Hoosiers (film)

Hoosiers
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	David Anspaugh
Produced by	Carter De Haven Angelo Pizzo
Written by	Angelo Pizzo
Starring	Gene Hackman Barbara Hershey Dennis Hopper
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography	Fred Murphy
Edited by	C. Timothy O'Meara
Production company	Hemdale Pictures De Haven Productions
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release date	November 14, 1986 (1986-11-14)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6 million
Box office	$28.6 million

Hoosiers is a 1986 sports film written by Angelo Pizzo and directed by David Anspaugh in his feature directorial debut. It tells the story of a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that wins the state championship. It is loosely based on the Milan High School team that won the 1954 state championship.

Gene Hackman stars as Norman Dale, a new coach with a spotty past. The film co-stars Barbara Hershey and Dennis Hopper, whose role as the basketball-loving town drunk earned him an Oscar nomination. Jerry Goldsmith was also nominated for an Academy Award for his score. In 2001, Hoosiers was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

In 1951, Norman Dale arrives in rural Hickory, Indiana, to become a high school teacher and head basketball coach of the Huskers. He was hired by his longtime friend, principal Cletus Summers. Speaking with Cletus, Dale thanks him for the opportunity and mysteriously mentions that he hopes things will work out for him this time.

The townspeople are passionate about basketball. They are upset because the best player in town, Jimmy Chitwood, has left the team to focus on his schoolwork. He also is still mourning the death of the previous coach. At a meet-and-greet, Dale tells the townspeople that he used to coach college ball and that has been in the United States Navy for the past ten years. Fellow teacher Myra Fleener, who senses something negative in Dale's past, warns him not to try to persuade Jimmy to change his mind.

The school is so small that the Huskers have only seven players. At the first practice, Dale quickly dismisses Buddy Walker for rudeness, and Whit Butcher also walks out. Dale begins drilling the remaining five players (Rade Butcher, Merle Webb, Everett Flatch, Strap Purl, and manager Ollie McLellan) with fundamentals and conditioning but no scrimmages or shooting, much to the players' dismay. Whit returns to practice and after apologizing to Dale for walking out, is allowed back on the team.