Todd Young: “you might be surprised by the guest book of a museum in a small town in Indiana. Inside it are names of visitors from…”

“you might be surprised by the guest book of a museum in a small town in Indiana. Inside it are names of visitors from all 50 States and from much farther away--other countries, other continents, places like Italy, France, Japan, and New Zealand. They have made their way to Milan--Milan, IN. And they have done so because here is where the heart of Hoosier Hysteria lives. It is the greatest basketball story ever that has taken place. It happened there 70 years ago this week, March 20, 1954, at the Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis: the finals of the Indiana High School Basketball Tournament, the Indians of Milan High, enrollment 161, versus the Bearcats of Muncie Central, enrollment 1,660. Fifteen thousand fans are in the bleachers, with thousands more Hoosiers listening over the radio. It is the fourth quarter. The game is tied at 30; 18 seconds on the clock. Milan inbounds. Senior Bobby Plump gets the ball. He fakes left, dribbles right, pulls up, knocks down a 14-foot jump shot just as the clock expires. The nets come down. The celebration starts. The next morning, the new State companions headed home. They are in a fleet of Cadillacs along Indiana's county roads. There was no interstate or highway connecting Indianapolis to Cincinnati, the closest city to Milan. Hoosiers were awaiting along the way in Greensburg, in Shelbyville. They were holding signs. They were waving.…”