indiana: newcastle and knightstown

I grew up in Indiana. By definition, that generally means I like basketball. Or, at the very least, that I'm aware of the sport. Sure, I've got a few friends who barely know what the game is, but in general, most people from Indiana are basketball fans.
In Indiana, we take high school basketball particularly seriously. Since many of the towns in Indiana are quite small, (much of the state is very agricultural,) a high school basketball game on Friday night is often the only thing to do in town. 

Dad and I decided to make a day trip out of basketball attractions in the state. Our first stop was the Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame, in Newcastle, Indiana. It's not too far off the highway, really easy to find. (There are signs on the highway, and google maps finds it too.)
You notice two things when you pull into the parking lot. One, a lot of flags, and two, a giant basketball shoe. Obviously, I took photos of both. The building looks new, but I forgot to get a history of the place. 

There is an entrance fee, but it's low. $3 I think. The money goes to general upkeep. The people who work there are basketball fans, and very chatty.  They were particularly impressed that I live in Ukraine, but was visiting Indiana. I thought it was funny.
For most visitors, the first thing you do is watch an introductory video about high school basketball in Indiana. An explanation of how it affects many aspects of life in the state, as well as showing off some of the basketball heroes over the years. The system for showing this video is brand new, so they were still figuring out how it works.

They told us that we were some of the last to see the old video, they would only be showing the new video starting soon.  I kinda wish we'd been able to see both.  Anywho, I liked the video. Since I grew up in Indiana, it was fun to try to pick out people or teams I recognized.
This is when I mention that my high school boys basketball team won the last single class basketball tournament. 1997. Bloomington High School North, Go Cougars!
The first part of the Hall of Fame shows team photos and school penants of the state champions over the years. I really like looking at old photos, because you can see how fashion changes. You can see how the 'typical' team photo changes over the years. They used to wear such short shorts, whereas now the 'shorts' reach so far down.

I took a photo of two penants next to each other. One said Milan, 1954. The other said Crispus Attucks, 1955. The movie "Hoosiers" is partly based on the state championship team of Milan. Crispus Attucks isn't as well known as a school, but in 1955 they had a player who was later known as Big O. Oscar Robertson.
Walking through the Hall of Fame we saw old letter jackets, cheerleading uniforms, more team photos. We saw a pair of basketball shoes that had been bronzed. We saw photos taken during games. We saw uniforms worn over the years. There were names of many players and teams over the years. You can walk through as quickly or as slowly as you like.
One sign that caught my notice was a piece of paper that lists the biggest high school basketball arenas in the country, by seating capacity. Of the top ten in the country, nine of them are in Indiana. The outlier is in Dallas, Texas.

After leaving the Hall of Fame, I drove to Knightstown. Another relatively small town in Indiana. I'm guessing most people have never heard of it. I hadn't, not before this day trip.
What many people have heard of is a movie called Hoosiers. This movie is regularly on the top 5 list of sports movies of all time. (Another classic sports movie is Breaking Away, maybe I should make a day trip out of that one too?) Hoosiers is the story of the state championship boys basketball season of 1954 in Milan, Indiana. In the movie, the school is in a town called Hickory, and the team mascot is the Husker. (Huskers are corn people, there is a LOT of corn in Indiana.)

The movie was released in November of 1986, with the character of Coach Norman Dale played by Gene Hackman.
Much of the movie was filmed in Knightstown. The cool thing is that you can still visit the gym in which 'Hickory' played its home games.  Nothing has been changed. They've even kept the same floor, with its dead spots. There is only one rule: you're not allowed to wear street shoes. You have to have sports shoes (running shoes, basketball shoes, etc.) No heels allowed.

When you walk into this gym, you feel like you're walking into the movie. AWESOME! The stands are still gray, there are still the same signs on the walls, and you see the score of the last 'game' played in the gym, against the fictional school of Terhune. There are basketballs available for visitors who want to shoot around. Despite growing up in Indiana, and playing a few (too many) seasons of Girls Club basketball, i'm terrible at the sport. Even so, I had fun shooting around for a bit. I'm not tall, I can't jump, and I have no coordination, but it was fun.
One of the volunteers showed Dad and me the locker room, which has also been kept as it was. Super different from how high school locker rooms are now. On display were a couple pairs of Chucks, the shoes teams wore back then. There was also a green chalkboard, some people had written some of the more famous quotes from the movie on the board.

After playing around for a while, Dad and I moved back into the lobby. They sell postcards and t-shirts. Of course I bought postcards :) I couldn't help it, I bought a t-shirt too.
After driving away from the Knightstown Community Center (as it is actually known) Dad and I stopped for snacks (= ice cream) at a local place. Yum.
Then we drove back to Bloomington.