Hoosiers Now

Hoosier Favorite No. 35? 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. 35 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

In this story:

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. 35.

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. 35 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 24 hours on the poll and then share results on this story the next day, so keep coming back to see the results.)

Walt Bellamy (1958-61)

New Bern, N.C. native Walt Bellamy ranks 20th on Indiana's all-time leading scorers list with 1,441 points. He also ranks second in all-time rebounds totaling 1,087 boards, just four behind Alan Henderson.

Bellamy was named an All-American and All-Big Ten in both 1960 and 1961. The center went on to win an Olympic gold medal in 1961 with Team USA, and upon graduation from Indiana was drafted first overall in the 1961 NBA draft by the Chicago Packers. There, he won NBA Rookie of the Year in 1962 averaging 31.6 points per game.

Bellamy played in the NBA for 14 seasons finishing with 20,941 career points. It was no surprise he was inducted into the Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1982.

Walt Belamy
Walt Belamy / @IndianaMBB on Twitter

Kirk Haston (1998-2001)

Kirk Haston from Lobleville, Tenn. was named Class A Mr. Basketball his senior year of high school before joining Coach Bob Knight's squad and later Mike Davis' Hoosiers. 

The forward/center led the Big Ten in scoring during the 2000-01 season with 626 points to earn him a third-team All-American selection. Haston now sits at No. 23 on Indiana's all-time leading scorers list with 1,406 points.

In the 2001 NBA draft, Haston was selected 16th overall by the Charlotte Hornets and would play in the NBA for two years before he had other stints with non-NBA affiliated teams.

Haston published his book "Days of Knight: How the General Changed My Life" in 2016 and even got an endorsement from Knight himself during his 2018 campaign to the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Kirk Haston
Kirk Haston / IU Athletics

George McGinnis (1970-71)

Forward George McGinnis from Indianapolis only played one season with the Hoosiers under head coach Lou Watson, but certainly left his mark leading the Big Ten in scoring with 719 points and rebounding with 352 in one season.

He earned All-American and All-Big Ten honors in 1971 before joining the ABA's Indiana Pacers. After two successful seasons, McGinnis was drafted 22nd overall to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1973 NBA draft. He played for the Denver Nuggets and also the Pacers once again ahead of his NBA retirement in 1982.

McGinnis was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

George McGinnis
George McGinnis / © Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

Tim Priller (2014-18)

Forward Tim Priller came all the way from North Richland Hills, Texas to join the Hoosiers in 2014 where he played in 35 career games playing a total of 71 minutes.

While he may not have been a top contributor, he was still a member of the 2015 and 2016 NCAA Tournament run teams. You might remember Hoosier fans cheering his name to come in off the bench when Indiana was up by enough buckets.

Tim Priller
Tim Priller / © Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

All-time No. 35's at Indiana

Here are all of the players who have worn No. 35 at Indiana:

  • Tim Priller — (2014-18)
  • Kirk Haston — (1998-2001)
  • Jeff Oliphant — (1986-90)
  • Don Noort — (1972-75)
  • George McGinnis — (1970-71)
  • Bill Stenberg — (1966-69)
  • Ron McMains — (1964-66)
  • Walt Bellamy — (1958-61)
  • Dick Neal — (1954-57)
  • Lou Scott — (1951-54)
  • Al Kravolansky — (1944-47)
  • Bob Hines — (1941-43)
  • William Menke — (1939-41)

Vote for your favorite No. 35 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. 35.

'Hoosier' Favorite Results

Check this story every day to see which players won the vote for each respective number.

'Hoosier' Favorite Results Story CLICK HERE

Related stories on Indiana Basketball:

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Haley Jordan
HALEY JORDAN

Haley Jordan is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation video director, staff writer, host and reporter for Hoosiers Now, Fastball and Fastbreak sites. She is a graduate from Indiana University with degrees in Sports Broadcast Journalism and Spanish.

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