Gene Hackman’s role in “Hoosiers” led to an unforgettable, beloved film for fans far beyond Indiana

Bobby Plump -– the real-life Jimmy Chitwood –- said Gene Hackman deserves as much credit as anyone for taking his small-town Hoosier state basketball story beyond Indiana to the rest the world.

Hackman’s dazzling acting career stands out for sports fans for a single reason: His unforgettable role as Hickory Huskers coach Norman Dale in “Hoosiers,” the 1986 movie loosely based on tiny Milan’s run to the 1954 Indiana state title.

Plump was the star of that Milan team. He said Hackman and the late Dennis Hopper, who played the role of Wilbur “Shooter” Flatch, are two of the main reasons people still want to talk to him when they visit Plump’s Last Shot, his Indianapolis sports bar. A day after Hackman was found dead at the age of 95 in his New Mexico home, Plump reflected on the late star and the “Hoosiers” phenomenon.

“How important was his role? I think it was the key to the whole thing — he and Dennis,” said Plump, now 88. “It came out so well, basically because those two were just excellent.”

Hackman’s roles were often remarkable for their intensity, from Oscar-winning turns in “The French Connection” and “Unforgiven” to another coach, Jimmy McGinty, in the 2000 NFL-themed film “The Replacements.” Coach Dale was no different, though his softening with his team and his love interest, played by Barbara Hershey, is one of the key themes in “Hoosiers.”

“It’s about change,” Hackman once said of the movie. “It’s about what happens with change, how we deal with it, where we learn to give up our ideas about who we are as people.”

Hackman and ‘Hoosiers’
The movie was ranked as the No. 1 sports film of all-time by The Associated Press in 2020. Hackman starred as Dale, a disgraced college coach who was given a second chance in an Indiana hamlet. The tale follows the journey of the Hickory Huskers, a team that in the movie version took on mighty South Bend Central in the 1952 state championship game and won with Chitwood hitting a buzzer-beater.

Plump said he met Hackman on the movie set at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis as Chitwood’s final shot in the state championship game – the one Plump made in real life — was being filmed. Plump said Hackman wasn’t sure how the movie would be received.

“I just asked him how he thought the movie was doing, and he said, ‘Well, it’s going. Don’t know how it’s going to come out, but we’re doing our best,’” he recalled.

Brad Long, who played the role of team captain Buddy Walker, said he admired Hackman for the way he prepared for the Norman Dale role.

“When we started filming, he could have been a real prima donna and come in and said, ‘Show me my spots, give me my lines, get out of my way.’ Gene did not do that,” Long said. “Instead he said, ‘I want to go to some high school practices, I want to see the verbiage they use, I want to see the language they use.’ He had done a lot of roles over the years but was willing to learn.”

Long, who played small-college basketball, said he landed his part after answering a casting call in the Indianapolis newspaper. Director David Anspaugh wanted young men who were basketball players first and actors second. Hackman took the Hoosiers players under his wing and helped them with their acting skills.

“You think of these actors as being larger than life, egotistical. I didn’t find that with him at all,” Long said. “He was kind of a humble, quiet guy. Was Gene demanding? Was he sort of a perfectionist? Yes, he was. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. He would get into it with David Anspaugh on the set about choices and direction. Years later, he said he was wrong on some of those things, which said a lot about him.”

Memories of the ‘Milan Miracle’
Since the movie’s release, tourists have stopped in Milan (pronounced MY’-lin) and other sites in Indiana where filming took place, from New Richmond (the fictional Hickory) to Knightsville (home to the Huskers’ gymnasium).

Susan Cottingham, secretary and treasurer of the Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum and lifelong resident of the town of 1,800, said she expected a steady flow of visitors over the next few days. Cottingham said she’s watched the movie at least a dozen times — probably on the low end for Hoosiers aficionados — and has hazy memories of the Milan championship team.

“I remember the excitement and the celebration and my parents heading to the games,” she said. “The celebration when they got back from winning state, there was between 30 and 40,000 people here. So even at five years old, that was pretty noticeable.”

Hackman never visited the museum, though he had a standing invitation. The movie’s writer, Angelo Pizzo, and cast members have made appearances over the years.

Hackman, a former Marine, had a passion for auto racing. He raced in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 1983, driving a Toyota for Dan Gurney in the sports car endurance race at Daytona International Speedway. The gearbox broke after 118 laps and the team finished 16th in what was called the GTU class. He also drove in the Grand Prix of Long Beach celebrity race five times between 1977-87 and won it in 1980.