In Indiana, players are gods

The line from Hickory High School principal Myra Fleener in the movie Hoosiers was used in a negative manner.\n"A basketball hero around here is treated like a God."\nBut for Bobby Plump and the 1954 Milan Indians, being treated like a God isn't as bad as it sounds.\n"Let me put it this way," Plump said in a Feb. 2001 article for the Palladium-Item. "If I had missed it (the shot), I wouldn't be standing here talking to you today."\nForty-eight years ago in the state championship game of the Indiana Basketball State Tournament, tiny Milan High School matched up with enormous Muncie Central.\n"David" should have had no chance against "Goliath", but Milan, who had made it to the final four of the tournament the year before, didn't believe that.\nWith the score tied at 30-30 in the final quarter, Plump, under the instructions of his coach Marvin Wood, held the ball at the top of the key for four minutes before firing a shot that missed its target.\nThe Indians kept Muncie Central from scoring on its next possession, setting the stage for Plump to redeem himself.\nThe senior guard would not disappoint, draining a shot at the top of the key with barely any time left to win the state championship 32-30.\n"The shot heard 'round the world'" changed his life, his teammates' lives, and his community's image forever.\n"We came from a small community," Ray Craf said, who started in the backcourt with Plump. "We wouldn't have gone on to college, unless we had won. I think about nine of the 12 guys on the team graduated from college. It was an important event for the community."\nEven today, the '54 Indians impact is still felt by the community. \n"Bobby Plump is a legend. He could've probably been governor of this state if he wanted to," said Roger Dickinson, president of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.\nPlump published his autobiography in 1997, "The Last of the Small Town Heroes", has a restaurant - which is owned by his son - named in his honor, in Indianapolis, "Plump's Last Shot", and is an insurance agent, specializing in business and estate planning and financial consulting for his own company, "Legends".\nHe is also the campaign chairman for Randy Harris's 2004 bid for governor of Indiana.\n"If they hadn't gotten out of sectional, my guess is that he would be in Milan today and not many people would know him," Dickinson said. "No shot, and he probably would not have gone on to play at Butler."\nBut Plump did hit that shot, changing the complexion of many lives for the better.\n"The community is still celebrating," Don Swisher, superintendent of the Milan Community School District, said in an October 1998 article for the Odessa American. "People come from all over to see the trophy and team picture in the foyer of the gymnasium."\nSo many people find the story fascinating, that there is actually an effort being made for the construction of a museum.\nAfter all, The Indianapolis Star named the "Milan Miracle" the top sports story in Indiana History and Plump was named one of the Most Noteworthy Hoosiers of all time for the 20th century by Indianapolis Monthly Magazine. He was also one of the 50 greatest sports figures from Indiana in the 20th century according to Sports Illustrated.\n"It gave the little schools the chance that they could win. It gave hope. It gave dreams to people that we can beat the big guys," Dickinson said. "It made this state great in its basketball heritage."\nAnd Hoosiers has helped to keep the story alive.\nIn 1998, the current-day Milan and Muncie Central squads played against each other at the gymnasium where the movie was filmed. \n"When they had the recreation of the game a few years ago, they sold out. It was televised across the entire state and Indiana television added additional lighting to the gymnasium (actually in Knightstown)," Leigh Evans, who runs HiskoryHusker.com, said.\nSadly, though, an actual "David vs. Goliath" match-up will never happen again in this state, as the Indiana High School Athletic Association did away with the single-class, "everybody in one big tournament" format at the end of the 1997 season.