfinals of the state tournament. Attucks, coached by Crowe and led on the floor by Robertson, would go on to win the next two state tournaments.
Hoosiers is also the common name for the people of the American state of Indiana. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the etymology of the name is unknown, but it has been in use since at least 1826.
The sports teams of Indiana University are called The Hoosiers.
