Hoosiers Now

Hoosier Favorite No. 50? 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. 50 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. 50.

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. 50 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.)

Joey Brunk (2019-21)

Big man Joey Brunk from Indianapolis, Ind. bounced around the midwest three times in his collegiate basketball career.

The center and top three candidate for Indiana's Mr. Basketball originally started out at Butler and played three seasons (including a redshirt year) before transferring to Indiana his junior year for the 2019-20 season.

Brunk started in 31 out of 32 games and shot 52.2 percent from the field averaging 6.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. The Hoosiers posted a 20-12 regular season record, but a 9-11 conference finish under former head coach Archie Miller. Brunk was awarded the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award following the season.

The next year, Brunk was selected as team captain, but his season was over when a back injury struck the center. With another year of eligibility left, he transferred to Ohio State for his final season of college basketball.

Joey Brunk
Joey Brunk / © Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Todd Lindeman (1991-96)

Channing, Mich. native Todd Lindeman is a member of the 1992 Final Four team, the fifth top-four appearance for Coach Bob Knight. The Hoosiers knocked off No. 1 -seed UCLA in the regional final but ultimately fell to Duke in the semifinals.

The center was only a freshman at the time but would go on to contribute meaningful minutes for the Hoosiers and eventually became a starter. Lindeman and the 1994 team earned a trip back to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament, but lost by nine points to Boston College.

The following two seasons of Lindeman's career, Indiana wouldn't make it past the first round of the tournament.

In total, the big man scored 608 points, totaled 344 rebounds and started in 40 out of 103 games for the Hoosiers. 

Todd Lindeman
Todd Lindeman / IU Athletics

Jeffrey Newton (1999-03)

Forward Jeff Newton from Atlanta, Ga. ranks 39th on Indiana's all-time leading scorers list with 1,203 total points. He shot 46.6 percent from the field and also totaled 737 rebounds in his career.

Newton entered the Hoosiers' scene at a great time as Indiana made two first round NCAA tournament appearances before advancing to the title game the following season in 2002. 

Indiana knocked off No. 1-seed Duke in the regional semifinals and defeated Kent State, who had knocked them out of the tournament one year earlier, to advance to coach Mike Davis's first Final Four. The Hoosiers beat Oklahoma to get one spot closer, but it would be Maryland that won the title by a comfortable 12 points.

In his senior season, Newton and the Hoosiers made a second round run, but their journey would end there with Pittsburgh.

Following college, Newton went on to play basketball overseas for 11 years.

Jared Jeffries and Jeff Newton
Jared Jeffries and Jeff Newton :: © Mike Fender/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Marty Simmons (1983-85)

Former Illinois Mr. Basketball Marty Simmons was nicknamed the "mule" for carrying his high school team. He only played at Indiana for two seasons, but was a member of a memorable 1984 team that advanced to the Elite Eight, losing by two to Virginia.

In his sophomore season, Simmons and the Hoosiers made a deep run in the NIT advancing all the way to the finals. UCLA ended up on top by just three points.

Simmons transferred to the University of Evansville for his junior and senior years where he became team captain and amongst the top 25 overall scorers in Purple Aces history.

Simmons is now the head basketball coach at Eastern Illinois University following several other coaching stints around the country.

Marty Simmons
Marty Simmons / Courier and Press

All-time No. 50's at Indiana

Here are all of the players who have worn No. 50 at Indiana:

  • Joey Brunk — (2019-21)
  • Todd Lindeman — (1991-96)
  • Jeffrey Newton — (1999-03)
  • Marty Simmons — (1983-85)

Vote for your favorite No. 50 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. 50.

'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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