The 1986 movie "Hoosiers" was inspired by the story of Milan High School's 1954 basketball state championship team. It's the epitome of a Cinderella story. Nearly 40 years later, "Hoosiers" still resonates with its audience, considered the No. 1 sports movie of all-time by the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and USA Today.
Change at the coaching position
Gene Hackman wasn't the first choice to play "Hoosiers" coach Norman Dale.
Jack Nicholson agreed to play the fictitious Hickory High School basketball coach for three months in the 1980s until a lawsuit prevented him from being a part of what many consider to be the No. 1 sports movie of all-time.
Director David Anspaugh taught Nicholson and his daughter how to ski in Aspen, Colo. That connection afforded Anspaugh along with screenwriter and producer Angelo Pizzo an opportunity to pitch the coaching role to the longtime Los Angeles Lakers fan.
"(Anspaugh) arranged a meeting for us with Jack and we gave him the script - knowing how passionate he was about basketball," Pizzo said. "We asked him if he could give us some tips on raising the money (for the movie). He said he would read it (the script) and let us know. Well, Jack was kind of hungover when he said that so we weren't sure that he was actually going to ever read it."
Two months later, Nicholson called Anspaugh to tell him he would play coach Norman Dale.
"All of a sudden that got the attention of our agents and it gave us a certain kind of legitimacy," Pizzo said. "But, Jack had to bow out because he was in a lawsuit with MGM at the time. And he was committed the following year to the sequel, 'Chinatown.'"
Nicholson gave Anspaugh and Pizzo some advice on who could play the coach.
"He said to us, 'take it to (Robert) Duvall or (Gene) Hackman," Pizzo said.
Duvall loved the script but turned down the part because he thought it was a similar role he played in two previous films. Eventually, Hackman agreed to play the part.
"It's not like the movie got made (quickly)," Pizzo said with a snap of his fingers. "We were turned down for another year with Gene in the lead."
Anspaugh and Pizzo persevered despite the rejection.
"People saying 'no' meant nothing - it was like par for the course," Pizzo said.
Finally, Anspagh and Pizzo caught their break. "Hoosiers" filming occurred from October to December 1985.
Hackman worked with the Hickory basketball players through acting workshops since most of the players didn't have a Hollywood background.
"We had to be really careful about going behind our back, between our legs," said Brad Long, who played 'Buddy.'
"It was a very fundamentally sound time period. And (Milan High School star) Bobby (Plump) would tell you that the jump shot was just kind of coming in. You didn't see a lot of people shooting at the peak of their jump."
Hackman also became acclimated with high school basketball upon arriving in the state.
"Gene Hackman had never seen an Indiana high school basketball game," said Ray Craft, a guard on the 1954 Milan team and former Indiana High School Athletic Association assistant commissioner.
"So the IHSAA had a rule when you could start practice. He came to town before that but he got permission to have the Brownsburg (High School) coach have a pre-practice and he could go out and watch them."
Craft, 87, was the leading scorer in the famous 1954 state final victory over Muncie Central.
Some 30-plus years later, he had a cameo in the movie as an Indiana basketball official who welcomed Hackman's character and the Hickory team to Butler Fieldhouse.
In another instance, Craft tells Hackman it's time for Hickory to take the floor in the state final.
Craft, who still receives an occasional royalty check from the movie, is grateful for his dual role in "Hoosiers" and on the Milan team.
"I was sitting in my office one day and I got a phone call from Angelo Pizzo and he said, 'How would you like to be in a movie?'" Craft said. "Well, I didn't say this but it's kind of a dumb question. Who wouldn't want to be in a movie that's been a very, very integral part of their life and what led to the career I had, you know?'
Final shot was 'almost divine'
Bobby Plump was a tough act to follow.
The Milan High School guard earned lifetime fame through his game-winning jump shot near the free-throw line at Butler Fieldhouse in the 1954 state final. More than 30 years later, the shot was immortalized on the silver screen.
It was in 1985 when Pizzo and Anspaugh were finally able to work on a film that came to fruition after bouncing around ideas they had as college friends years ago.
Jimmy Chitwood, played by actor Maris Valainis, was tasked with replicating Plump's shot in "Hoosiers" at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Plump was there during the filming of the movie and pointed to the exact spot on the floor where he took the jump shot. In fact, the movie was almost called "The Last Shot."
Whether it was nerves or bad luck, Valainis had difficulties during warm-ups.
"Jimmy that night couldn't hit the side of a barn," said Long. "He was missing everything. And I remember Gene Hackman (who played coach Norman Dale) saying under his breath to (director) David Anspaugh, 'We have to move this kid in - we're going to be here all night.'"
Yet, Valainis channeled the real-life Chitwood. He proved to be clutch when the five cameras started rolling. He made the final shot on the first take.
"It was all organic; it was all real," said Pizzo. "Everything that happened after that shot went in with the players rushing the floor, the fans and the opposing team kind of hitting the floor in frustration - none of that was directed. It was all spontaneous."
Said Long: "I think that's almost a divine thing."
Pizzo and the film crew did two other takes with Valainis taking jump shots but nothing came close to the initial crowd reaction.
One significant difference from Milan and the movie was the final score. Hickory won 42-40 over South Bend Central in the 1952 state final instead of Milan's 32-30 victory over Muncie Central in the 1954 state final.
The Milan players - including Plump - raved about the movie, especially the final 18 seconds.
"Before it premiered here in Indianapolis, Angelo Pizzo asked our team to come to a sneak preview of it two days before or two nights before," Plump said. "After it was over he called me aside and he said, 'Bob, what did you think about it?' I said, 'Man, you nailed it. That was one of the most enjoyable movies I've ever seen."
Pizzo made sure to ask Plump's opinion of Chitwood in the final shot.
"He (Pizzo) said, 'Did we get the last 18 seconds right?' I said, 'Perfect,'" Plump said.
"Hoosiers" legacy
Prior to the 1986 release of "Hoosiers," Rollin Cutter received a film transcript and chuckled.
"I said, 'You can't make a movie out of this,'" said the 1954 Milan High School sophomore guard/forward. "They did."
Cutter paused. "And they made a great one."
The state of Indiana was the most important audience for the movie. Pizzo and Anspaugh knew they had to initially capture the hoops-crazed state. But, it was first screened in Irvine, Calif., for an audience.
"There's one classic folk myth of a story that everybody knows," Pizzo said. "How can we shoot a film that really captures the importance of basketball in Indiana?"
The screening in California turned out to be Pizzo's most memorable experience in a movie theater.
"We had the highest score in the history of Orion Pictures; we scored a 95," Pizzo said. "People were cheering. They stood up and cheered at the end of the movie."
"Hoosiers" was a slam dunk on many levels - sports, redemption and nostalgia. Its impact still resonates today, having been selected as the No. 1 sports movie of all-time by multiple media outlets.
"It was just two years ago," Pizzo said. "L.A. Times had a best sports film thing. And Hoosiers is No. 1. It's a 37-year-old movie and there have been a ton of sports movies made since then. That blows my mind."
The lines are recited by fans everywhere. The measuring tape scene at Hinkle Fieldhouse is the most quoted scene in the movie by far.
Hickory players, upon entering the fieldhouse, measure the baseline to the free-throw line and from the rim to the floor to reflect the fact it has the same dimensions as the Hickory gym.
"The fact that I happened to be a part of that - I'm humbled by that," Long said. "I was the guy that measured and Ollie was on strap shoulders. That was one of the first scenes we shot in Hinkle."
The fieldhouse was awe-inspiring for Milan, too. Most of the players likely never saw anything taller than a second-story building when they walked into the fieldhouse for the semi-state game in 1953.
"We're a bunch of naïve kids," Plump said.
Milan coach Marvin Wood, a Butler University graduate, walked the players onto the floor after the entered the arena.
"All of a sudden everybody got quiet," Plump said. "They're looking around in here."
Milan's Bob Engel tossed a dose of humor into the wonderment of the moment. "Put a lot of hay in this place couldn't you?" Plump said with a smile. "That kind of broke the spell a little bit."
Pizzo said he considered using that anecdote from Milan. But, he said the tape measure story caught his eye.
"It actually came from another coach that came in here the first time with his kids and I read about it," Pizzo said. "Someone reminded me when we were doing location scouting. I kind of reconfigured that scene. I originally had - the scene was - you can fit a lot of hay bales here. That version about measuring the goal was better."
Pizzo said the movie didn't try to replicate everything that happened with Milan. The reason why the movie didn't use the Milan name was simple.
"Hoosiers" coach Norman Dale was much a much different character than the real-life Marvin Wood, who was 26 years old when Milan won the state title. Hackman was 55 years old in the autumn of 1985.
"We didn't want to mislead people and make them think it's the Milan story," Pizzo said. "If you think about it the coach for Hickory is 50 years old. Kind of on the last leg of his struggling life."
Plump, Craft and Cutter said the players were flattered that Milan was the inspiration for the movie.
"We screened it for the governor, lieutenant governor, Bobby Plump and I think a couple of other players," Pizzo said. "If they don't like it, you know, we failed. And I remember very well Bobby coming out of the theater. He put his arms around me and he said, 'It's not our story but you captured something really special.'"
