Hours before Indiana took the court in Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, the news broke coach Mike Woodson will be returning for the 2024-25 season to lead the program for a fourth year.
Woodson led the Hoosiers to a third straight win, a 70-58 triumph over Minnesota at Williams Arena.
The soon to be 66 Woodson was in no mood to talk about his job status following the game.
He interrupted a first attempt to broach the topic.
“I shouldn’t have to sit here and discuss my job,” Woodson said.
“No comment.”
A second questioner asked the Indiana head coach if he has felt the support of the IU administration over the course of this season.
Again Woodson rejected the topic.
“I feel good in my skin in terms of my job,” he said.
The news of Woodson’s return broke without official comment from Indiana either.
The former IU star is now 61-39 in three seasons leading his alma mater, and 30-29 in the Big Ten. The current three-game winning streak comes immediately after a four-game losing streak and eight losses in ten games. That stretch of poor play had the rumor mill on Woodson’s job status swirling.
Wednesday’s news likely broke to put an end to the speculation well in advance of a critical offseason when Woodson and his staff will look to rebuild the roster via the transfer portal. He was also asked Wednesday evening about his priorities in the transfer portal, but also shut down that discussion.
“Right now we’re in the thick of the rest of the season, we’ve got Michigan State coming in, which is a big game for us, and then we’ve got to start preparing for the (Big Ten) tournament,” Woodson said.
Indiana (17-13) has one regular season game remaining before the Big Ten Tournament begins. The Hoosiers likely need to win that tournament to reach a third NCAA Tournament in three years under Woodson.
A couple weeks ago Woodson was asked how much longer he planned to coach.
“I came back to try to put this team in the best position possible,” Woodson said. “I’m going to continue to do that. I’m almost 66 but I feel good and I still move around and I think that I still think well in terms of the game and I still think I can teach the game.
“I don’t know, there are coaches that are coaching into their 70s. I don’t know if that’s something I’ll do, I don’t know. But at this point, I’ll take it a day at a time, a year at a time. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon guys. I’m just not. So I’m going to continue to build this team and try to put this team in the best position possible and see where it leads us.”
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