My Two Cents: For Indiana Legends Jackson-Davis and Woodson, These Are Ties The Bind
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — My first four years covering basketball at Indiana were from 1976 to 1980, and my time in Bloomington as a student and budding journalist coincided with Mike Woodson's playing days.
I was up in the balcony at Assembly Hall when he scored his first points against South Dakota on Nov. 27, 1976. I was also there in — of all places — Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky on March 13, 1980 when he scored the last of his 14 points in a loss to — of all teams — Purdue in the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.
I saw almost all of Mike Woodson's 2,061 points with my own eyes, watching the rest on television when I missed a road trip, or listening in to a young radio announcer named Don Fischer. I thought he was pretty good, and had some promise on having a bright future behind the microphone.
That's why my answer has always been the same for years and years when people have asked me who my all-time favorite Indiana player is.
It was always Mike Woodson.
There's some bias there, of course, because our four years overlapped. He was a great offensive player, a slasher back in the day when such a term existed before the three-point line. At the start of his senior year, I even wrote a story on what it would take for Woodson to leave Indiana as its all-time leading scorer.
It was a very real possibility.
But then Woodson hurt his back in December, just six games into the season. He needed surgery and it was feared he would have been lost for the year. He missed 15 games, but returned in mid-February and the Hoosiers won their last six games to win a Big Ten title.
It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Woodson averaged 20.5 points per game and was named Big Ten Player of the Year — despite playing just six league games.
It ended in the regional semifinals in the one and only time Indiana and Purdue met in the NCAA Tournament, and he finished second on the all-time list, 132 points behind Don Schlundt, a star at Indiana in the early 1950s.
Woodson would have needed to average only 9 points a game during those 15 outings he missed to have left as the school's most prolific scorer.
Fast forward through 43 years, and Woodson has been passed a few times, first by Steve Alford (2,438) in 1987, then Calbert Cheaney (2,613) in 1993 and then by A.J. Guyton (2,100) in 2000.
Woodson stood at No. 5 for 23 years — until Saturday. Woodson, the coach at Indiana now, was passed by his best player, senior forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. He scored 26 points in the win over Illinois, and now has 2,081 points.
It was a magical moment, player and coach sharing it together. This very cool video put together by Indiana's social media team made me smile.
The relationship between Woodson and Jackson-Davis these past two years has been exceptional to watch, right from the minute they first met when Woodson was hired as Indiana's head coach in March of 2021.
In a meeting with Jackson-Davis, Woodson showed him all the flaws in his game and promised to make him better if he stayed at Indiana. Trayce was so impressed that a few minutes later, he said yes, he'd be back.
He was much better as a junior, and has taken another giant leap this season, playing at an All-American level. So when he passed his own coach, it was quite the moment. So was their meeting in a celebratory postgame locker room. The video is so good.
The improvements in Jackson-Davis' game during his time with Woodson have been incredible, on both ends of the floor. He's the best shot-blocker in the game right now, even at just 6-foot-9. Same with his post moves and passing ability, which has grown by leaps and bounds.
He's off-the-charts good. He is in rare air this year with all that he's accomplished. Several times, he's had us reaching for the record books. He's averaging 20.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. He's also averaging 3.0 blocks and 2.6 assists, far above his career averages.
He's had nights where he's scored 35 points this season, in the big win at Illinois in January. He's had 30 or more four times. He had 24 rebounds one night against Northwestern, 20 or more three times and 15 or more six times. He blocked nine shots at Kansas, something that no opponent had EVER done. He's Indiana's all-time shot blocker now. He had 10 assists against Nebraska, part of the school's third-ever triple double.
He's doing it all.
My second four-year stint in Bloomington covering the Hoosiers has coincided with Jackson-Davis' time here. So, yeah, you get it.
He's one of my all-time favorite Indiana players, too.
What's even better? Woodson says the same thing.
"As a player myself, I was never about accolades, man. It's just something I was blessed to be able to do, scoring the basketball,'' he said after Saturday's win against Illinois. "I couldn't be more proud of a young man than Trayce today. That record, I've been sitting in that spot for a long time, and for him to surpass it, man, it's special.
"It just means the body of work that he's put in over the years, it's been great but he can't stop there. It's just points. He's still staring at two things, a Big Ten title and a national title, and that's where I'm trying to get him.''
Jackson-Davis and Woodson have a wonderful relationship. He's thoroughly enjoyed this journey up the scoring list, and the time in the locker room afterward, when Woodson gave Jackson-Davis the game ball, was special.
"I mean, it's an accomplishment,'' Jackson-Davis said. "Again, I'm going to probably look at it more during the end of the year, but I'm just glad that we found a way to get that one.''
Jackson-Davis should pass Guyton on Tuesday night in East Lansing when the Hoosiers take on Michigan State. He's 19 points behind him. And unlike his coach, he's not going to run out of games to catch Schlundt for No. 3 on the list. He's 122 points behind him, which is six games at his current pace. There are four regular season games left, at least one Big Ten Tournament game and at least one in the NCAA Tournament.
We'll presume more games than that, of course, with high hopes for some postseason runs.
Woodson got his Big Ten title after four years of trying in 1980. Jackson-Davis would like some celebrations, too.
That's why they'll continue to work, Woodson and Jackson-Davis.
Two all-time favorites.
Related stories on Indiana basketball
- INDIANA DROPS IN AP POLL: In this week's Associated Press Top-25 poll, Indiana dropped three spots to No. 17 after a loss at Northwestern and a win over Illinois. No. 5 Purdue and No. 21 Northwestern join the Hoosiers as the three ranked Big Ten teams, and Houston reclaimed the No. 1 spot after Alabama's loss. Here's the full top 25. CLICK HERE
- IZZO PREVIEWS INDIANA GAME: Following an 84-72 loss at Michigan on Saturday, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo met with the media on Monday to preview Tuesday's game against Trayce Jackson-Davis and the Indiana Hoosiers. CLICK HERE
- KOPP BOUNCES BACK: Miller Kopp went 1-for-6 and was the target of hateful chants at Northwestern on Wednesday, but he bounced back in a big way on Saturday by knocking down four 3-pointers in Indiana's 71-68 win over Illinois. CLICK HERE
- WATCH JACKSON-DAVIS CLIMB SCORING LIST: Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis passed coach Mike Woodson for fifth on the Indiana all-time scoring list against Illinois. Here's the updated all-time list of 1,000-point scorers. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is the complete 2022-23 Indiana men's basketball schedule, with dates, gametimes and locations, plus links to stories on all of the games played so far. CLICK HERE
