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Through excitement and disappointment, how will Mike Woodson’s time at IU basketball be remembered? Exactly that — a mixed bag and that’s okay.

A season that began with high expectations and lofty goals ends with disappointment and heartache — much like Mike Woodson’s tenure at IU basketball.

Published

3 minutes ago

March 17, 2025

Alec Lasley

A season that began with high expectations and lofty goals ends with disappointment and heartache -- much like Mike Woodson's tenure at IU basketball.

The last four years was a delicate time for IU basketball. It was an era that brought hope, expectations and high goals. Mike Woodson returned to the sidelines and set out to accomplish a few things — bridging the gap between the young and the old Indiana fan base, win Big Ten titles and compete for National Championships and make IU nationally relevant again. So after four years, and a bit of an abrupt ending, how does this fan base navigate the next few weeks while putting a bow on what was such a promising time in the program?

After five years without appearing in the NCAA Tournament, the bare minimum for Woodson was getting back to playing in March. That he did, immediately. Despite a First Four appearance, the Hoosiers advanced and got the monkey off the program’s back in year one. He followed that up with a return visit in year two — this time advancing to the Round of 32 before falling to eventual Final Four-bound Miami.

So, through two years it was the bare minimum, but something had to be set as the absolute standard for a program with such rich history – albeit in the deep past. But, the argument can be made that his second year was a disappointment in the sense that the team didn’t make it deeper in March. It was headlined by first-round draft pick and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jalen Hood-Schifino and then All-American and generational college player in Trayce Jackson-Davis, a second-round selection. The roster was deep, and it had very good role players up and down.

Again though, the standard had to be set and Woodson did so by making sure Indiana was being discussed on the second Sunday of March during the bracket reveal.

Then last year — a complete failure in many ways. Whether it was roster construction or failure to adjust scheme or system, it was a year that put doubt in many people’s minds regarding the path forward for IU basketball. Despite having a first-round draft pick in Kel’el Ware, the rest of the roster was poorly put together and it was shown as IU finished 19-14 overall and finished with a four game winning streak at the end of the regular season to get back to .500 (10-10) in Big Ten play.

So entering year four — a critical year — the thought was, if Mike Woodson was able to learn from his mistakes in year three and bring Indiana back to postseason play, it would just be a small blemish on an otherwise very good first four years. Entering the season, by all accounts, Woodson had Indiana set up to be extremely competitive in the Big Ten and nationally. IU was ranked No. 17 in the AP Poll and had a consensus top-3 transfer class coming into Bloomington. The pieces — while still some conflicting opinions on how they fit — looked to be significant upgrades from the year prior. It was also a roster that Woodson proclaimed to be ‘the most talented roster since he’s been at Indiana’.

But it was yet again, another extremely disappointing year and one that clearly showed the inability for Woodson to get this program back to the level it needed to be at — but more importantly, the level he vowed the program would be at.

It was another run at the end of the season to match IU’s record in league play from a year ago, and end with just one less loss, at 19-13. A bubble team that failed to secure another NCAA Tournament spot and a program that has now missed the NCAA Tournament in two straight years, and failed to play in March in 60 percent of the NCAA Tournament’s since 2010 — missing nine of the 15.

Mike Woodson’s record with IU basketball will end at 82-53. Not bad, right? But it’s the losses that continued to mount in critical games that showed Woodson wasn’t able to find a way to get this team to the next level. 39 of the losses were in Big Ten play and out of those 39 losses, 12 were by at least 14 points.

Indiana lost by an average of 18.8 points per game in the last four meetings to Nebraska. IU lost at home to Penn State by 14 last year, 19 to the Nittany Lions the year prior. Indiana lost by 25 in back-to-back games against Iowa and Illinois this year, and 22 to Iowa two years ago. Look outside of the Big Ten, whether it was 14 to Arizona, 22 at Kansas or 16 in the NCAA Tournament against Miami. 20 against UConn at Madison Square Garden a year ago that was followed up with a 28-point loss in Atlanta against Auburn just a few games later. Or the 28 to Louisville then 16 to Gonzaga in the Bahamas earlier this season. Unfortunately, the list goes on and on.

Woodson wanted to make this program nationally relevant again. That was a vow that arguably could’ve been heading in the right direction after year two. But the past two years have come with significant steps back after a few steps forward.

While Woodson clearly underperformed and left boxes checked off in certain areas, the ability to bring together the fan base was checked off. After years of little promise and very little excitement, Assembly Hall had a different buzz. IU basketball had a different buzz. The fans had a different buzz. There was hope, promise and excitement each and every year that this could be the year to end a drought atop the Big Ten or making it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. The older generation was able to get a full circle moment by bringing back the Bob Knight connection to the sidelines. The younger generation was able to see some success again, something it hadn’t seen in quire some time.

But the murky waters of a former player, Indiana icon and one of the few people that could have navigated the IU fan base through the passing of Bob Knight, came to a difficult spot when it was clearly time to move in a different direction. Nobody wanted that, and it was a difficult situation for all parties. But it was one that was needed.

Now, it’s about celebrating the good moments — and there were many good moments — throughout the Mike Woodson era, while understanding that there was a clear underperformance in many areas and an expectation that wasn’t met. Both can be very true — and it’s okay to feel that way.

Did Mike Woodson leave the program in a better spot than when he took it over — that’s the debate for many years and likely will never come to a clear consensus. But there’s one thing that remains true — this fan base still has the passion, love, excitement and joy watching this program succeed, and when it does there is nothing better. But, it also has expectations and if those expectations aren’t met, it’s a difficult conversation to have.

So as Indiana moves into a new, and critically important, era of its basketball program, whomever takes the challenge on truly making this program nationally relevant again will be met with the same lofty standards and ambition from the people who pack one of the most iconic venues in the sport. And, there’s no doubting those standards should stay.

Despite the difficult ending to the once-promising era of IU basketball, it should be met with a new excitement of what’s to come, regardless of how it ended.