Mike Woodson has Indiana Locked into the Moment

After the school announced that Mike Woodson would not be returning as Indiana’s head coach after the 2024-25 season, it would have been easy to start worrying about his legacy as a Hoosier.

Woodson took over as Indiana head coach after one of the most celebrated playing careers in program history and briefly elevated the program from the depths of the Archie Miller era.

However, things have taken a turn over the last two seasons, as he’s been greeted with “Fire Woodson” chants at Indiana home games this year.

Adding to the pressure of last night’s game was the fact that Tom Izzo had a shot at breaking Bob Knight’s Big Ten wins record. Woodson has not been shy about Knight’s influence on him as a coach or as a person, so it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had emphasized the importance of this game to his players.

Instead, Woodson wanted his guys to focus on this season and everything that this win could do for Indiana’s postseason chances.

“Tom Izzo is pretty god damn special. I mean really special. I didn’t think I needed to tell our guys that. We’re just trying to get off this slide and get a win.”

Without that win, and a few more, Indiana was at risk of completely missing the Big Ten Tournament, which may be this team’s only shot at making the NCAA Tournament. Despite all the outside noise around the team’s next coach, Woodson’s legacy, and Izzo’s shot at history last night, Woodson felt the need to remind his group of what’s really at stake over these last six games.

“It’s been tough on me. But we’ve still got a lot of season left. I want these guys to believe. I want them to get in the tournament and experience it. And get in the Big Ten Tournament and see if we can win it. That’s what it’s all about. It’s not just being there.”

Hard as it may have been, Woodson was able to move past his late mentor’s famous opposition to zone defense to get Indiana back into a game in which it trailed early. Still, he refused credit for the move and instead chose to emphasize what this group has and could still accomplish together.

“It was the team’s decision. We’re all in this together. They played the hell out of it and we ended up on the winning end which we needed badly…They’ve had a tough go at it. But I can’t let them quit. We’ve got to keep working and keep pushing each other and see where it leads us.”