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| | Friday, March 30 Chat wrap: Bobby Plump | ||||||
Welcome to ESPN.com's moderated chat room. On Friday, Indiana hoops legend Bobby Plump dropped by to take user questions in chat. Plump, an Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer, scored an unprecedented triple in 1954: a state championship, the Trester Award, and Mr. Basketball. He led tiny Milan to the Indiana state championship hitting the game-winning shot to beat Muncie Central and forever cast Milan as a symbol of hope for small schools everywhere. Jimmy Chitwood in Hoosiers is modeled after Plump and the Hickory team after Milan. You can catch Hoosiers as part of ESPN Reel Classics this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. For more on Reel Classics, check out the upcoming list of movies.
hoopsfan from [198.83.168.4], at 1:32pm ET what did you think of "Hoosiers"? did it capture the spirit of your real-life experience?  Bobby Plump at 1:38pm ET
Number one, I thought that Hoosiers was the best film that I had seen in a long time. Not necessarily because it was loosely based on the Milan Indiana High School team that I played for, but because of the emotions I had watching the film. Frankly, I cried, I laughed and my emotions were up and down during the film. But the film captured what it was like growing up in a small town in Indiana and how important basketball was and is to all the small communities in Indiana. It was their identity, it was something they could point to in pride and everybody supported their local team. It did not completely capture my life. They used parallels in the movie that were similar to Milan, but it was not meant to be a factual reproduction. I believe the reason the movie has been so popular is because it captured the excitement of the '50s and how important some of the simple things in life were. Texas91 from [208.209.205.117], at 1:41pm ET First, let me say that "Hoosiers" is my favorite sports film of all time. The values and spirit depicted in the film are wonderful. It's something that I enjoy watching with my 3 and 5 year old...who both love basketball. Unfortunately - in today's world - Jimmy Chitwood is a better basketball role model than Allen Iverson. My question is "Where are they now?" What happened with your own basketball career after Milan? The other players? The coach? I'm curious where something so inspiring ended up... Thanks! Bobby Plump at 1:49pm ET
Texas 91, That's an interesting question. Probably the most important thing about the 1953-54 season (and by the way we weren't necessarily underdogs -- we had been in the Final Four in 1953) was the fact that it raised the expectations of not just the players, but of all the students and the community. Milan was not a college prep school -- in the previous four years perhaps a total of 12-13 students had gone on to college. There were 30 students in my graduating class in 1954 and 17 of us went on to higher education. Of the 10 players that dressed for the championship, nine of us went on to college and none of us could have afforded it without basketball. As far as my own career, I turned down full scholarships to IU, Purdue and Michigan St. to go to Butler University. We had a legendary coach by the Paul D. Hinkle, who is in the Basketball Hall of Fame. He coached there for 42 years. Back then, we played seven or eight Big 10 schools and had a home and home with Notre Dame. I established single game and career scoring records while at Butler. After graduating, I played for the Phillips 66ers in the National Industrial Basketball League. At that time our league consisted of teams in New York, Cleveland, Akron, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, Wichita, Peoria and Bartlesville, OK. I was a defensive specialist there. I also had a season high 94% free throw average. Texas -- that's a long answer, but it had a tremendous impact on the team and those who followed us. Ben Essam from [206.158.224.131], at 1:49pm ET Could you take me throught the last minute of that game and the thoughts you had in your mind leading up to the shot? Bobby Plump at 1:55pm ET
Hi Ben. Yes, I can remember that. During the last minute of the ballgame the score was tied, I received a pass. As I got on our side of the ten second line, I stood (with 48 seconds left) until there were 18 seconds to go and we called timout to set up the play. Our coach, Marvin Wood, said "here's what we are going to do. "Craft you take the ball out of bounds, pass it to Bob. Bob, you just dribble around until there are five seconds to go and you other four players get on the left side of the court. Make your move -- you can stop and take a jumper or drive it to the basket. And just as in the movie, I faked left, went right and took a jump shot from the free throw line. The thoughts going through my mind were (1) they aren't going to steal the ball and (2) get a shot somewhere on the floor, hopefully with no time left for them. And that's the way it occurred. John S. from [206.175.195.196], at 1:55pm ET Mr. Plump, I love your restaurant in Broad Ripple!!! My question is this - Right now, what do you think the premiere program in college basketball is? And where would you like to play if you were a High School senior right now? Thanks!!! Bobby Plump at 1:59pm ET
I'm glad you like our restaurant. We searched hard and long to come up with a name and somehow, we named the restaurant, Plump's Last Shot. I think it is very difficult to select one team out of all the great ones. I believe you have to put these in the elite group - Duke, Michigan State, Arizona, Indiana, Purdue, UNC, UCLA -- it's difficult to pick one out. If Mr. Hinkle was alive and coaching at Butler and even under the current coach Thad Motta, I believe I still would have selected Butler because in my mind it is a premiere school also. Jim from [208.246.218.30], at 1:59pm ET Was your coach in any way like Norman Dale? How loosely is the character based on your coach? Bobby Plump at 2:03pm ET
Very loosely. Our coach Marvin Wood, came to Milan under adverse circumstances. The most popular coach in Milan's history was fired at the end of our sophomore season, so there are similarities in the circumstances, but the similarities end there. Wood was 24-years-old when he came to Milan, was married and had two children. He never raised his voice, but he brought such a basketball mind and we as a team seemed to mesh with him. Their was no romantic involvement with a teacher and "Woody," as we called him, was an inspiration to all of us during our playing days but later in life as well. Our team and coaches have had an annual reunion every year since 1955. July of 2000 was the first one "Woody" missed. He died the previous October after a nine-year battle with cancer. MMdl from [12.3.14.51], at 2:04pm ET Keeping it short, Do you think the game of basketball has changed for the better or worse? Bobby Plump at 2:05pm ET
I'll just say that I'm glad I played when I did. I'll also say that the athletes are better. Derek from [208.202.136.2], at 2:06pm ET What are you doing now? Have you ever thought about coaching? Bobby Plump at 2:07pm ET
Derek, Thanks for the question. I'm doing very well now. I never thought seriously about coaching even though that was my intent entering Butler. I was an assistant coach with Phillip's 66 for a year. I didn't think I'd be a good coach, so I entered the insurance field. Tim from [208.246.218.30], at 2:09pm ET What do you think about Indiana going to a multi-classification high school tournament? Bobby Plump at 2:14pm ET
It has had a negative effect on the fans of Indiana high school basketball. The interest is just not there in a muli-classification system. I'm in favor of returning to a single classification system -- not because we won the state title -- because it's important to Indiana. Jim from [208.246.218.30], at 2:09pm ET What part of the movie would we think is true and biographical but is really just added for entertainment value? Bobby Plump at 2:14pm ET
Jim, That's a tough question. I'll answer that like this. There were some things that occurred with our Milan team that you probably wouldn't believe unless you saw them. Very similar to when the substitute was fouled in the movie, came in and hit the two free throw. The first game Milan ever had in a regional, we were down nine points with 1:52 to go. We got it down to two with 22 seconds left and had the ball out of bounds. When we passed the ball in , the timekeeper forgot to start the clock for 18-22 seconds. They stopped the game, argued for 15 minutes, but never took any time off. We had a kid fouled with no time left. He'd only hit about 12 free throws all year. He hit both of them and we won in double overtime. If he would have missed, we would not be talking now. The thing you can believe in the movie were the adverse conditions the coach came in on. Bobby Plump at 2:15pm ET
This has certainly been a pleasure and an honor. I would like to thank all the people interested enough to take the time and ask these very interesting questions. A lot of nice things have happened to me over the years. I consider it a an honor that people are still asking questions about the Milan Indians of 1954. No new messages | |||||||
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