Mike Woodson addresses turning point in Indiana struggles amid news on future: 'All hell broke loose'

Jan. 14, Indiana woke up 13-4 overall and 4-2 in Big Ten play entering a game against Illinois at Assembly Hall. That night, though, the Hoosiers struggled mightily en route to a 94-69 blowout loss, leading fans to call for Mike Woodson’s job with “Fire Woodson” chants.

From there, it’s been rough going for IU. Saturday’s loss to Michigan marked the program’s fifth straight loss following a narrow overtime win over Ohio State, and came one day after Woodson announced his plans to step down following the season.

While reporters were instructed not to ask about Friday’s statement, Woodson cited the Illinois game as a turning point for the Hoosiers. Up to that point, he said they were playing well. After that game, “all hell broke loose.”

“You can look at it in all kinds of ways,” Woodson said Saturday. “I’m not even going to go there. I thought, at that time, we were playing pretty good basketball. I think we were 13-4 and 4-2 in the Big Ten without our leading scorer, and then, all hell broke loose. We just haven’t been the same.”

Woodson, 66, took over as IU’s head coach in 2021 following Archie Miller’s departure. It marked his first college coaching opportunity after a long career on the sidelines in the NBA, including head coaching stints with the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks.

Woodson entered this season with a 58-35 record through his first three seasons at his alma mater, but Indiana missed out on the NCAA Tournament a year ago after going 19-14 overall and 10-10 in league play. That ramped up the pressure around the head coach, but an influx in NIL funds helped fuel a roster overhaul to try and turn things around.

Indiana added five players from the transfer portal last cycle, headlined by former Arizona big man Oumar Ballo – the No. 1 overall player to hit the transfer portal, according to the 2024 On3 Industry Transfer Rankings. Former Stanford guard Kanaan Carlyle also came in as the No. 13 overall player. As a whole, that group of transfers ranked No. 5 in the On3 Team Transfer Portal Index.

However, the results on the court haven’t been there this season. Indiana enters Saturday’s game against Michigan with four straight losses and six losses in its last seven games. That adds to the mounting pressure as chants broke out multiple times for Indiana to fire Mike Woodson throughout the season as fans voiced their frustration.