By Mike May
While the sport of basketball was first introduced in Indiana in 1892 when Rev. Nicholas McCay, the general secretary of the Crawfordsville YMCA, imported the sport from its birthplace in Springfield, Massachusetts to residents of Crawfordsville, the sport takes on new meaning in the small town of Milan in southeast Indiana. For the last 70 years, the memories of what took place on the evening of Saturday, March 20, 1954 are rekindled, recalled and retold on a daily basis.
On Saturday night, March 20, 1954, the final of the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s (IHSAA) basketball state tournament was held in Indianapolis at the historic Butler (now, Hinkle) Fieldhouse. The game featured the Indians from Milan High School against the Bearcats from Muncie Central High School. The game featured two teams that were polar opposites of one another. On paper, Muncie Central was the clear favorite. It was a ‘David-and-Goliath’ story where Milan (enrollment: 161) was David and Muncie Central (enrollment: 1,662) was Goliath. The Bearcats were looking for their third Indiana state basketball championship in four years. The school had won state titles in 1951 and 1952. But, the Milan Indians and their large contingent of fans had other plans that night.
In the actual game, Milan led by three points after the first quarter and the Indians increased that lead to six by halftime. But, the Bearcats clawed their way back and the game was tied 26-26 after three quarters. In the final four minutes of the game, with it tied 30-30, Milan started to stall. With the ball in the hands of Milan’s Bobby Plump, the game came to an absolute standstill as the game clock kept ticking down. The only things moving in the gym were the basketball being dribbled by Plump and the game clock as it moved closer to 0:00. With 18 seconds left to play, Milan called timeout. After play resumed, with eight seconds left in the game and with Plump dribbling the ball, he made a move to his right. And, as Plump approached the free-throw line, he stopped for a jump-shot at the corner of the free-throw line. The ball went through the net with three seconds left in the game. In the game’s waning seconds, Muncie Central was unable to launch a ‘Hail Mary’-type shot to tie the game and the Milan Indians were the new state champs. It’s a victory which Milan’s players have never forgotten, which Milan’s fans in attendance that night have always remembered, which residents of Milan continue to celebrate, and which the Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum is forever preserving. As good a player as Plump was, he was not shooting the ball that well that night. In that championship game, he took eleven shots and made only three of them, but that third basket was the game’s difference-maker. Teammate Ray Craft was Milan’s leading scorer in the game with 14 as he made four out of ten shots from the field and six out of seven free throws for 14 points. Plump scored 12 that night.
To help formally honor and recognize the accomplishments of the Bobby Plump and Ray Craft-led Indians, the Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum opened its doors in June of 2013 in the former State Bank of Milan building in downtown Milan.
If you like high school basketball, it’s a destination worth visiting. This small, well-designed, intimate basketball showcase is filled with hundreds of memorabilia that help honor and celebrate that memorable 32-30 victory in March of 1954. In a back room of this museum is a small, theater-like setting with seats so you can watch a replay of the actual game. Yes, that game was televised – in black and white — back in 1954. Don’t be surprised because, after all, it’s Indiana where basketball has always reigned supreme.
The list of items inside the museum includes trophies, plaques, magazine stories, jerseys, sneakers (from Bobby Plump), team photos, team jackets, commemorative license plates, the team roster, player bobbleheads, the entire 1954 IHSAA basketball bracket, a number of basketballs, and countless newspaper clippings.
Besides the actual museum, there’s a lasting tribute to those 1954 Indians on the town’s water tower, which proclaims the message 1954 State Champs. There’s no reference to basketball, but everybody knows the athletic affiliation. After all, it’s Indiana. It has to be basketball.
To honor that 1954 state championship squad, a 70th anniversary celebration was held on Saturday, March 23, 2024 in Milan. The festivities, which took place in the Milan High School gymnasium, began at 11:00 am. Admission was free and was open to the public. The celebration included remarks from dignitaries and featured a panel discussion with the Milan players from the 1954 team. Greg Rakestraw of the ISC Sports Network in Indianapolis — and the 2023 Indiana Sportscaster of the Year — moderated the discussion. Following the formal ceremony, the Milan players and actors from the movie Hoosiers signed autographs and posed for pictures.
To say that the 1954 state championship game between Milan and Muncie Central is the most well-documented high school basketball game in the history of the sport is an understatement. Of course, don’t forget that the 1986 movie Hoosiers, starring Gene Hackman, was an adaptation of that historic win by Milan.
The Milan ’54 Hoosiers Museum (www.54Milan.org; 812-654-2772) awaits your arrival.