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    LIVE BLOG: Follow along for coverage of Hoosier Hysteria 2021

    Evan OrrisBy IU Basketball No Comments

    After a year’s reprieve due to the Covid-19 virus, fans are back and flocking to Assembly Hall for the return of Hoosier Hysteria.

    First-year head coach Mike Woodson is looking to return the excitement to Bloomington, and Hysteria is one of the best ways to do so. In front of the packed sea of crimson and cream, the Men’s and Women’s teams will in team competitions such as the three-point shooting contest and the skills competition, and then the dunk contest will follow.

    Woodson also claimed that it would be his job to “bridge the gap between the young people who don’t know who coach Woodson is and the old-timers who do know who I am.” Now, he will look to do just that.

    Hoosier legend Isiah Thomas will return to Assembly Hall and will address the crowd. Thomas was the superstar on the 1981 team that won the National Championship. He led the team in scoring He was also teammates with Woodson on the 1980 team.

    There will be plenty more surprises and excitement throughout Hysteria. It all starts off with the 3V3 Candy Stripe Classic hosted by the Student Athletic Bored then player introductions.  Stay tuned for more updates.

    Mike Woodson addresses Assembly Hall for the first time

    Mike Woodson’s reintroduction to Bloomington started with one of the iconic Indiana movies in history: Hoosiers.

    The video mocked the opening scene where coach Norman Dale drives through the state until he finally arrives at his new high school to coach. In this instance, it showed Woodson driving and arriving at Assembly Hall.

    “It feels good to be home,” Woodson exclaimed when he grabbed the microphone.

    The first-year head coach talked a lot about returning the excitement to the Hall. He wants to return Indiana basketball to glory as his mentor Bob Knight did and get the fans more involved.

    “We’re gonna need you (the fans) as we navigate this journey to get back on top.” Woodson said.

    Isiah Thomas returns to the Hall

    The crowd erupted when Thomas took the microphone.

    First, Thomas spoke about playing with coach Woodson on the 1980 team that lost to Purdue in the NCAA Tournament. The loss hurt Thomas so bad that he “vowed to never let my teammates and fans down again here at Indiana University.” Thomas then returned the following season and go on to win the 1981 tournament.

    Thomas also spoke highly of his former teammate and the new coach of the Hoosiers.

    “He is going to lay a foundation here at Indiana. He’s going to talk about winning. He’s going to talk about getting an education.” Thomas said.

    The speech ended with a standing ovation after Thomas declared the fan base as the best in college basketball, which set the stadium rocking.

    Three-point contest

    In the opening round of the three-point contest, Caitlin Hose and Tamar Bates combined for 19 points.

    Xavier Johnson and Ali Patberg combined for 24 points in the opening round and Anthony Leal and Aleksa Gulbe combined for 22 points. While, Parker Stewart and Grace Berger combined for 23 points.

    Johnson and Patberg faced Stewart and Berger in the finals. Stewart and Berger won the event by outscoring their opponents 32-24.

    Skills Contest

    Mackenzie Holmes and Rob Phinisee won the competition by scoring a time of 44.3 in the final round. They beat Kiandra Brown and Xavier Johnson who finished with a score of about 51 seconds.

    Race Thompson also participated in the contest with Chloe Moore-McNeil, and so did Logan Duncomb who was paired with Nicole Cardaño-Hillary. Both teams fell in the first round.

    Dunk Contest

    The dunk contest had no shortage of excitement.

    Jordan Geronimo started it off with a nice windmill dunk that got the crowd excited. Then Trayce Jackson-Davis threw down a nice up-and-under baseline dunk.

    On his second attempt, Geronimo brought out Isiah Thomas for help. The former Detroit Piston threw the ball off the backboard and then Geronimo threw it down.

    Jackson-Davis eventually took home the crowd. His big dunk of the night was jumping over his 6-foot 9-inch teammate, Logan Duncomb. To cap off his win, TJD flew in from just before the free throw line to throw down a dunk.

    Crimson & Cream scrimmage

    The team went through various full court drills, but Mike Woodson canceled the scrimmage due to being short-handed.

    Miller Kopp, Trey Galloway, Khristian Lander and Michael Durr were some of the players that were held out of Hoosier Hysteria festivities as precaution.

    The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

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