Hoosier Favorite No. 23? 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. 23 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.

Haley Jordan | Jul 21, 2022

USA Today

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. 23.

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. 23 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 48 hours on the poll and then share results on this story the next day, so keep coming back to see the results.)

Trayce Jackson-Davis (2019-current)

If you've been keeping up with our series, you might have seen forward Trayce Jackson-Davis pop up at No. 4. He wore it as a freshman but has held No. 23 for the past two seasons.

If you need a refresher on his basketball resume, read below.

Indiana's current glue guy and Greenwood, Ind. native Jackson-Davis started off his career ranked as a top 10 freshman by CBS Sports and was one of only four freshmen at the time to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, free-throw percentage and blocks.

After successful sophomore and junior seasons, Jackson-Davis only got better with age. During his three-year career at Indiana, he ranks fifth nationally in scoring with 1,588 points, sixth in field goals made (588) and fourth in free throws (412).

The team captain is poised in the media room too, and expects to be an All-American candidate against this season for Indiana coach Mike Woodson.

Jackson-Davis declared for the NBA draft following last season to gather information on his status with pro scouts, but a case of COVID-19 kept him from competing in the 2022 NBA Combine. Soon thereafter, he decided to return to Bloomington for his senior season.

Eric Gordon (2007-08)

Guard Eric Gordon from Indianapolis, Ind. holds the program's single-season freshman scoring record with 669 points in 32 games he started. He was also the first freshman to average more than 20 points per game and first Hoosier overall since 1996 when Brian Evans averaged 21.2 points.

Gordon was named a CBSSports.com first team All-American and to no surprise first team Freshman All-American. He was also named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was a unanimous first team All-Big Ten selection by media among other honors.

The Big Ten scoring later was later drafted as the seventh overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in 2008 where he played for a few seasons. He was traded to the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans where he stayed for five seasons before landing in Houston in 2016 where he currently plays.

Jamal Meeks (1988-92)

Jamal Meeks of Freeport, Ill. scored 445 points for the Hoosiers shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 75.4 percent from the charity stripe.

During Meeks' Hoosiers career, each team made it to the NCAA Tournament. In 1992 for Meeks' senior season, Indiana made the Final Four taking out No. 1-seed UCLA to get there. Unfortunately, Duke got the best of the Hoosiers 81-78.

Following college, Meeks served as an assistant at Bowling Green under Dan Dakich in 1997 before moving on to Butler as a part of Thad Matta's staff. He then moved out to West Long Beach, N.J. for seven seasons to serve at Monmouth University assisting with recruiting, scouting and other daily operations for the team.

In April 2022, Meeks joined former Hoosier and current Ball State men's basketball head coach Michael Lewis as assistant coach with the Cardinals.

Damon Bailey and Jamal Meeks / IU Athletics

Keith Smart (1986-88)

From Baton Rouge, La., guard Keith Smart is best known for his game winning shot over Syracuse in the 1988 NCAA title game. Entering the tournament, Indiana was a No. 1-seed and played their first four games close to Bloomington with a booming Hoosiers fan base.

The national title was Indiana's fifth and former head coach Bob Knight's third with the team.

Smart was signed by the San Antonio Spurs post Hoosiers career. He played in just two games before later playing overseas and with various non-NBA affiliated teams.

Smart continued his basketball journey with head coaching as well as assistant coaching stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings in the NBA and the Fort Wayne Fury of the CBA.

He now serves as the assistant coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Honorable mentions:

Remy Abell (2011-13)

Louisville, Ky. native guard Remy Abell played in 68 games for the Hoosiers averaging 3.5 points per game shooting 46 percent from the field. He played about 10 minutes in each matchup, but each minute was valuable as he went on to play in two back-to-back Sweet 16's both years as a Hoosier.

Abell transferred to Xavier for his final two seasons for the purpose of increasing his playing time.

Jim Wisman (1974-78)

Jim Wisman out of Quincy, Ill. played 104 games for the Hoosiers totaling 420 points and 325 assists.

The guard was a part of the 1976 NCAA Tournament championship team when Indiana defeated Michigan 86-68 for its third NCAA title and Coach Bob Knight's first with the Hoosiers.

James Wisman — Jim Wisman / IU Athletics

All-time No. 23's at Indiana

Here are all of the players who have worn No. 23 at Indiana:

Trayce Jackson-Davis —(2019-current)
Damezi Anderson — (2018-20)
Nate Ritchie — (2014-15)
Remy Abell — (2011-13)
Bobby Capobianco — (2009-11)
Kipp Schutz — (2007-09)
Eric Gordon — (2007-08)
Sean Kline — (2002-06)
Rob Turner — (1997-99)
Jean Paul — (1994-95 ,1996-97)
Kevin Lemme — (1995-96)
Steve Hart — (1993-98)
Jamal Meeks — (1988-92)
Keith Smart — (1986-88)
Delray Brooks — (1984-86)
Chuck Franz — (1979-84)
Don Cox — (1978-79)
Jim Wisman — (1974-78)
Craig Morris — (1972-74)
Steve Heiniger — (1971-73)
Larry Gipson — (1968-71)
Vern Payne — (1965-68)
Al Harden — (1962-65)
Jerry Bass — (1959-62)
Stan Hill — (1957-59)
Charlie Hodson — (1954-57)
Jim Phipps — (1953-56)
Ron Taylor — (1952-53)
Dick Swan — (1951-52)
Freeland Armstrong — (1944-46)
Don Huckleberry — (1939-40)
William Menke — (1938-40)

Vote for your favorite No. 23 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. 23.

You'll see a current star and even a couple of honorable mentions for the best #iubb players to ever wear No. 23 because we couldn't pick just four. Hoosier Favorite? https://t.co/Dw8cdPBuEI
— Indiana Hoosiers on SI (@HoosiersNowFNSI) July 22, 2022