Sharing Hoosier Hysteria

(Me, Bobby Plum of Milan and Butler fame, Coach Shane Matzen from Chesterfield, MO)

I realize that coaching in Indiana is a special place.  Basketball here is different, it just is.  I realize also that most people think that about their own specific places are special, but until you have been to Indiana, you just don't understand.  We have a high school gym that seats 9,000 people.  I think 15 of the largest 16 high school gyms in the world are located in Indiana with towns whose populations are much smaller than other major cities and the size of their gyms are double if not more.

I meet coaches each summer from other states and now other countries, who ask about Indiana basketball.  They ask about the history, the gyms, the teams...they know about our state, our game.  One guy in particular stands out.  Shane Matzen who lives in Chesterfield, MO and is the coach of Marquette HS there.  They have over 2,000 students at his school and they have a very good team year in and year out.  Yet the gym holds around 1,300 people.  They can't hold a convocation with the whole school which is the norm to most people. 

I met Coach Matzen at Murray State University a few summers back and he started asking me about some of the gyms in Indiana.  I felt like he and I hit it off pretty well and stayed in contact though the years.  Coach Matzen does a great job and one of the things he does is have his own t.v. show online.  Marquette Mustangs: Mustang Mania TV show He invited me to be interviewed for the show (watch Hoosier Hysteria episode )when he came on a small visit of Indiana.  What an honor it was for me and I got to tag along and share Hoosier Hysteria with people who were seeing it for the first time.

First, we went to Bobby Plump's restaurant Last Shot.  He interviewed him and I got to meet him and have a picture taken.  Then it was off to Hinkle Fieldhouse, The Hall of Fame, Hoosiers Gym, and New Castle HS gym.  It was Coach, his mom and dad, and two sons that I got to be with and share our state treasures with.  Hinkle where Butler plays and is in the movie Hoosiers, The Hall of Fame, you have to visit it to understand, Hoosiers Gym where the Huskers of Hickory played their home games and then NC gym...the largest gym in the world.

(Coach Matzen and family at the world's largest high school gym in New Castle, IN)

I gave them some Henryville t-shirts and after a day of fun, I headed home.  Then I got an email from Coach Matzen's mother, Gloria.  She and her husband Merle were going to be in the area and wondered if I could show them the gym at HHS.  Of course, I would love to do that.  Sharing not just Indiana basketball, but my own gym....sure thing!  My wife and children and I gave them the grand tour of HHS and then sent them on their way to Bloomington, IN where they were able to get into Assembly Hall.  On the way back, they stopped at Springs Valley, HS to see where Larry Bird played.  She said a secretary allowed them in and gave them a tour.

(Merle and Gloria Matzen at H.G. Furnish Gymnasium in Henryville IN...seating= 2,400)

Sharing our heritage is something that I love to do.  I have been to most of the places that are special here many times and I wouldn't say I take them for granted, but I have lost that little kid aweness of the places...somewhat.  But I get that back when I take people to these places and look at their reactions.  To see them smile and look overwhelmed reminds me why it is special to coach high school basketball in Indiana.