First and foremost, Indiana will always be a basketball state.
Just basketball in general in Indiana is just huge, so that's everybody's getaway. That's our main thing, to think about the history. Obviously, Larry Bird is a very, very big part of that.
Basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport.
I lived in Indiana, and Reggie Miller was everywhere.
My favorite sports movies, I like 'Remember the Titans' and 'Hoosiers' Jimmy Chitwood, from the corner.
I grew up in Indiana. My first four years of elementary were in the gym where Coach Wooden went to high school.
I just go back to my roots. I was literally born 26 miles from Martinsville High School where Coach Wooden grew up, and then my dad coached there for four years.
In Indiana, we don't have an official state religion, but if we did, it would be basketball.
Indiana basketball is bigger than one person.
I want to say to you Indiana people that I owe you a big, big debt of gratitude because nowhere in the world is a sporting group followed more than this state follows basketball. And I just want to thank you for the opportunity that I had to coach in this state - it will always be something that I will cherish.
I think the thing that makes Indiana basketball special is that they have incredible teams, both college teams and pro teams, and they're all about grit.
