Indiana Will Not Take Part In College Basketball Crown; Season And Mike Woodson Era Is Over

Non-NCAA Tournament teams from the Big Ten had the opportunity to play in the new Fox-created College Basketball Crown, but the Hoosiers will not take part.

Mike Woodson, above, will be replaced after this season. His successor probably will heavily consider how much of the new player revenue pool will come to the Indiana men's basketball program, along with salary and perks offered. / Rich Janzaruk / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The 2024-25 Indiana men’s basketball season, and the Mike Woodson coaching regime, is over.

Indiana was not selected for the 68-team NCAA Tournament field on Sunday. The Hoosiers were listed as the second team left out behind West Virginia. The final four spots in the field went to San Diego State, North Carolina, Texas and Xavier.

Indiana had the opportunity to play in the new Fox-created tournament for also-rans. The College Basketball Crown will take place in Las Vegas in the days between the end of the Elite Eight round and the Final Four.

The College Basketball Crown is giving heavy preference to Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East teams – the three power conferences it broadcasts. Schools in those conferences were contractually bound to play in the College Basketball Crown instead of the traditional National Invitational Tournament, which is broadcast by Fox competitor ESPN.

However, Indiana will not take part in the College Basketball Crown. According to an Indiana athletics department spokesman, Indiana has decided to conclude its season.

With the conclusion of the season, comes the end of the Mike Woodson coaching era. In four years, Woodson finished with an 82-53 record. His best season was in 2023 when the Hoosiers finished 23-12.

Indiana made two NCAA Tournaments – in 2022 and 2023 – under Woodson. Indiana was 19-14 and 19-13 in the last two seasons and were left out of the NCAA Tournament field on both occasions.

In his four seasons, Indiana also finished 41-39 in Big Ten conference games. Indiana made it to the semifinals of the 2022 and 2023 Big Ten Tournaments, the deepest runs under Woodson.

With the season conclusion, the careers of Oumar Ballo, Trey Galloway, Langdon Hatton, Anthony Leal and possibly Luke Goode all came to an end.

Goode intends to seek another year of eligibility via a medical waiver. He played just 10 games at Illinois during the 2022-23 season before he transferred to Indiana prior to the 2024-25 season.

While Ballo, Goode and Hatton played just one season in an Indiana uniform, Galloway and Leal were long-term Hoosiers.

Galloway played 140 games and scored 1,020 points in his career. He averaged 7.3 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists in his Indiana career that began in 2020.

Leal played in 95 career games. Much of the middle portion of his career was affected by injuries. He became a starter in his final season with 14 of his 16 career starts occurring in 2025. Leal averaged 2.1 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.2 assists.

Indiana has only been in the NCAA Tournament two times since 2016. It last participated in a non-NCAA Tournament postseason event in 2019 when the Hoosiers were in the NIT.

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