Indiana is certainly known for its basketball. Home to the Indiana Pacers, Indiana and Purdue University basketball, some of the country's best high school basketball and even our own Little Giants.
Little boys pick up a ball at an early age and shoot at hoops on the side of barns in the country to the city playgrounds. Many will say, without hesitation, that high school basketball is the heart of Indiana.
Since the adaptation of the Indiana State Tournament in 1911, no team has won the hearts of people nationwide like the 1954 Milan Indians. The story has been loosely adapted into one of the top sports movies of all time, "Hoosiers,"
While the movie took some Hollywood-style liberties with the facts, Hoosiers captured the flavor and excitement of one small school winning an improbably state title. It was 12 young men from a school of only 162 students in southeastern Indiana that achieved a feat many thought impossible. And 51 years later, the story still holds a place in the hearts of basketball fans all over the world. Old-timers and basketball enthusiasts alike still talk about Bobby Plump's game-winning shot that shocked the basketball world.
The state champion Indians have not only demonstrated determination and a love for the game of basketball, but they have created a piece of history that Hoosiers hold dear.
Lanam '06 is from Crawfordsville, Indiana.