Editing Hoosiers (film) (section)

==Plot==
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In 1951, Norman Dale arrives in rural Hickory, Indiana. His old friend, high school principal Cletus Summers, has hired him as the civics and history teacher and as head basketball coach.

The townspeople, passionate about basketball, are disappointed that Hickory's best player, Jimmy Chitwood, has left the team following the death of the previous coach, who had been a surrogate father to Jimmy. At a meet-and-greet, Norman tells the townspeople he used to coach college basketball. The next day, fellow teacher Myra Fleener warns Norman not to recruit Jimmy. She is encouraging Jimmy to focus solely on his studies so that he will have a future away from Hickory.

The small school has only seven players. At the first practice, Norman dismisses Buddy Walker for rudeness, causing another player, Whit Butcher, to walk out in protest. Norman begins drilling the others (Rade Butcher, Merle Webb, Everett Flatch, Strap Purl, and equipment manager Ollie McLellan) with fundamentals and conditioning but no scrimmages or shooting, much to the Huskers' dismay. Whit later apologizes to the coach and rejoins the team.

Norman instructs the Huskers to pass four times before shooting. During the season opener, Rade disobeys and repeatedly makes baskets without passing first. The coach benches him for the rest of the game, even when Merle fouls out, leaving only four Huskers on the floor. In a subsequent game, when a rival player jabs Norman in the chest during an on-court argument, Rade jumps to his defense and hits the player. During the altercation, Cletus, acting as assistant coach, suffers a mild heart attack. Norman further erodes community support by employing a slow, defensive style that does not immediately produce results. The coach also loses his temper on court and gets [[ejection (sports)|ejected]] from two games.

With Cletus laid up, Norman asks former Husker Wilbur "Shooter" Flatch, Everett's alcoholic father, to be his assistant coach, with the requirement that Shooter be sober during all games and practices. Shooter agrees, on the condition that Norman not get ejected from any more games. The choice of Shooter confounds the town and embarrasses Everett.

Mid-season, disgruntled townspeople decide to vote on dismissing Norman. Before the meeting, Myra, sensing something amiss regarding Norman's past, uncovers years-old information about his hitting a player and being banned from coaching. At the meeting, Myra goes up to the lectern, intending to read aloud the article she found, but she changes her mind and instead asks the townspeople to give Norman another chance. Nevertheless, they vote to fire the coach. Then Jimmy Chitwood arrives and announces he will rejoin the team, but only if Norman remains as coach. A new vote is taken, and the residents overwhelmingly choose to keep him.

After Jimmy's return, the reinvigorated Huskers rack up a series of wins. To prove to the townspeople (and to Shooter himself) Shooter's value to the team, Norman intentionally gets ejected from a game. This forces Shooter to devise a play that helps Hickory win on a last-second shot.  Shooter also regains the respect of his son, Everett.

Despite a setback when Shooter relapses, the team advances through the state tournament with Jimmy's strong performance. Unsung players, such as short Ollie and devoutly religious Strap, also contribute. Hickory reaches the championship game in [[Indianapolis]]. At [[Butler Fieldhouse]], and before the largest crowd they have ever seen, the Huskers face long odds to defeat the heavily favored [[South Bend, Indiana|South Bend]] Central Bears, who have taller and more athletic players. After falling behind, Hickory fights their way back and ties the game with just a few seconds left. Norman calls a timeout and sets up a play where Jimmy will be a decoy for Merle, who will take the last shot. The Huskers look uncomfortable, and when Norman demands to know what's wrong, Jimmy simply says, "I'll make it." Norman nods in approval and sets up a new play for Jimmy. He scores just before the buzzer sounds, securing the victory for Hickory, the smallest school to ever win the Indiana state championship.

Sometime in the future, a boy shoots baskets in Hickory's home gym. A large black-and-white team portrait with their state championship trophy is seen hanging on the wall, and a voiceover from Coach Dale states, "I love you guys."