UNSCRIPTED: BOYS & GIRLS CLUB Hosts IU Coach Mike Woodson!
Unscripted By Keith Edmonds
FWIS Contributing Writer
On June 19th, 2024, our local Boys & Girls Club hosted an event entitled “Getting Future Ready” which is their tagline for this upcoming year and they were truly fortunate to have Indiana University Head Men’s Basketball Coach, Mike Woodson agree to be their honored guest for the evening. Woodson played for the Indiana Hoosiers for four seasons from 1977-1981 under legendary coach Bob Knight and earned 2nd Team All-American honors as a senior, when he averaged 19 points per game to lead an Indiana team (that had six future NBA players) towards tremendous success. Woodson became Indiana University’s head men’s basketball coach in 2021 after coaching the NBA’s New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks and “felt the pull” to return and restore the Indiana University program (that had struggled under its previous head coach Archie Miller) back to what was customary for them, WINNING! In what was a very relaxed and casual evening at The Clyde Theater, Woodson greeted and shared his philosophy, hopes, and expectations for this upcoming season with those in attendance.
I found Coach Woodson to be very accommodating to not only myself and the media that were gathered in the “media room” of the Clyde, but also continued upstairs to the VIP area for those seeking autographs and his signatures on everything from hats, basketballs, banners, and even golf balls. Fans wanted pictures, and to steal a moment with him to encourage or just shake his hand. I was fortunate to grab a moment with Coach prior to him coming to the stage, and though we spoke for only 10 minutes I was fascinated by his candor and his grasp of the “landscape of collegiate athletics” in regard to the Transfer Portal, Name Image and Likeness (NIL) and how the environment surrounding students/athletes has changed since he played at Indiana University. I asked him about the “pressures” of coaching at IU and found his response to be remarkably interesting when he responded with “I don’t feel any more pressure than I put on myself. I am very aware that I’m following Coach Knight and the successes that he had because I was a part of those successes. I’ve been here 3 years and though we’ve made some strides each year, more is expected. Don’t get me wrong, THIS IS INDIANA UNIVERSITY, so it sucked being home during March Madness and watching other teams (that we’d beaten) be in the tournament, but with this group that we’ve got coming in..... then his eyes widened, and a huge smile came over his face before he said, this group could be...SPECIAL!”
When Coach came to the stage there was a buzz from the audience because let’s face it, why did we come to this event tonight? To hear Coach talk IU BASKETBALL! In what I thought was a classy move, Woodson discussed the tremendous work being done by the Boys & Girls Club, and how important it is to have organizations like this to give kids an opportunity to be successful and keep them away from the “dangers of the streets” he spoke of the importance of having mentors guide his decisions as a youth and what his local BG Club did for him growing up which I thought was important as well. Then he began to share what it meant for IU to reach out to him to come home and become their next Head Men’s Basketball Coach to those in attendance at The Clyde, then he got into what we came to see/hear from him as he attempted to answer the question...
“What is wrong with Indiana Men’s Basketball?
Coach Woodson explained the process of how he’s always tried to put together a team that represents not only Indiana University but glean from his identity as a coach. With that in mind, he shared “losing 3 seniors to graduation, and 3 more players entering the transfer portal has made it tough, but we decided that if we were going to be the type of program that we wanted to be, it meant that though we were basically starting over, we had to GO GET THE BEST PLAYERS out there!” So, after scouring the transfer portal Indiana University landed: Oumar Ballo (Arizona), Myles Rice (Washington State), Kannan Carlysle (Stanford), local product Luke Goode (Homestead HS and Illinois) along with freshman Brice Tucker who is an exceptionally talented point guard. When you add this group to the list of returners Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, Anthony Leal, Trey Galloway, and Gabe Cupps then you can see why expectations though they are always high when talking Indiana basketball in this state, the bar is raised even more! From my seat in the audience, during the Q&A portion of this talk I asked him “How do you change a culture from losing to winning?” His response assured me that Coach Woodson is the man for this moment at IU. He responded with; “You have to have an environment that breeds success. Players have to understand the importance of wearing an Indiana University uniform, and the responsibility that comes with it. I drive that point home daily when we’re together. It’s not about YOU, it’s about those that came before you as well. You came to IU to experience winning at an elevated level, so our approach has to be excellence daily in everything that we do. Anything short of that is not what we’re about...PERIOD!” I enjoyed this event and having the opportunity to listen and learn from one of the best coaches in the country... IU’s Mike Woodson.