INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana will hire former star player Mike Woodson as its new coach, a person with knowledge of the decision confirmed to The Associated Press on Sunday.
The person requested anonymity because no official announcement had been made.
Woodson has spent 22 of the past 23 seasons coaching in the NBA. He was head coach of the Atlanta Hawks from 2004-10 and the New York Knicks from 2012-14. He went 315-365 in those nine seasons.
And though he’s never coached at the college level, he has two attributes Hoosiers fans have craved for decades — a connection to three-time national championship coach Bob Knight and a name Indiana fans revere. He also brings something else athletic director Scott Dolson said he wanted — familiarity with an NBA-style game that would appeal to today’s high school and college players.
Woodson didn’t play on any of Knight’s title teams but he did graduate as the school’s second-leading scorer and the second player in school history to top 2,000 points. He still ranks fifth with 2,061.
He replaces Archie Miller, who was fired March 15.
Indiana had been considered a potentially prime destination if Loyola coach Porter Moser considers leaving Loyola after leading the Ramblers on another NCAA Tournament run. This move effectively tables that possibility for now.
Woodson will be the sixth Hoosiers coach since Knight was fired in September 2000.
