'Hoosiers," Hinkle and History

INDIANAPOLIS — An informal poll was taken of the University of Florida basketball team this week. No, not about where the players might stand on the impeachment hearings, but more along the lines of peach baskets, the likes of which were targets of many an Indiana boy growing up generations ago. The subject was a topical one, given UF's road trip to America's heartland this weekend, and to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse, one of college's basketball's true cathedrals.

The question: Have you ever seen the motion picture "Hoosiers?"

It should come as no surprise that more than half the 2019-20 roster had not. Several had never even heard of it.

"What, is that some movie from like 1985?" asked fourth-year junior forward Dontay Bassett.

Well, yes. "Hoosiers," nominated for two Academy Awards and considered among the greatest sports films of all time, was released in 1986. That's 11 years before the oldest current Gator, graduate-transfer forward Kerry Blackshear Jr., was born.

Blackshear, though, is one of six on his team who has seen it.

"Been a while," he said. "But I remember it's a story about triumph."

Absolutely. It's a David and Goliath tale — inspired by a true events, no less — of a tiny high school in 1950s Indiana that, under the guidance of a coach with a checkered past (played by iconic Gene Hackman), overcomes the odds and overachieves its way to face off against the big-city boys from Indianapolis in the state-championship game.

"Have I seen it? Are you kidding me? About a hundred times," said UF coach Mike White, who was a sixth-grader in Maine when he first saw the film during a sleepover at a friend's house. "I could probably recite a third of the lines right now. I'll never forget when they go into Hinkle and Gene Hackman measures the goal."

For nostalgia's sake, White showed his players that famous scene before practice Thursday before doing a deep dive into personnel and the basketball elements that will matter when Florida (6-2) faces 24th-ranked and unbeaten Butler (8-0) in Saturday's nationally televised showdown at Hinkle, where, yes, the rims are still just 10 feet off the floor.

[Read senior writer Chris Harry's comprehensive "Pregame Stuff" breakdown here]

For the Gators, any sense of intimidation or trepidation will likely be rooted in shooting guard Kamar Baldwin and the rest of a Bulldogs bunch that has amassed some of the best advance metrics in the nation — 17th in offensive efficiency, 24th in defense — while playing some of the most disciplined basketball in the country, as well. The surroundings will be just part of the package.

Hinkle opened in 1928 with a capacity of 15,000 and for the next 22 years was the largest basketball arena in the country. And while it still resembles a brick barn from the outside, Hinkle now seats just 9,100 and has been renovated with chair backs replacing the rickety wooden plank bleachers that were packed with cheering fans when Hollywood put its melodramatic spin on the passion that is Indiana basketball. "Hoosiers," and fictitious Hickory High, gave us one of the all-time underdog stories ever put on the big screen.

Among those in the UF basketball building, the film resonated for some more than others.

"I cried," Dave Werner said.

UF trainer and Indiana native **Dave "Duke" Werner** now (left) ... and then (No. 33 at Versailles High).

"Duke" Werner, 50, has been the UF basketball trainer since 2004, but two-plus decades before that he was a young boy growing up in Versailles, Ind., with its population of 1,800. He was a sixth-grader in 1981 when Versailles High reached the Sweet 16 of the state basketball tournament.

At the time, the Indiana tournament was still a one-class affair, with the quarterfinals played in large arenas around the state — Fort Wayne, Gary, Evansville, Bloomington, Lafayette, Terre Haute, Muncie — and the Final Four staged at Market Square Arena in downtown Indy.

Versailles played that year at Hinkle.

"I was just like those players in the movie. We walked in there and it was the biggest place I'd ever seen," recalled Werner, who painted his face green and white, the school colors of his beloved Raiders. "The game was completely sold out. We lost, but it was unbelievable."

Five years later, Werner was playing forward for Versailles, wearing No. 33 (and probably running the "picket fence") when "Hoosiers" hit the theaters. The film romanticized, with some embellishment, the tale based on the real-life run of 1953-54 Milan High, the smallest school ever to win the Indiana state title. It was a story every basketball fan in the state knew about long before.

"The Milan Miracle," as it became known.

Milan was five miles from Versailles. Its gymnasium was too small to host games, so the team played its home dates at Versailles High. Unlike the portrayal of the team in the movie, the Milan Indians did not surprise anyone by rocking the tournament bracket from their small town in the boondocks. Milan actually had reached the state semifinals in '53 and returned four starters, including Bobby Plump, who became the mythical Jimmy Chitwood character in the movie.

As in, "I'll make it."

The Indians went 19-2 during the regular season, with a loss in their next-to-last game before entering the state tournament. Milan went mostly unchallenged through its opening rounds and even faced an opponent, Montezuma High, that was a smaller school, on the way to the round of 16, where the Indians, though trailing after a quarter, knocked out Indianapolis Crispus Attucks High, led by a guard named Oscar Robertson.

Milan reached the championship game and faced Muncie Central, which had won four state championships, including back to back in '51 and '52. The game was tied at 30 when Plump held the ball for the final shot, ball-faked his man, drove right, pulled up and splashed a 15-footer as time expired.

Just like Jimmy Chitwood.

In 1997, Indiana High School Athletic Association made the controversial decision to go against history and divide its championship tournament into four classes, based on school enrollment. Today, only Kentucky and Delaware crown just one state champion in basketball. Don't count on a basketball movie being made about either.

The definitive one was made 33 years ago.

"Loved it," White said of the film. "The mystique, the prestige. When I hear Hinkle I think 'Hoosiers.' "

Maybe there's a fairy-tale ending here for the Gators, also.

"I think we need a movie night," UF walk-on freshman guard Alex Klatsky said. "I'd definitely watch it again."

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