When the IU men’s basketball team takes to the court tomorrow to play Michigan, they’ll do so with the knowledge that their coach is on the way out. According to a report in today’s IU Indiana Daily Student newspaper and confirmed by IU athletics director Scott Dolson, men’s basketball head coach Mike Woodson will retire at the end of this season.
Indiana will begin searching for a new head coach for the third time in the past decade. In his four years at IU, Woodson has a 77-49 record with eight games left in this season.
Woodson, 66, played under Bobby Knight from 1976 to 1980 and scored 2,061 career points. He played in the NBA for 11 years and coached for 21.
Now speculation is circulating that a $100 million dollar deal may be in the works for Auburn head coach and former USI coach Bruce Pearl.
STATEMENT FROM VICE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS SCOTT DOLSON ON THE STATUS OF IU MEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH 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.
Please come home Bruce…….