Hoosiers Now

Hoosier Favorite No. 42? 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. 42 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

© Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
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. 42.

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. 42 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.)

Scott May (1973-76)

Forward Scott May out of Sandusky, Ohio stood tall at 6'7" raking in 1,593 total points for the Hoosiers across three seasons. He ranks 13th on Indiana's all-time leading scorers list.

In May's sophomore season, the Hoosiers went on to the Elite Eight but lost to Kentucky by just two points to end their NCAA Tournament run. 

The next season, the Hoosiers came out stronger starting off with an undefeated regular season (32-0) and finishing with Indiana's third NCAA title and coach Bob Knight's first beating Michigan 86-68.

After college, May was drafted second overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 1976 NBA Draft. He played seven seasons with three different teams before eventually playing overseas in Europe ahead of his retirement.

Scott May
Scott May / IndyStar

John Ritter (1970-73)

Forward John Ritter from Goshen, Ind. was in his sophomore season when Knight took over as head coach. In Ritter's three seasons at Indiana, he scored 925 total points and shot an impressive 86.2 percent from the charity stripe.

In the 1971-72 season, Ritter and the Hoosiers lost in the first round of the NIT, but the next year was a huge jump all the way to the Final Four versus UCLA. The Hoosiers lost to the Bruins but won third place over Providence to end Knight's second year of coaching on a high note.

That team also won the Big Ten regular season championship posting an 11-3 conference record. Ritter was the senior captain during both achievements.

John Ritter
John Ritter / Indiana Basketball

Kreigh Smith (1984-89)

Forward/guard Kreigh Smith was a high school standout at Tipton, which led to his recruitment to Indiana where he played in 23 games as a freshman. After 253 minutes of game action his first year, the 6'7" Smith suffered a knee injury the next season causing him to redshirt.

In the 1986-87 season, Smith and the Hoosiers improved from a first round appearance the season before to claiming the NCAA title over Syracuse for the fifth tournament championship in program history.

Smith continued on with the Hoosiers the following two seasons as a reserve and totaled 214 points, 82 rebounds and 44 assists in his Indiana career.

Kreigh Smith
Kreigh Smith / Indiana University

Mike Woodson (1976-80)

You must recognize the young man in the photo below as former Indiana star forward Mike Woodson and current head coach of the Hoosiers.

The Indianapolis native was recruited by Knight back in 1976. Woodson said he wanted to go somewhere he knew he could play, get a great education and was within a short distance from home, so his parents could see him compete.

In Woodson's sophomore season, the Hoosiers advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Villanova. The next year, Indiana didn't make the cut but still finished with a 1979 NIT title over Purdue, where Woodson was the leading scorer.

The following year, Woodson along with teammate Isiah Thomas led the Hoosiers to a Big Ten regular season championship (13-5 conference record) and a Sweet 16 appearance versus Purdue. This time, the Boilermakers came out on top winning 76-69.

Woodson sits at No. 5 on Indiana's all-time leading scorers list with 2,061 points. After college, he was selected 12th overall by the New York Knicks in the 1980 NBA draft playing with six teams over the course of 11 years.

Woodson served in a variety of coaching roles in the NBA before joining the Hoosiers' staff in 2021, where he led the Hoosiers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in six seasons.

Mike Woodson
Mike Woodson / © Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

All-time No. 42's at Indiana

Here are all of the players who have worn No. 42 at Indiana:

  • Peter Jurkin — (2012-14)
  • Lou Moore — (1995-96)
  • Kreigh Smith — (1984-89)
  • John Flowers — (1981-83)
  • Craig Bardo — (1980-81)
  • Mike Woodson — (1976-80)
  • Scott May — (1973-76)
  • John Ritter — (1970-73)
  • Rick Atkinson — (1967-70)
  • Erv Inniger — (1964-67)
  • Ron Pease — (1962-64)
  • Charley Hall — (1959-62)
  • Bill Balch — (1956-59)
  • Charles Mead — (1953-55)
  • Don Henry — (1952-53)
  • Ed Sidwell — (1943-44)
  • Everett Hoffman — (1940-42)

Vote for your favorite No. 42 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. 42.

'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:

Published
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.

Home/Basketball