Mike Woodson took the Indiana job for one reason: to win and to win big.
The Hoosiers haven’t been relevant for some time now. In fact, they haven’t reached the national championship since 2002. Woodson is going to try to end the drought.
Woodson met with reporters on Monday to discuss his aspirations for Indiana basketball. In doing so, he revealed that the only reason he took the job was to get the Hoosiers “back on top.”
“I came back here for one reason and one reason only: To put this team back on top,” Woodson said,
New Indiana coach Mike Woodson: “I came back here for one reason and one reason only: To put this team back on top. I know there’s a lot of work to do.” #iubb
— Jeff Rabjohns (@JeffRabjohns) September 27, 2021
” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>according to Peegs.com’s Jeff Rabjohns. “I know there’s a lot of work to do.”
Mike Woodson takes over for Archie Miller. Miller had the Hoosiers on the verge of earning a bid to the 2021 NCAA Tournament, but Indiana basketball dropped its last six games of the season.
The good news for Woodson is that he inherits a roster capable of getting to March Madness. But it won’t be an overnight fix. Woodson’s top priority has to be recruiting more elite prospects.
Regardless of roster limits, Woodson is never going to limit his team’s expectations.
“I’ll never sell a team on ‘You can’t,’” Woodson told Big Ten Network’s basketball analyst Andy Katz. “That’s just not my nature. I remember going into Atlanta, and that team was the youngest team in the history of the NBA. I just won an NBA title and I’m selling them on making the playoffs. We didn’t make it, but you’ve got to push them to win the Big Ten title. I’m not coaching for anything else. You gotta try to win a Big Ten title and get into tournament play. That’s what it’s all about.”
Good luck, Coach Woodson. We can’t wait to see what the Hoosiers have in store this upcoming season.