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Thomas Bryant

Hoosier Favorite No. 31? Picking Favorite Indiana Basketball Players, One Number At a Time

There are no names on the Indiana basketball jerseys, just a number, and those digits mean a lot to all Hoosiers fans. We want to know who your favorites are, resuming with the No. 31 in Indiana basketball history that's meant the most to you. Pick your favorite, and we'll do this every day for the rest of the summer.

In this story:

Indiana Hoosiers
Indiana Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Welcome back to our summer series where Hoosier basketball fans can vote on their favorite Indiana players to ever wear each number. Today, we resume with all the best to wear No. 31.

Hoosier favorite?

Every day we're going to give you four choices along with a short player bio to pick your favorite Hoosier who wore a certain number.

Here are your four No. 31 jersey choices in alphabetical order so that we're not showing bias. Be sure to take the poll below via Twitter.

(Editor's Note: We'll take results for 48 hours on the poll and then share results on this story the next day, so keep coming back to see the results.)

Tony Brown (1979-83)

Guard Tony Brown out of Chicago, Ill. played under former head coach Bobby Knight for four seasons. In Brown's time at Indiana, he made it to the NCAA Tournament each year including the Hoosiers' 1981 championship win over No. 2-seed North Carolina.

As a Hoosier, Brown shot 45.9 percent from the field and an honorable 70.5 percent from the charity stripe. In his senior season, Brown started 18 out of 29 games and was a part of the 1983 Sweet 16 appearance versus Kentucky who defeated Indiana for the second time in eight years in the NCAA.

The Hoosiers were Big Ten regular season champions for Brown's freshman, sophomore and senior seasons.

Tony Brown

Tony Brown

Thomas Bryant (2015-17)

Thomas Bryant from Rochester, N.Y. played in and started all 35 games as a freshman. In the Sweet 16 round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, the center scored 12 points and totaled eight rebounds against North Carolina who defeated Indiana 101-86.

Bryant was named to the Third Team All-Big Ten from the coaches and Honorable Mention All-Big Ten by the media. He was also a part of the Big Ten All-Freshman team. Bryant finished the season with Indiana's single season field goal percentage record with 68.3 percent in all games.

Bryant was named a Preseason All-American by NBCSports.com and Blue Ribbon Magazine to start his sophomore season, which consisted of seven double-doubles and Third Team All-Big Ten honors.

He finished his Hoosiers career with a 59.2 field goal percentage and shot 71.8 percent from the free-throw line.

Bryant was drafted 42nd overall by the Utah Jazz in the 2017 NBA draft. He was assigned to the South Bay Lakers G League team before being claimed off waivers by the Washington Wizards in 2018.

After playing with Washington for four seasons, Bryant returned to the Lakers in 2022.

Thomas Bryant

Thomas Bryant

John Laskowski (1972-75)

Sixth-man guard John Laskowski from South Bend, Ind. came off the bench to score in the 20's six times and double figures 40 times during his Hoosiers career, earning him the nickname "Super-Sub."

Laskowkski advanced to the 1973 Final Four game with the Hoosiers, but got knocked out by UCLA to play for and win third place over Providence.

His senior season consisted of an undefeated regular season and another deep NCAA Tournament run, which was cut short by Kentucky. The Wildcats won by two points to send the No. 1-seeded Hoosiers packing in the Elite Eight round. 

Laskowski was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the second round of the 1975 NBA draft and played with them two seasons. Following his playing career, he served as a play-by-play and color commentator for Indiana basketball games on the Big Ten Network and was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.

He also wrote the book "Tales From the Hoosier Locker Room" published in 2003.

John Laskowski

John Laskowski

All-time No. 31's at Indiana

Here are all of the players who have worn No. 31 at Indiana:

  • Thomas Bryant — (2015-17)
  • Cem Dinc — (2005-06)
  • Daryl Pegram — (2002-03)
  • Dave Minor — (1986-87)
  • Tony Brown — (1979-83)
  • Scott Eells — (1975-79)
  • John Laskowski — (1972-75)
  • Bill DeHeer — (1966-69)
  • Jim Sutton — (1961-64)
  • Dick Sparks — (1961-62)
  • Norb Witte — (1957-60)
  • Jim Hinds — (1956-58)
  • Pete Obremskey — (1955-58)
  • Paul Poff — (1952-55)
  • Dick Farley — (1951-54)

Vote for your favorite No. 31 on Twitter

You'll be able to vote on Twitter for your favorite player with each number. Here's the link to today's poll for No. 31.

'Hoosier' Favorite Results

Check this story every day to see which players won the vote for each respective number.

'Hoosier' Favorite Results Story CLICK HERE

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