IU Artifacts

Collector’s note: Indiana began wearing Medalist Sand-Knit uniforms at the start of the 1976-77 season. This would continue into the 1981-82 season, with Indiana wearing mesh material jerseys and shorts for the first time. 

For some reason, early 1980s jerseys of the mesh material do not come up for auction often. In fact, I’ve only personally seen about 3-4 varieties of Medalist Sand-Knit mesh IU game jerseys through the 1986-87 season. 

Following Indiana’s 1987 championship season, Champion brand uniforms would be worn by Indiana. John Flowers, who arrived in Bloomington as a promising freshman from Fort Wayne and was a solid contributor his first season, would transfer from Indiana after the 1982-83 season.

At the culmination of the 1981 season, with the Indiana Hoosiers raising the NCAA Championship trophy up in celebration, fans reflected on a memorable season. 

Coach Bob Knight had won his second NCAA title at Indiana (the school’s fourth title overall), and his Indiana squad had produced one of the greatest season turnarounds in program history: starting off with a concerning 7-5 record overall, to winning a Big Ten Conference title, then winning their final 10 games of the season, including the NCAA final over North Carolina, 63-50 in Philadelphia.

In the coming weeks and months, major changes would occur to the Indiana roster. Not only would Indiana graduate five seniors including Glen Grunwald, Phil Isenbarger, Eric Kirchner, Steve Risley, and Ray Tolbert, but star guard and All-American Isiah Thomas announced his intention to forgo his final two seasons at Indiana to declare for the NBA Draft. Tragedy would also strike the IU squad as Landon Turner, who’s excellent performance during Big Ten play and the NCAA Tournament was pivotal for Indiana’s success, had been paralyzed by a car accident over the summer prior to his senior season.

Despite the numerous setbacks, optimism was present for the 1981-82 season.  Returning starters Randy Wittman and Ted Kitchel would anchor a Hoosier squad with five freshman: Winston Morgan, Rick Rowray, Uwe Blab (it should be noted that Blab was the tallest player in IU basketball history), Dan Dakich, and John Flowers.  Junior Jim Thomas, a key guard on the ’81 Championship team, would also be expected to take a leadership role for the young squad.

As the defending NCAA champions, the Hoosiers would be playing with a target on their backs. Not since the 1973 UCLA Bruins had a college basketball program defended their title.

Indiana would begin the season with victories over Miami (OH) and Notre Dame at Assembly Hall. Kitchel would lead the way for the Hoosiers in the scoring department in both victories, scoring 24 and 22 points respectfully while Flowers added 11 in the Notre Dame victory.

The Hoosiers would struggle away from the friendly confines of Assembly Hall, losing handily to the Kentucky Wildcats 85-69. Following their first lost of the season, Indiana would reel off four-straight victories over the likes of Colorado State, Penn State, Tulane, and Kansas State before heading east to play in the ECAC Tournament at Madison Square Garden. The 11th-ranked Hoosiers would fall to Villanova, then drop the tournament consolation game to Kansas, 71-61. (Kansas used a major advantage at the foul line, connecting on 21 of 24 attempts compared to Indiana’s 5-7, to aid in the victory.)

Indiana would enter Big Ten play on January 7, 1982 with a 6-3 record and on the road against the Michigan State Spartans. Indiana would struggle handling the ball, missing the guard play of Isaiah Thomas, and drop their conference opener 65-68. Indiana traveled to Northwestern two days later and would drop their fourth in a row, 75-61. Northwestern would snap a 20-game losing streak to Indiana with the victory. IU now stood 6-5 overall.

With two home games in a row ahead against Michigan and Ohio State, the Hoosiers were able to right the ship with two straight victories. The victory over the Buckeyes would snap Ohio State’s nine-game winning streak. Kitchel continued his solid play going for 20 points, while Jim Thomas added 17. Thomas had a scare toward the end of the game after being fouled hard by OSU guard Troy Taylor.  Thomas would hit the floor hard and suffer a cut to the face, while Coach Bob Knight received a technical foul responding to the incident.

Free throw shooting would be key for Indiana in their victory against Illinois, 54-53, on January 21st. IU would go 16-17 from the charity stripe in the come-from-behind win. Kitchel would lead Indiana with 22 points. 

Two more victories in a row would come for Indiana over Purdue and Wisconsin. Indiana now stood 5-2 in conference play. Indiana’s win streak would stop, however, as the Hoosiers lost to Minnesota, 69-62. Even in the loss, Coach Bob Knight was very impressed with 7’3″ freshman center Uwe Blab, who kept Minnesota center Randy Bruer scoreless and without any rebounds in the second half. Blab would have a bright future in Bloomington.

IU would drop another to Iowa on the road, 62-40, before bouncing back with a victory at Williams Arena, 58-55 over Minnesota. Blab would earn the start against the Golden Gophers and would not disappoint going for 18 points and keeping Bruer to only nine points, his lowest performance of the season.

Indiana returned to Assembly Hall and defeated Illinois 73-60 behind 34 points from Kitchel. Illinois head coach Lou Henson made it clear in his post-game speech that he was glad he would only have to face Kitchel, who he called the best shooter in the conference, only one more year.

A 2-2 record over their next four games left Indiana out of title contention in the Big Ten, as they now stood 9-6. Indiana still hoped for a shot at an NCAA berth, and finishing the season with three-straight victories (Michigan, Northwestern, and Minnesota) would secure it. Indiana stood 18-9 overall, and would earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament where they would be the #5 seed in the Midwest Regional, facing 12th seed Robert Morris in their opener. 

Indiana would never be challenged by the ECAC South Champions, winning 94-62.  Randy Wittman would lead the way with 16 points, while Uwe Blab, Tony Brown, and Jim Thomas each added 13 points.

Despite easily winning their opening round contest, Indiana’s hopes (although slim) to defend as NCAA Champions were ended when Indiana faced Alabama-Birmingham on March 13th. A stealth defensive plan by UAB shut down shooting opportunities for Ted Kitchel and Randy Wittman and Indiana was unable to respond, falling 80-70. Guard Jim Thomas was the only Hoosier to score in double figures with 12.

For a team that began the season at 6-5, earning an NCAA berth and finishing tied for second in the conference was a pleasant suprise for Hoosier fans. Ted Kitchel, who averaged 19.6 ppg, earned All-American and First Team All-Big Ten honors while Randy Wittman would earn Academic All-American and All-Big Ten honors respectfully.

Collector’s note: I have always been obsessed with the older large versions of Indiana basketball team photos. I can vaguely remember the larger hand-tinted versions (usually around 54″x 36″ or larger) hanging in Assembly Hall and in some local Bloomington businesses. Older versions were also known to be hanging in both the Old Fieldhouse (now Wildermuth) and Gladstein Fieldhouse.

Indiana University would also produce similar hand-tinted versions for other sports including football, baseball, swimming, and track and field. A number of these I have come across in recent years were heavily water damaged. This variation, complete in its original frame and under the original glass, displays beautifully still to this day.

Perhaps no other team in Indiana University basketball history began a season so poorly, yet wound up ending the season with so much success, as the 1957-58 Indiana Hoosiers did.

I know many Hoosier fans may bring up the 7-5 record of the 1980-81 team that would eventually claim the NCAA Championship, and that’s a fair point. However, how many Indiana teams can you recall losing six of their first seven games and still going on to win a Big Ten title? [Read more…] about 1957-58 Hand-Tinted Indiana Big Ten Champions Team Photo

Collector’s note: IU schedules have always been one of my favorite items to collect. I, like many in the Hoosier fanbase I’m sure, would look forward to the new pocket schedule each year and record the game-by-game results as the season progressed. In terms of collecting, older IU basketball schedules (especially those that are pre-1960) have become harder and harder to find. The older varieties were often issued as ink blotters, a very practical idea during the ink pen era. 

This 1914 example, however, is very unique, and probably the most detailed IU schedule variety I have ever seen. Additionally, it is extremely rare, and almost impossible to find any IU schedule from the 1910’s as many were simply tossed out at season’s end.

I wish to go “old school” for this post, as I feel it is important that Hoosier Nation be well-informed about the early era of IU basketball. 

It may not have been an era of much success, but needless to say, the origins of our beloved program are still full of interesting storylines and even more interesting figures. [Read more…] about 1914 Indiana University Basketball Guide

Collector’s note: The 2000-01 season would be not only a season of change at the head coaching position, but also one with uniforms. 

For a second-straight season, Indiana would begin the season wearing Ripon Athletics uniforms. However, Indiana was in the process of an apparel deal with Nike, which would impact the IU basketball team as well. Halfway through the 2001 Big Ten season, Indiana would change from the Ripon uniforms to a mesh style Nike uniform. 

Jerseys from the early 2000s do not seem to come up for sale often, even though many were liquidated during the IU Athletics apparel sale in the winter of 2001.

Cloud of uncertainty

A cloud of uncertainty fell on the state of the Indiana University basketball program following the dismissal of head coach Bob Knight on September 10, 2000.  [Read more…] about 2000-2001 Kirk Haston Game-Used Basketball Jersey

Collector’s note: Press passes are a unique piece of memorabilia, as many did not survive. Most often, passes were tossed after each game as a member of the media would receive a new pass each game. More often than not, those that did survive tend to be more from football games than basketball games. IU basketball press passes especially from the 1970’s and prior are rare and hard to come by.

With the departure of Jay Edwards (declaring for the NBA Draft), who was Indiana’s leading scorer at 20 ppg and a First Team All-American selection, the 1989-90 Hoosiers struggled to adjust. It was one of the youngest teams in the Bob Knight era. 

Fortunately, a strong crop of sophomores and returning veterans would be able to bounce back. [Read more…] about 1991 Indiana v Michigan Press Pass

Collector’s note: Painted trophy balls have been around since the late 1800s, and have been used to commemorate sporting achievements. Indiana University began painting game balls from victories in baseball, basketball, and football in the early 1900s, through the 1930s. These would be first displayed in the old “Trophy Room” upstairs in the old Men’s Gymnasium (now part of the IU School of Public Health), and were later relocated to the Commons of the Indiana Memorial Union.

Indiana University trophy balls occasionally come up for auction, but are scarce. This is especially true for footballs, and even more for baseballs. In my time as a collector, I have only seen around ten footballs, and only two baseballs.

The first 21 seasons of Indiana basketball are not often referred to as the “Glory Years.” [Read more…] about 1922 Indiana v Northwestern Game Ball Trophy