Indiana men’s basketball head coach Mike Woodson is stepping down at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season. Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson confirmed the news in a statement on Friday afternoon.
“During a meeting with Coach Woodson on Wednesday, he informed me he wanted to step down as our program’s head coach at the end of the current season,” Dolson said to begin the statement. “He said it had been weighing on his mind for a while, and that it was an emotional and difficult decision. We have had subsequent thoughtful conversations about his decision and his desire to ensure that the program is in the best position it can be moving forward.”
Woodson, 66, is in his fourth season leading the Hoosiers. He has a 77-49 (.611) record in his time in Bloomington and is 36-36 in Big Ten play. Indiana is in the midst of a 14-9 (5-7 Big Ten) season, and the Hoosiers are outside of most NCAA Tournament bracket projections.
In Woodson’s first two seasons as Indiana’s coach, he led the program back to its first NCAA Tournament appearances since 2016, losing in the Round of 64 in 2021 and the Round of 32 in 2022. Indiana missed the NCAA Tournament after going 19-14 (10-10 Big Ten) in 2023-24.
Indiana is in the midst of a four-game losing streak and has dropped six of its last seven contests. The Hoosiers lost 76-64 at No. 21 Wisconsin on Tuesday night, the day before Dolson said he and Woodson met about the decision.
Woodson starred as a player in Bloomington from 1976-80. Before his 11-year NBA career, Woodson was a two-time All-American under Bob Knight in Bloomington.
Woodson returned to Bloomington having never coached at the college ranks. He spent his post-playing days as a coach in the NBA, with head coaching stops coming with the Atlanta Hawks (2004-10) and New York Knicks (2012-14). Woodson had returned to the Knicks as an assistant coach in 2020-21 before taking the job at Indiana in March of 2021.
“Coach Woodson is a class act,” Dolson said. “During the last four years, he has led the program during a transformational time in college athletics and helped us become a national leader in evolving areas including NIL and the Transfer Portal. No one loves IU Basketball more than he does. I want to thank him for coming back to Bloomington and accepting the challenge of rebuilding our program and re-connecting it with its past and its foundation.”
Indiana has eight games remaining in the regular season, beginning with a bout against No. 24 Michigan in Assembly Hall at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Should the Hoosiers remain in the top 15 of the Big Ten standings, they’ll play in the Big Ten Tournament from March 12-16 in Indianapolis.
