Gene Hackman And 'hoosiers' Long Have Been Point Of Pride For Tiny Milan, Indiana

The dazzling films of Gene Hackman stand out for sports fan for one reason: His unforgettable role as Norman Dale, coach of the feel-good, state champion Hickory Huskers in "Hoosiers."

News of his death hit hard in basketball-mad Indiana.

The movie - ranked as the No. 1 sports film of all-time by The Associated Press in 2020 - was released in 1986. Hackman starred as Dale, a man who was given a second chance at coaching after his first one ended after striking one of his players years earlier.

The tale follows the journey of the Hickory Huskers, a team that in the movie version took on big-city South Bend Central in the 1952 state championship game and won with Jimmy Chitwood hitting a buzzer-beater. The story is loosely based on the real-life story of small-school Milan winning Indiana's 1954 state championship. Bobby Plump was the hero in the actual game.

"It's about change," Hackman once said. "It's about what happens with change, how we deal with it, where we learn to give up our ideas about who we are as people."