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BREAKING: Indiana basketball officially announces Mike Woodson retirement

Indiana basketball has officially released a statement of Mike Woodson announcinghis retirement as head coach.

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Indiana basketball, Mike Woodson
Indiana basketball has officially released a statement of Mike Woodson announcinghis retirement as head coach. (Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports)

Indiana basketball has officially announced that Mike Woodson plans to retire at the end of the 2024-25 season. This new comes after multiple reports from last night that suggested Woodson would step down as head coach at the conclusion of this season for Indiana basketball.

Woodson’s tenure as Indiana basketball head coach has been a rocky one over the past 4 season. After a promising start in his first two seasons at head coach, Woodson failed to lead Indiana basketball to make the NCAA Tournament in the 2023-24 season and is on track to doing so this current season, as well.

Mike Woodson played for Indiana basketball from 1976–1980 under legendary head coach Bob Knight. He was named an All-American in both 1979 and 1980 and was voted the 1980 Big Ten Player of the Year and the Chicago Tribune’s Silver Basketball Award Winner. His 19.8 points per game average is tied (Calbert Cheaney) for the second highest by a Hoosier who played four seasons in college.

Below is the full release from Indiana Athletic Director Scott Dolson on Mike Woodson:

During a meeting with Coach Woodson on Wednesday, he informed me he wanted to step down as our program’s head coach at the end of the current season. 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. At an appropriate time, Coach Woodson will articulate his feelings about his decision and his experiences these last four years.

It’s clear to me from our discussions in the last several days that his No. 1 priority is for the attention to be off him, and instead focused on uniting Hoosier Nation in support of our student-athletes, coaches, and, most importantly, the program. We still have much to play for this season as we prepare for Saturday’s game against Michigan and the remainder of the 2024-25 season, and we want to encourage Hoosier fans to rally around the program and support it in the same positive way that Hoosier fans did during Mike’s All-America and Big Ten MVP playing career.

Coach Woodson is a class act. During the last four years, he has led the program during a transformational time in college athletics and helped us become a national leader in evolving areas including NIL and the Transfer Portal. No one loves IU Basketball more than he does. 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. In pursuit of that goal, it was important to him that he bring back other legendary Hoosier players such as Calbert Cheaney, Randy Wittman, and Jordan Hulls, all of whom share his love and passion for this program. That’s a group of individuals that combined for 375 wins at IU, seven Big Ten championships, two Final Fours, and a national title.

With this decision made, Coach Woodson and I share the desire to see Hoosier Nation unite beginning on Saturday afternoon in support of these players, coaches, and program.

SEE ALSO: Dusty May returning to Indiana basketball to ‘try to win a freaking basketball game, and that’s it.’

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Kyler Staley is a Basketball Recruiting Analyst for Hoosier Illustrated, a comprehensive site covering news, updates and recruiting for Indiana University athletics. Kyler has been in the basketball recruiting industry since 2019 and is a credentialed media member. He has covered Indiana since 2021 while continuing to also work for Prep Hoops Indiana. He has previously worked for Rivals.

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