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Ray Tolbert

Hoosier Favorite No. 45? 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. 45 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. 44.

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. 45 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 24 hours on the poll and then share results on this story the next day, so keep coming back to see the results.)

Jim Crews (1972-76)

Normal, Ill. native Jim Crews spent four seasons with the Hoosiers near the beginning of legendary coach Bob Knight's career.

The guard was a member of three NCAA Tournament teams including a Final Four appearance versus UCLA in 1973, an Elite Eight run versus Kentucky in 1975 and finally a national championship title over Michigan in his senior season, the first national title for Knight.

That season, the Hoosiers went undefeated with a 32-0 overall record and an 18-0 conference finish.

While at Indiana, Crews contributed 346 total points, 196 assists and 132 rebounds. He wasn't done wearing the cream and crimson, so he spent the next eight years serving as Knight's assistant before moving on to serve as head coach for the University of Evansville men's basketball team.

Crews moved on to coach at Army following 17 years with the Purple Aces and made his final stop at Saint Louis University where he first served as an assistant before taking over as head honcho once again.

Jim Crews

Andrae Patterson (1994-98)

Forward Andrae Patterson ranks 26th on Indiana's all-time leading scorers list with 1,365 points. He also added 687 rebounds, 156 assists and 104 steals.

Although Patterson never won any national titles with the Hoosiers, he did advance to four NCAA tournaments with the team. The best Indiana performance in that stint came in Patterson's senior season when the Hoosiers played in the second round of the tournament versus Connecticut.

Following college, the Minnesota Timberwolves drafted Patterson 46th overall in the second round of the 1998 NBA draft. After a few seasons, Patterson played overseas and later returned to the NBA scene serving as the player personnel/player programs coordinator for the Utah Jazz and now as the Portland Trail Blazers' assistant general manager. 

Andrae Patterson

Brian Sloan (1984-89)

Forward/center Brian Sloan from McLeansboro, Ill. didn't stack the stat sheet as he totaled 181 points and 143 rebounds during his Hoosiers' career, but he certainly contributed meaningful minutes to a talented team under Coach Knight.

The former Illinois High School Mr. Basketball is a member of the Hoosiers' 1987 national championship team where Indiana defeated No. 2-seed Syracuse by one point for Indiana's fifth title.

The following two seasons, Sloan and the Hoosiers advanced to the tournament including a Sweet 16 appearance in Sloan's senior season versus No. 3-seed Seton Hall. 

Brian Sloan

Ray Tolbert (1977-81)

Anderson, Ind. native Ray Tolbert ranks 21st on Indiana's all-time leading scorers list with 1,427 total points. He also contributed a whopping 874 rebounds and earned an NCAA championship title over North Carolina in his senior season for the Hoosiers' fourth crown.

Before that magical senior season, Tolbert was a part of a Sweet 16 run, an NIT championship over Purdue where Tolbert was Co-MVP and another Sweet 16 ahead of the big trophy.

Upon graduation, Tolbert was selected by the New Jersey Nets as the 18th overall pick in the first round of the 1981 NBA draft. He played for another five NBA teams and a couple of teams abroad before becoming the coach of the ABA's Anderson Champions and later the varsity assistant for Fishers High School where he currently serves.

Ray Tolbert

All-time No. 45's at Indiana

Here are all of the players who have worn No. 45 at Indiana:

  • Parker Stewart — (2021-22)
  • Andrae Patterson — (1994-98)
  • Brian Sloan — (1984-89)
  • Ray Tolbert — (1977-81)
  • Mike Miday — (1976-77)
  • Jim Crews — (1972-76)
  • Mike Branaugh — (1968-70)
  • Gary Leinberger — (1965-68)
  • Larry Cooper — (1963-65)
  • Tom Bolyard — (1960-63)
  • Ron Horn — (1958-59)
  • Jerry Thompson — (1955-58)
  • Frank Stemle — (1953-55)
  • John Roper — (1944-45)

Vote for your favorite No. 45 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. 45.

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