Indiana coach Mike Woodson is not expected to return next season, a person who knows the decision told the Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no formal announcement has been announced.
Woodson, 66, has been under fire for most of the past two seasons because his team is not doing well. Indiana hasn’t played last year’s NCAA Championship for the first time since Woodson returned to the 2021-22 season, and they may miss out on 68 teams again this season.
Indiana enters Saturday’s showdown against former 24 Michigan State and coach Dusty May, a former student manager for the Hoosiers, who lost four consecutive times. The Hoosiers are the pre-season draft pick this season, ranking second in the Big Ten.
The news comes two days after Indiana never recovered from Wisconsin’s No. 21’s 27-4 deficit, prompting Woodson to question his team’s mental resilience.
“Our game was like really competing for 40 minutes at Purdue, and then we came here and lay eggs based on how we played,” Woodson said Tuesday. “You found the team on Route 20 , it will be hard to get back to them. Again, that’s mine, man. We’re pushing, pulling and scratching, just trying to get what we can get. The guys didn’t join again tonight.”
The move comes months after sports department officials made important names, images and portrait investments to help Woodson win.
Instead, the Hoosiers suffered a series of turnovers, including family losses in Maryland, Indiana’s lead was late, and Woodson said last Friday that he could not get the attention of guard Myles Rice to call the time floor as he played. In less than 10 seconds. The result was: Rice dropped the ball in 79-76, resulting in Purdue’s free throw.
“Like that, we care about Galloway, that’s the guy who’s burning us,” Boilermaker coach Matt Painter said Friday. “He’s on the edge, he’s doing dramas.” , he is the person who feels. We are lucky.”
Continuous turnovers led fans to participate in the home game, shouting at Woodson’s strike.
Indiana (14-9, 5-7 Big Ten) ranked 14th in the AP top 25 in late November, but only ranked 65th in the game that entered Tuesday night.
Woodson posted a 20-win season in the first two seasons of the Hoosiers, beating Wyoming in a March 2022 game to Indiana’s first NCAA Championship win since 2015. The Hoosiers are also in their first win over Kent State – March 2023 game. They are Indiana’s first championship since 2015.
But he entered this weekend with a record of 77-49 in four seasons, with no Big Ten Championships and no 16 sweet appearances.
Before coming to Bloomington, Woodson spent his entire coaching career in the NBA and served as two head coaches. In nine seasons, he finished six of the Atlanta Hawks as the NBA head coach, six with the New York Knicks.
