Milan's Moment: The small town team that inspired the movie Hoosiers

It's a feat that will never be repeated: Milan High School, with an enrollment of just 73 boys, won the 1954 Indiana basketball state championship among 752 schools in a single-class competition system. It was a moment that inspired the greatest sports movie of all time: Hoosiers. 70 years later, the players reflect on their accomplishment, and its immortal story still being told to this day.

[@batmanw2002]

this is one of the best KZbin videos I've ever watched. Thank you

[@chrispaul7849]

Seen every sports movie in my long life, this was my fave by far!

[@Ignats75]

The Museum in Milan to the Miracle is awesome. I make a pilgrimage there ever time I go visit my daughter in a town nearby.

[@shane24374]

The best sports movie of all time.

[@hoosierproud7718]

BREAKING AWAY was the best for me but HOOSIERS was close second

[@denniscunningham7021]

Having played back in that Era, it was a great win for small schools. Most of the time it was big lopsided wins for big schools.

[@dandandkl9048]

Guys are still so humbled, even now! I’ll always treasured seeing this video, as these are the forebearers to modern day basketball. True sports then!

[@johannesswillery7855]

Siskel and Ebert reviewed the movie twice. The first time they gave it two thumbs down stating that the story was impossible. Upon hearing that it did happen, they changed their review!

[@dandandkl9048]

Thanks for the follow up note, love that type of information.

[@knolltop314]

So good to see those "kids" from oh so many years ago. Since I was in high school in small town Indiana in 1st half of 60's, we knew parts of the story. As an adult, saw the movie several times and got chills each time. This is wonderful video. Thank you.

[@kylemarzion2814]

I remember reading an article in sports illustrated about the movie Hoosiers on the on the bus going to play one of our rivals that night in a high school basketball ball in Indiana, yeah we won on a last second shot too. It was in Dec 1984. Gymnasium was packed too. What memories

[@danb6838]

Awesome.....whoever put this film together...thank you!

[@whiskeymonk4085]

1986 Kansas City, Mo. Sixth grade. Basketball was everything. So I signed up for the team at my humble little Catholic School. We were all poor inner city kids. Also known as the absolute worst in all our three sports for decades. A complete embarrassment of the city As the season started, after two practices the coach just didnt even show up. We were that bad. Now hear me out.... It gets good. My single father asked me "How was practice?" So I told him that there wasn't even a coach and we all just basically played around and got into fist-to-cuffs. From that moment on he just took over. Didn't ask the school's permission. He just became our coach. Try that today and you get arrested. He was a very busy man struggling to raise two kids who lost their mom to a random killer and also run a fledgling business. He was beyond stressed. But he knew basketball. And he cared. There was only one other teammate who had a father in his life. So my Dad became everyone's Dad... for one magical season. He would break into the college across the street and train the forwards and the center at their position. He actually broke in to the building. He put and end to all squabbles and barked at us for not passing correctly, not paying attention and not caring about the team. My mates hated it at first but they yearned for a father's influence and quickly got on board. He taught us plays, game plan and most importantly, ethics. We won our first game. WOW. We had a taste of victory and we wanted more. No one missed practice after that. Basketball became our world. The season progressed and we kept winning. The worst school and the most messed up kids had suddenly gotten a reputation amongst the other schools. We were for the first time in our lives FEARED. I remember a time that dad took us all out for pizza, soda and video games. It cost him just over a hundred dollars. That was big money back then. Especially in the neighborhood we all came from. We were a real team. Basketball warriors. Towards the end of the season he took us all to go see this new movie called Hoosiers. The impact it made on us little impressionable boys was nothing less than life altering. We came out of that theatre with pure determination. Greatness was possible. We became a family and went on to win second place in the city tournament. Not too shabby for our band of Misfits. At least three hundred people showed up for our last game. The atmosphere was electric. The whole school gave us a special ceremony at lunch. Every boy received a trophy. None of us had ever had much to be proud of. That trophy gleamed on each of our dressers every night for years to come. So, thank you Dad. Thank you Hoosiers team, and thank you Saint Francis Xavier grade school for giving us all an opportunity to become young men. We did it. A boy can't ask for much more than that.

[@leelaural]

that is quite a story....worthy of its own movie....congratulations...I hope all your lives turned out good.....thx for posting.

[@whiskeymonk4085]

@@leelaural Thanks! I just shared the video with my dad. He's 81. Really appreciate that you read it and commented. Someday I'll write a book. I'm just practicing a bit here to see if there's any interest in my life story. There's SO much more. This is going to be the subject of a chapter. Have a great day!

[@josephbeussink9504]

There is nothing more touching than when the forgotten ones are given an opportunity and motivated to succeed. Congratulations, your dad was someone special. God bless him!

[@ZacSaleski]

thank you for sharing! I grew up just outside of KC and this hit home for me

[@DustyTail]

I’m glad I read this. Interesting. Cheers.

[@toddzimmerman1939]

Excellent short documentary! I am a big indiana basketball fan and love milan. Great work

[@mileswhitmire700]

I play…coach stays. He goes…I go.

[@wmw3629]

Best scene in the movie!

[@markgriffin5889]

This almost made me cry. I have seen "Hoosiers" a hundred times and I still get choked up when Jimmie Chitwood says, "I'll make it." What a story. Thank you.

[@scottodonnell7121]

What a real ballplayer would say.

[@blakegoldstein3014]

Right there with ya pal !

[@matthewschelle1829]

The scene where Shooter fills in for Coach Dale and leads them to the win, and Everett tells Shooter "You did good Pop, you did real good", that's the one that gets me.

[@johnjackson9]

Great job of telling their story. All time classic movie. So good the Milan story lives on. Thank you.

[@robertmartin5308]

So happy to see those guys and listen to them remember the tiny details. They had their day in the sun now they are legends.

[@kentnoorlag9784]

A great story. A great movie. I will be there in Milan Saturday and celebrate their 70th.

[@rhondabliss4620]

My parents told me about how I sat on my dad’s lap as he and my mom listened to it on the radio in ‘54. We were Hoosiers so it was expected that everyone was watching or listening to basketball. Years later I would attend Indiana State and watch Larry Bird whenever they were on TV. Again everyone was tuned in and glued to a TV watching basketball. It still goes in today. This is my favorite movie of all time. I’ve watched it over and over and never tire of it!

[@carlnash7200]

One of the best of all time.

[@livefromalaska]

Great video! Marvin Wood was my great uncle.

[@whiskeymonk4085]

Awesome.

[@flpndrox]

You should be very proud.

[@grassyknoll4702]

Oh my God!!! Hoosier HYSTERIA!!!

[@xjcrossx]

Muncie Central was my high school 40+ years later.

[@perryronquillo9599]

Watched this movie in 1986 in the Philippines. My favorite movie of all time.

[@rodneywoodcock8235]

I remember the days of single class, Indiana, high school basketball. I went to a small school and it was a huge deal when we won the sectional. The Milan State Championship, always gave us small schools that glimmer of hope that anything was possible when we went up against the big schools in the tournament.

[@kylemarzion2814]

Back then you won a sectional it was a big deal you could've been a 300 student school playing a 1000 student school. If was in your area and you drew that school. That's who you played

[@JoeReynolds-iw1sn]

Same here, we were very happy to win a sectional, went crazy the year we won a regional, and our girls team went to the state finals that year. What always got to me was, that we would have more fans at those games than the bigger schools we played. 1985, 7 weeks of tournament basketball.

[@Mister8224]

Nice elevation by Plump. Allowed him to get it off . Big plays by the stars win you games

[@nelsonmcatee3721]

My high school team in Illinois won the state title the same year Milan did. We pulled off almost as big an upset as the Indians did. We beat Chicago DuSable, a school of 5,000 kids, with 3 all staters. Our whole team shot the jump shot because our coach Stanley Changnon had been coaching it since the late 1940s. When i was a kid Mt Vernon Il was just like the towns in the movie Hoosiers. The gym was filled even for the city 6th grade championship. Those were the good old days. Im planning on visiting the Milan museum some day.

[@loriesters7960]

Very good story. Real life is better❤We loved the movie Hoosiers. I loved part where Coach said guard him so close you know what gum he is chewing. When he sat on bench and said Dentyne, we laughed so much.

[@user-ud6lz8nk8j]

This sort of miracle did happen again. In 1982 Plymouth High School led by Scott Skiles won the Indiana State championship.

[@jimowens381]

I'm from Marion and I've seen many state championship games. But that game with Plymouth and Scott Skiles is still the best state championship game I've ever seen!

[@KenDatMo]

I enjoyed many years broadcasting in Indiana. Marion in 75 when Bill Green was winning titles. TV in Indianapolis working for legendary Tom Carnegie (who was the PA announcer in Hoosiers) and I chatted with Bobby Plump many times. What a wonderful guy who never failed to mention, "Oh yeah, I still get the phone calls at midnight or 1 in the morning, some guy asking if I was the same Bobby Plump who hit that shot. Those calls never get old." The Milan story never gets old. A great video here.

[@joseywales571]

Very cool back story..Great story of the American dream.. LOVE IT!

[@flpndrox]

The only time in my enitre life I was ever starstruck was meeting Coach Marv Wood not long before he retired. He couldn't have been more gracious to me.

[@jimowens381]

There a was moment in the movie that captured what it was like to be a high school player in Indiana on a Friday night. The moment the team left their locker room and went onto the floor. The movie captured the atmosphere and authenticity of that moment perfectly. Hoosier, the greatest sports movie of all time!

[@rockvilleraven]

Bought the deluxe version DVD 😊of Hoosiers with the real life video of the Championship game in then state of the art black and white

[@trout5374]

Pretty winning shot Good jump, nice form, perfect release

[@markmury6934]

Great sports movie. Up there w Victory.

[@jeagles1418]

This is so beautifully done. Thank you!

[@buckodonnghaile4309]

We had it on tape, must have watched it 50 times at the cottage in Canada. Phenomenal movie.

[@jasong428]

Back in 2016-17 I worked for this family fathered by this 83 year old gentleman who I kinda helped take care of. He watched Hoosiers on DVD every....day....

[@elliottlaughlin7551]

My brother in law rip from Indiana went back to his high school. Kids came out of class rooms to get his autograph. They won regionals I think. Because his name was up in the gym he was a legend. Nothing like Indiana basketball.

[@buckzx12r]

Same thingt happened here in illinois,1952.Hebron,with only 16 males in the school,won the Illinois state championship.Those days are gone forever,because were multi clas here now,too.

[@georgesouthwick7000]

The Milan basketball team wasn’t quite the underdog that the movie portrayed. They finished 4th. in the state tournament the year before and returned all 5 starters for the 1953-1954 season.

[@nelsonmcatee3721]

I was just discussing that with my cousin who's from West Lafayette. Crosstown Bronchos won it his junior year in high school.

[@buckzx12r]

This was the greatyest sports movie ever made.Ive watched it 50 times,and am still glued to the tv when i watch.Those were thye golden days of high school basketvball.

[@SteveSmith-hh2ni]

what a great movie!

[@user-ii5ei7wl6h]

I had a friend (closer to my father's age) who was rural mail carrier in Columbus, Indiana after WWII, and a big basketball fan. One day, after seeing the "Hoosiers" movie, I asked him about it ; he said it was faithful to the time period, but, more importantly, he had actually been at the championship game! WOW!! for 1 degree of separation.

[@jerrymeadows5059]

Thank you. This is a very good piece.

[@edgardeese]

I know everything there is to know about the greatest movie ever made!

[@mr.intensity2685]

I have spent many hours online reading about this movie. The blonde cheerleader in the movie is the sister of the guy who played "Ollie."

[@jeffgarmon1]

Dennis Hopper was excellent in the movie!

[@scottsinclair2894]

Brad Long played my favorite character in the movie

[@buckzx12r]

This is a great video!

[@derekmarshall4385]

Well done

[@stevehartman1730]

I'm a hi school basketball junkie. I'd go to 6 or more games a week. Before the season started I'd watch Hoosiers every year

[@richardkeller3154]

You might notice that in the state of Ohio (just next door to Indiana, and 'almost' as basketball-mad as the Hoosiers), there is currently a question put forth by the OHSAA to allow a school to 'opt up' to Div I in the tournament. Still keeping the four-class system in place. Why? Because the Div IV school, Richmond Heights, in the 2022-2023 season, after all was said and done, was rated by Max Preps (and others, including myself given they had beaten several of the top rated bigger schools from Div I, II, and III, and a 49 game winning streak over two seasons) was ranked the best team in the State of Ohio. If this passes, it might actually be possible for a 'small school' to win the 'state championship' again.

[@jamesholmes3499]

Awesome!

[@anthonytaylor7327]

An Excellent movie.

[@davesurber1807]

Sent on to Scottsville buds who loved it. Making great progress on bathroom and it looks great. Will be a month before we have glass panel and doors

[@tylerfoss3346]

Gene Hackman told his fellow actors on the film set that he thought 'Hoosiers' was going to be a giant box office bomb.

[@mr.intensity2685]

There's a KZbin video where the director of "Hoosiers" mentions that. Watch the movie again and look for Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper sitting on the bench as one of the songs from the soundtrack is playing as they boys are going up and down the court, and you'll see Dennis laughing and but you never heard what was said. Hackman, disgusted with the way things were going, said to Hopper, "Dennis, I hope you've invested well because we're never going to work again after this!" 😂 Dennis Hopper went on to win the Oscar for his portrayal of "Shooter", and it revitalized his career!

[@tylerfoss3346]

@@mr.intensity2685 thank you for that back story to one of my favorite movies!

[@stevehartman1730]

I've got to go to Milan age 70 bucket list

[@jameshopkins6853]

The best

[@fredperry9360]

Hoosier's is by far the greatest sports movie ever. Rudy is my second choice. I watch both of these movies often.

[@546cowboy6]

You know I grew up in the 1950's and1960's as a 7th grader we did not even have a gym until the eighth grade so we practiced and played in gyms that were either grade schools, or long empty, even some in a lunch area, the ceilings were low and a lot of times your shot would hit the ceiling. Most did not even have stands and if they did the lines were right at the chairs, bleachers or the walls. The High school I graduated from had a gym the town was maybe a tenth the size of Milan we played one game there the rest were at a larger schools gym. I can remember one time for the state tournament regional's we just went , not to play at Purdue. That must have been like them going to Butler Fieldhouse.

[@mbgrocott7115]

Just one question baffles me about this movie: Why is Old Glory hung incorrectly in all the gym scenes? The field of stars is supposed to be in upper left regardless if hung horizontally or vertically. Still, Hoosiers is one of my top movie favorites. By the way, that's saying a lot coming from a wrestling coach, which I am.

[@MRBARBERSHOPGLEN]

MY FAVORITE MOVIE

[@fuzzybutkus8970]

What a bunch of great young old dudes. I’m 10 years younger and nowhere near as active.

[@johnu1100]

Not the nostalgia-laced popular point of view, but most folks who watched that game on any of its formats will tell you that McCreary, the Muncie coach, got badly outcoached in that game. I can't imagine what his players thought. Putting pressure on Plump was so obvious that the lack of it is just dreadful decision making. The only way Milan wins this game is for the Muncie team to stand back and let it happen.

[@marklovelace297]

Okay, I will watch Hoosiers again for the 87thelevenhundreth time!

[@tomservo5607]

What about the Picket Fence? Was that one of their go to plays? How could they forget about the ole’ Picket Fence??

[@johannesswillery7855]

The Picket Fence is money!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Sonic7andscape]

ACTUALLY a small town did do it before and in Indiana no less! Wingate Indiana!

[@Sonic7andscape]

Milan was legit and 2 players had pro careers in NBA.

[@luddite4change449]

@@Sonic7andscape If you look at the wall of the Milan gym at 0:38, you see the banner from them being in the Finals the previous year. They were obviously a strong team.

[@nelsonmcatee3721]

And tiny Thorntown did it again the year after Wingate. The area around Purdue; Boone, Tippecanoe, and Montgomery counties had the best basketball in the US back then

[@windmilldoc]

Hoosiers #1. But what is the #2 sports movie?

[@bobbypaluga4346]

I’d love to see a feature film about BYU football’s national championship, the last time a non big boy university won the natty.

[@edwardhuster8466]

Since ihsaa went 4 class system. The tournament doesn't draw as many fans. I think 2 or 3 class would work better si ce only around 400 schools play basketball including catholic and other christan schools. 4 state Champs is 2 too many.

[@knolltop314]

May have something there.

[@anthonyhart9400]

This movie was based on the best of American values. The real Milan team was greater than the movie version. I grew up in the 50s in the same environment and played basketball. It was a great life… much better than what is lived now. America was great then and can be again if those 50s values become our foundation again.

[@godfreyzilla8608]

@@anthonyhart9400 : Same for me. I played high school basketball in The Region (NW Indiana) in the mid 60's. Things were pretty much similar to the depictions in the film. However, be careful what you wish for. Some of those 50's values you speak of were were not especially kind for everyone. Nonetheless, I feel sorry for today's kids who have to deal with all of the problems of today's "values". My eight year old grandson is quite the player on a local municipal team in Illinois. Recently he asked his father, my son, how he could go about applying for the NBA. A little humility is in order here.

[@brianjones7660]

notice they didn't use original-type basket supports in the movie like you see in the t.v. footage of the game....

[@Roger-do1dy]

I always wanted to play in hinkle, its magical place, I never gave myself a chance to play at hinkle, but if I did I was going to drop 60 on someone

[@kerryfitzgerald313]

😅THEY SHOULD MAKE A RICK MOUNT FILM ...❤

[@ricknelms]

"I'll make it" and he did

[@kennethenright4823]

Picket fence, picket fence!!!!!!

[@donalgoan5083]

The one thing that Milan didn't have to deal with that Remember the Titans had to deal with was that a black high school merged with a white school and all that racial tension, So I put Remember the Titans on an equal with Hoosiers. Both were great sports movies.

[@FermiFred]

Worst thing the State of Indiana has ever done was go to a multi-class basketball tournament.

[@drowe2]

Loved this movie and this vid. Basketball has evolved so much that I bet an average 8th grade team would beat them

[@Mister8224]

Doubt it.

[@drowe2]

Obviously you haven’t watched basketball lately

[@MichaelMurphy-kj3xf]

"Evolved?" Meaning they allow carries, traveling, palming and flopping?" 😭

[@drowe2]

I mean they didn’t even have a jump shot then let alone a 6’6” player in front of them. If you don’t agree it’s night & day different then maybe basketball is not that big where you are

[@MichaelMurphy-kj3xf]

This guy keeps deleting comments

[@bradlott3284]

Anytime a group of white farm boys beat a team full of brothas it’s a great story!

[@christopherrosado6053]

" I love you guys " ( Epilouge/quote) Gene. Hackman. great film and ending with team photo in rafters 🎉🎉

[@whiskeymonk4085]

That was the best line of the whole flic.

[@jeffgarmon1]

Yes it was. I also really liked the moment the priest said a prayer with team before the game talking about david slaying goliath. @@whiskeymonk4085