Indiana has found its new men's basketball coach and that comes by the way of Mike Woodson, TheHoosier.com confirmed.
On Sunday, it was reported that Woodson is expected to sign a six-year deal to become the next head coach for Indiana after the dismissal of Archie Miller after four seasons.
Woodson brings with him over 20 years of coaching experience as either an assistant or head coach at the professional level.This season, Woodson was an assistant coach with the New York Knicks.
Woodson has spent 14 of his 20+ years as an assistant but was most recently the head coach of the New York Knicks from 2011-14. After beginning as an assistant coach, he took over halfway through the season for Mike D'Antoni following his resignation. In the final 24 games that year, Woodson led the Knicks to an 18-6 record and a first round exit in the playoffs, with a final record that year of 36–30.
The following year was Woodson's first full season as the Knicks coach and he led the Knicks to a 54–28 record and the second seed in the Eastern Conference. They reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games. Woodson then struggled in what was his final year as the Knicks head coach, going just 37–45 and failing to make the playoffs - the first time for the organization in four years.
Woodson got his head coaching start with the Atlanta Hawks where he spent six seasons (2004-10). He collected a 206-286 overall record and went to the playoffs in each of his final three seasons, reaching the Eastern Conference Semifinals in the last two years. In 2007–08, he led the Hawks to the playoffs for the first time in eight years.
In his six seasons with the Hawks, his 206 wins ranked third in the organization's history at the time of his firing, and now ranks fifth.
Woodson has also spent time as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers, in addition to his two stints with the Knicks.
Woodson played at Indiana from 1976-80, collecting 2,062 points for his career. He helped the Hoosiers win the 1979–80 Big Ten Championship and advance to the Sweet 16 that season.
The Indiana native played 11 seasons in the NBA for six different organizations.
It has been reported that former Ohio State coach Thad Matta will join Indiana as associate AD which will help in overseeing basketball activities.
----
• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals
• Like us on Facebook.
