After six losses in their last seven games and calls for head coach Mike Woodson to be fired from their home fans, the Indiana Hoosiers (14-9, 5-7 Big Ten) made it official on Friday afternoon. Athletic director Scott Dolson released a statement announcing Woodson’s intention to retire after the conclusion of the 2024/25 season.
In the statement published on the team’s website, Dolson thanked Woodson for his four-year tenure with the Hoosiers.
“Coach Woodson is a class act… I want to thank him for coming back to Bloomington and accepting the challenge of rebuilding our program and re-connecting it with its past and its foundation.”
Dolson said that in his conversations with Woodson following the team’s 76-64 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers on Wednesday, Woodson told him stepping down had been on his mind a lot as of late:
“He said it had been weighing on his mind for a while, and that it was an emotional and difficult decision. We have had subsequent thoughtful conversations about his decision and his desire to ensure that the program is in the best position it can be moving forward.”
While Woodson himself has not made a public statement yet, Dolson said that a statement from the coach would come soon regarding Woodson’s feelings:
“At an appropriate time, Coach Woodson will articulate his feelings about his decision and his experiences these last four years.”
Mike Woodson’s Tenure
Woodson was named the Indiana Hoosiers’ head coach on March 28, 2021 after the team parted ways with Archie Miller. A Second Team All-American as a player for the Hoosiers in 1980, Woodson took over a team that had failed to reach the NCAA Tournament in each of his predecessor’s four seasons in charge. Woodson guided the team to NCAA Tournament bids in 2022 and 2023, reaching the Round of 32 in the latter behind First Team All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis.
The 2023/24 season brought new challenges for the Hoosiers. With Jackson-Davis off to the NBA, Indiana struggled to a 19-14 record, including a 10-10 record in Big Ten matchups, and missed out on the NCAA Tournament. Indiana’s struggles have continued this season, with the Hoosiers currently sitting at 5-7 in conference play and 14-9 overall.
A hallmark of Woodson’s tenure has been their significant struggles in Big Ten play. While Woodson has gone 41-13 in non-conference games, the Hoosiers have only gone 36-36 within their conference. Of the team’s 36 conference losses in Woodson’s tenure, 20 have come by ten or more points.
Where Do The Indiana Hoosiers Go From Here?
With only eight games left in the regular season, it remains to be seen whether the Indiana Hoosiers can right the ship before the Big Ten Tournament. Indiana is 1-6 over their last seven games and has matchups with four of the Big Ten’s top five teams remaining on the schedule (Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, and UCLA). The Hoosiers would need to win at least three of those games to get serious consideration for a bid to this year’s NCAA Tournament. Per ESPN’s latest BPI rankings, the Hoosiers currently have only a 31% chance to reach the tournament at season’s end.
Regardless of how the season ends, the Hoosiers will have an extensive search ahead of them for their next head coach. While no concrete information has been released regarding candidates, speculation is already building about possible replacements. Two of the biggest names that have been floated by insiders are Michigan head coach Dusty May and Ole Miss head coach Chris Beard. May, in his first season with the Wolverines, spent time working under legendary Indiana coach Bob Knight as a student manager. Beard also spent time under Bob Knight as an assistant during Knight’s tenure at Texas Tech. Neither has given any indication that they would leave their current jobs.
Outside of May and Beard, names that have been suggested by college basketball insiders include the likes of Drake head coach Ben McCollum, UCLA’s Mick Cronin, and Texas A&M’s Buzz Williams.
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