Hoosier Favorite No. 5? 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. 5 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 13, 2022

CBS News

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. 5.

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. 5 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.)

Ernie Andres (1937-39)

Ernest Andres, nicknamed Junie, was a multi-talented athlete at Indiana playing both baseball and basketball from 1937-39. The Jeffersonville, Ind. native is a member of both the Indiana Basketball and Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame and the only Hoosier to play both professional baseball and basketball.

On the basketball side, Andres won the Balfour Award as the school's top athlete and was named an All-American and All-Big Ten Conference. Andres went on to play professional ball with the Indianapolis Kautskys of the National Basketball League (NBL) from 1939-40.

Andres also played as a third baseman for the Boston Red Sox in the 1946 season.

Andres missed four sports seasons from 1942-45 serving in the United States Navy in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II.

He passed away in 2008 living a life full of baseball and basketball. He was Indiana's baseball coach from 1948 to 1973.

Ernie Andres / Pro Basketball Encyclopedia

Marco Killingsworth (2005-06)

Forward Marco Killingsworth started his collegiate basketball career at Auburn despite originally wanting to sign with Indiana. He said he changed his mind after former Hoosiers coach Bob Knight was accused of choking a player.

Following three seasons with the Tigers, Killingsworth declared for the 2004 NBA draft, but later withdrew his name and transferred to Indiana.

Due to NCAA transfer rules, Killingsworth had to sit out for the 2004-05 season. When his moment came, the Montgomery, Ala. native shot 54.2 percent from the field and was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press at the end of the season with Indiana.

Killingsworth and the Hoosiers played in the second round of the NCAA Tournament but fell short to Gonzaga for head coach Mike Davis's final game as head coach.

Neil Reed (1994-97)

Guard Neil Reed is known as former head coach Bob Knight's alleged choking victim during a 1997 practice (this was why Killingsworth was hesitant to come to Indiana).

At the time, Knight denied the claim, but less than a month later, a video surfaced showing the incident, and Knight was released in September of 2000.

Incidents aside, Reed played in 122 Indiana games, starting 98 of them and scoring 1,426 total points. He advanced to the NCAA Tournament with his fellow Hoosiers three times in a row during his Hoosiers stint.

Reed passed away in 2012 from heart complications.

Troy Williams (2013-16)

Forward Troy Williams from Hampton, Va. was ranked No. 10 at his position by Rivals.com as a recruit heading into Indiana. As a freshman and sophomore, he played or started in all 32 games for each respective season.

Williams registered 11 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, which totaled his fifth double-double of the season.

For his junior and final season with the Hoosiers, Williams started 34 out of 35 games and scored 21 points and went 5-for-8 shooting from the three-point line against North Carolina in the Sweet 16 where the Tar Heels were victorious 101-86.

Following the season, he was named third team All-Big Ten before declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft. He went undrafted, but joined the Phoenix Suns for the 2016 NBA Summer League before eventually signing with the Memphis Grizzlies and then later the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League.

After short stints with multiple teams, Williams currently plays for the Taoyuan Leopards of the T1 League in Taiwan.

All-time No. 5's at Indiana

Here are all of the players who have worn No. 5 at Indiana:

Michael Shipp — (2019-current)
Quentin Taylor — (2015-19)
Troy Williams — (2013-16)
Jeremiah Rivers —(2006-11)
Jordan Crawford — (2007-08)
Marco Killingsworth— (2005-06)
George Leech — (2000-04)
Neil Reed — (1994-97)
Chuckie White — (1988-89)
Samuel Miranda — (1949-52)
Bob Lukemeyer — (1948-49)
Murray Mendenhall — (1947-48)
Ralph Hamilton — (1941-43, 1946-47)
Charles Radcliffe — (1945-46)
Ed Schienbein — (1944-45)
Leroy Mangin — (1942-43)
Ernie Andres — (1935-39)
Vern Huffman — (1933-37)
Bernard Dickey — (1931-33)
Dale Wells — (1927-29)
Michael Nyikos — (1922-24)

Vote for your favorite No. 5 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. 5.

Hoosier favorite @IndianaMBB player to ever wear No. 5? Read each blurb (as well as the full list of all time No. 5's, and let us know!) https://t.co/ZsJxiOBAmU
— Indiana Hoosiers on SI (@HoosiersNowFNSI) July 13, 2022