At the end of a long night, frustration got the better of Indiana and Illinois.

Late in Illinois’ 94-69 victory, Luke Goode put a hard block out on Tomislav Ivisic and was called for his fifth foul. Ivisic didn’t appreciate that play and got in Goode’s face.

Myles Rice came in to defend Goode with a shove and a few words as the action spilled onto the baseline. IU’s Oumar Ballo ran in from the top of the key and gave Ivisic a one-handed shove, sending him toppling over a photographer.

The referees conferred for a few minutes, compiled a list of penalties, then handed them out.

Ivisic, Rice and Illinois’ Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn were assessed flagrant fouls, and Ballo a technical foul. He was ejected.

“Until I go back and review it, and I’m sure the commissioner and everybody will take a look at what happened, and make a decision on what they plan on doing,” IU coach Mike Woodson said of Ballo. “I just hope Ballo’s with us when we travel over to Ohio.”

Indiana has had a rough few days, suffering 25-point losses in consecutive games.

BREAKING NEWS: Mike Woodson Declines Transfer Contract for Three Hoosiers Players, Citing ‘I’ll…’

Unanticipated Decision Sends Shockwaves Through Indiana Basketball Community

In a surprising move that has left many fans and analysts stunned, Indiana Hoosiers head coach Mike Woodson has declined transfer contracts for three key players, citing an undisclosed reason related to “I’ll…” The decision has raised several questions regarding the team’s future and the circumstances surrounding the players’ status within the program.

The Players Involved

The players in question are all crucial contributors to the Hoosiers roster, and their suspension has caught the basketball world off guard. Although their names have not been officially released, sources close to the team indicate that each player had shown strong performances in the early part of the season. Their suspensions may shake up the dynamics of Indiana’s upcoming games as the team seeks to adjust to the sudden loss of talent.

Coach Woodson’s Statement

In a brief statement, Coach Mike Woodson addressed the media about his decision, choosing not to provide extensive details but offering a vague response regarding the future of the suspended players. “I’ll make sure that everything is handled properly. The team’s well-being and integrity come first. This decision was not made lightly,” said Woodson.

Fans and analysts alike have speculated that the phrase “I’ll…” could indicate a variety of possibilities—ranging from internal team issues, potential violations of team rules, or even personal matters. Many are awaiting further clarification from Woodson or the program’s official sources to better understand the circumstances that led to this unexpected suspension.

What This Means for Indiana Basketball

With these three players out of the lineup, Indiana will need to lean on its remaining roster to maintain competitiveness in the Big Ten. The suspensions leave the Hoosiers in a precarious position as they navigate a critical stretch of the season. Indiana’s coaching staff will likely have to make adjustments and may look to other players to step up in the absence of these suspended individuals.

Fan Reaction and What’s Next

Indiana fans are understandably divided on the decision. Some believe it’s a necessary action for the integrity of the program, while others worry about the impact it will have on the Hoosiers’ performance moving forward. As the team prepares for its next game, all eyes will be on Coach Woodson’s leadership and whether this bold decision strengthens or fractures the Hoosiers’ chances for success this season.

As details continue to emerge, the basketball community remains anxious for clarification on the full reasons behind Coach Woodson’s controversial decision. For now, the Hoosiers will have to navigate the season without these three players, and fans will be eagerly awaiting updates.

If Indiana could land any of these coaches, then Mike Woodson would have to be out the door.

It is clear now that Indiana head coach Mike Woodson is on the hot seat after the loss to Maryland adn the way Woodson acted after the game. The Hoosiers have lost four of their last five games and are ruining their chances at making it into the NCAA Tournament, which is just a little over a month away.

After the final buzzer last night, Woodson seemed like he couldn’t get out of the gym fast enough until forward Luke Goode turned him around to go shake hands with the Maryland coaching staff and bench. The boos rained down on Woodson, but that is no excuse not to shake hands postgame.

It seems like in the last two years, Woodson has lost control of this basketball program and is taking it in the wrong direction. The fans have already stated “Fire Woodson” chants during a home game before, and they certainly will keep doing it if nothing changes. The Mike Woodson experiment might be coming to a close in Indiana either mid-season or after the season.

If Woodson were to be fired anytime in the coming months, Indiana would need to bring in a new coach, but not one with very little coaching experience; they need to bring in a seasoned veteran who can build a winning culture that Indiana basketball is used to.

So if Woodson is fired, here are five coaches that Indiana seriously needs to consider bringing in.

Chris Beard has a lot of head coaching experience with a lot of big-time programs in college basketball. Before being brought in as the Ole Miss Rebels head coach, he spent a season and a half with the Texas Longhorns, five seasons with the Texas Tech Red Raiders, a season with the Little Rocker Trojans, two seasons with the Angelo State Rams, and a season with the McMurry War Hawks.

Beard has had some legal trouble in the past, but the Rebels gave him another chance at a head coaching position, and it has paid off. The Rebels were a team on the rise last season, and this season picked up where they left off. The Rebels have hit a bit of an SEC slide in the middle of the season, but he has been able to get his team on track in the past.

The biggest thing Beard could bring to Indiana would be a winning culture, but the Hoosiers need a solid culture in general with good guys both on and off the court.

Scott Drew has been coaching at Baylor since 2003, so getting him to Indiana may be a long shot, especially when he didn’t leave last season with some high-level positions open. Drew has done a lot of winning with the Bears and has built a program that is used to winning, something Indiana has had in the past.

Drew would bring a lot to Indiana, which includes recruiting. The Hoosiers have been fortunate in the recruiting game in the past few years, but Drew would bring a name to Indiana that recruits will want to play for. Drew has won almost double the games he has lost at Baylor and Indiana fans are used to a winning culture, which Drew could easily bring back to Indiana

Mick Cronin is a proven winning basketball coach, and that is something Indiana desperately needs. The Hoosiers don’t need to try any more experiments; they need someone who has won and can continue to win no matter where they are.

Cronin hit the headlines this season for calling out his entire team for being soft after a big loss to Michigan. The Bruins have a great squad, but Cronin called out his team for being lazy and not meeting his level of intensity. That is the very reason Cronin would be a great fit at Indiana because the Hoosiers are a team that the fanbase will certainly meet his intensity.

Woodson has built a bit of a soft culture of basketball at Indiana, and the Hoosiers need someone who is going to call them out when they get soft or lazy, something that has been missing in Indiana for the last four years. Cronin could be the shot of energy this team needs if brought to Indiana.

Nate Oats has really come into his own at Alabama and would be a great fit at Indiana. Oats led his team to the Final Four last season and almost took out a dominant Purdue team with Zach Edey on their squad. Oats has led Alabama to four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and is on his way to his fifth this season right now.

One thing that a lot of people have taken notice of Oats this season was the benching of star Mark Sears against LSU. Sears was not playing well in the first half, so Oats went with a different lineup in the second half that ultimately got it done to get the win. Oats didn’t talk a lot about it other than saying he went with the guys that did what needed to be done.

Right now, Indiana could use a guy who isn’t afraid to ruffle some feathers and do the hard thing. Oats is proving that it doesn’t matter what the name is on the back of the jersey, if you aren’t playing up to his standards, then you aren’t playing, and that is a winning culture right there.

Indiana University basketball player Trey Galloway has announced his decision to leave the team, citing a heated disagreement with head coach Mike Woodson. Galloway, a key player for the Hoosiers, revealed that his departure comes after a serious altercation with Woodson, during which the coach allegedly made threats that the player found unacceptable.

Sources close to the team suggest that tensions had been building between Galloway and Woodson for some time, though the details of their dispute remain unclear. Galloway’s sudden decision to leave the team has left many fans and analysts puzzled, especially considering his contributions on the court. The sophomore guard had been a reliable presence for Indiana, known for his defensive prowess and ability to contribute offensively when needed.

The specifics of the threat made by Coach Woodson have not been fully disclosed, but it is said to have involved Galloway’s role on the team moving forward. According to insiders, Woodson’s comments were seen as an ultimatum that Galloway found impossible to accept, leading to his abrupt decision to step away from the program.

Indiana Athletics has yet to release an official statement regarding Galloway’s departure, though they have acknowledged the situation. The Hoosiers will now have to regroup as they navigate this unexpected setback. Galloway’s departure comes at a critical point in the season, and the team will be hoping to fill the void left by his absence as they continue their pursuit of a successful campaign.

For now, Galloway’s future remains uncertain, as he begins to evaluate his options outside of Indiana basketball. The situation marks a significant moment in both the player’s and the team’s season.

Indiana lost a tough one at home against Maryland, but you still gotta shake the other team’s hands, Mike Woodson.

Indiana basketball is going through quite a rough patch right now, losing four of their last five games after a five-game win streak. The Hoosier’s 79-78 loss against Maryland yesterday might have been the toughest loss for Indiana during this streak, as they had the lead up until Maryland’s Rodney Rice three-pointer with seven seconds to go.

Indiana had a shot in the final seconds, but after almost two turnovers and a contested shot from Myles Rice, it just didn’t fall, and the Hoosiers dropped their second game in a row. A tough loss no doubt, but no excuse for head coach Mike Woodson to do what he did after the final buzzer.

Once the play clock hit zero, the boos began to rain down upon Woodson and his team, but everyone in that building was booing only Woodson. It can be seen that instead of lining up to shake hands with the Maryland bench, Woodson booked it to the locker room until forward Luke Goode stopped him and motioned toward the handshake line.

It was a tough loss, but that is no excuse not to show good sportsmanship, shake the hand of the winning coach and players, and then retire to the locker room. Woodson has probably heard all the chatter of fans wanting him fired, but what message does that send to your players?

As a head coach, Woodson should be the shining example for his team, but instead, it took one of his own players telling him to go and shake hands with the other teams to show sportsmanship, which is a big part of this game. That looked like a coach that was giving up on his team and that kind of attitude won’t fly at Indiana.

This Hoosier team could still make a run for the NCAA Tournament, but not if Woodson is quitting on his team. There are still quite a few games left in this season, and Woodson should be behind his team, not leaving them for the locker room to get away from the boos from the Indiana faithful.

A third former Indiana University basketball player has alleged in a lawsuit that the team doctor sexually abused him and the school did nothing to protect him from a predator.

John Flowers joins players Haris Mujezinovic and Charlie Miller in an amended class-action lawsuit against the Indiana University Trustees. Flowers said in the lawsuit that he was subjected to at least two unnecessary prostate examinations by Dr. Bradford Bomba Sr. when he played for the Hoosiers from 1981 to 1982, according to the federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Southern District of Indiana.

In addition to adding Flowers as a plaintiff, the lawsuit names longtime men’s basketball trainer Tim Garl as a defendant. It alleges that Garl was aware that Bomba was performing “invasive, harassing, and demeaning digital rectal examinations” when Garl referred players to Bomba.

“After his first physical, Flowers’s teammates told him he had ‘passed’ Dr. Bomba, Sr.’s ‘test,’ and that he would not have to undergo a digital rectal examination again,” the lawsuit says. “Garl laughed at Flowers and his freshman teammates and made jokes at their expense regarding the digital rectal examinations they endured.”

Flowers, who went on to play basketball at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and later played professional basketball in Europe before he retired, added his allegations to a lawsuit Mujezinovic and Miller first filed in Ocetober.

Mujezinovic and Miller played for the Hoosiers in the 1990s under legendary coach Bobby Knight, who died two years ago at age 83.

“I am proud to stand up on behalf of my former teammates and other IU basketball players to seek justice for the sexual abuse we endured as members of the Hoosiers,” Flowers, who lives in Arizona, said in a statement.

Kathleen Delaney, who represents Flowers, Mujezinovic and Miller, has said in court papers that Bomba may have violated at least 100 male athletes.

Delaney said in an email Tuesday, “Our clients each present compelling and disturbing allegations that Dr. Bomba, Sr.’s pattern of subjecting IU men’s basketball players to abusive and unnecessary digital rectal examinations went on for so long that university leadership must have known about it.”

IU spokesperson Mark Bode said the university “does not comment on litigation.” He also pointed to a statement in September announcing that IU had hired a private law firm to conduct an “independent review.”

“We ask for the IU Community to have patience as we search for the truth and to have confidence that the university’s actions will be consistent with our values,” it said.

Garl, who has worked for the university since 1981, did not return a call or respond to an email seeking comment.

Flowers, Mujezinovic and Miller are suing Garl and the IU trustees under Title IX, a federal law that requires all colleges and universities that receive federal funds to put safeguards in place to protect students from sexual predators.

Bomba, 88, is not listed as a defendant.

Last month, Bomba repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination dozens of times during a deposition when he was asked whether he performed rectal examinations on young athletes.

He agreed that he and Knight were “close friends,” but he invoked the Fifth again when he was asked whether Knight told him to perform “digital rectal exams on his players.”

Bomba provided medical care to all of the university’s sports teams from 1962 to 1970, and from 1979 until the late 1990s he was the basketball team’s doctor, according to the lawsuit.

Bomba, who had played football for Indiana University, was nicknamed “Frankenstein” by coaches and players “due to the large size of his hands and fingers,” it adds.

“Dr. Bomba, Sr.’s routine sexual assaults were openly discussed by the Hoosier men’s basketball players in the locker room in the presence of IU employees, including assistant coaches, athletic trainers, and other Hoosier men’s basketball staff,” according to the lawsuit.

Bomba’s lawyer did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on the amended lawsuit.