Former Knicks coach Mike Woodson thrives in Indiana crucible
Indiana head coach Mike Woodson shouts during the second half of a Big Ten Tournament semifinal against Penn State on March 11 in Chicago. Credit: AP/Erin Hooley
ALBANY — As the coach at Indiana University, Mike Woodson may have the most scrutinized job in college basketball. It should be no surprise that he handles it so well. He’s been coach of the Knicks — and played for the Knicks — so he knows more about scrutiny and being under a microscope than most.
“This is not my first go-around,” said Woodson, an IU alum whose No. 4-seed Hoosiers (23-11) will face No. 5 Miami (26-7) in a Midwest Regional second-round game Sunday night at MVP Arena. “Yes, expectations are high, and I knew that coming in. Hell, I played here. They should be high.”
The job takes a toll. Tom Crean’s Hoosiers missed the NCAAs five times in his nine seasons before he was fired. Archie Miller missed them all four of his years before he was dismissed. Woodson got the Hoosiers back in the tournament last season, his first at the helm.
Asked about the scrutiny Woodson faces in the position, Trayce Jackson-Davis replied: “He has zero social media, he's old school, he doesn't know what anyone says nor does he care.”
Added Miller Kopp, “He still has his flip phone.”
Race Thompson said, “He's been around the game longer than we've been alive and he loves to say that.”
Woodson was the Knicks' first-round draft pick (12th overall) in 1980 and was traded the next season. He returned to the organization in 2011 as an assistant to Mike D’Antoni and replaced him later that season. His 2012-13 team won a playoff series, but he was let go after the team finished 37-45 in 2013-14.
“There's nothing like New York, when it comes to the media in how they scrutinize and wiggle their way into your world,” Woodson said. “I've been able as a coach to learn on the fly and deal with the media . . . And Indiana hasn't changed, just like the New York Knicks, they hadn't changed. When I played there in 1980-81, it was the same, and it's still the same. And I don't mean that in a bad way, I love the New York Knicks."
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
