Editing Hoosiers (film) (section)

==Inspiration==
[[File:Milan1954.jpg|thumb|right|[[Milan High School (Indiana)|Milan High School]] Basketball Team, 1954.]] The film is inspired in part by the story of the [[1954 Milan High School basketball team|1954 Indiana state champions]], [[Milan High School (Indiana)|Milan High School]] ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|aɪ|l|ən}} {{respell|MY|lən}}). The phrase "inspired by a true story" is more appropriate than "based on a true story" because the two teams have little in common.<ref name=reallife>{{cite web|title= 'Hoosiers' in reel life|url= https://www.espn.com/page2/s/closer/020327.html|work= [[ESPN.com]]|access-date= June 11, 2010|first= Jeff|last= Merron|archive-date= April 2, 2010|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100402205506/http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020327.html|url-status= live}}</ref>

In most U.S. states, high school athletic teams are divided into different classes, usually based on the number of enrolled students, with separate state championship tournaments held for each classification. In 1954, Indiana conducted a single state basketball tournament for all its high schools. This practice continued until 1997.<ref name=reallife/>

Some plot points are similar to Milan's real story. Like the film's fictional Hickory High School, Milan was a very small high school in a rural, southern Indiana town. Both schools had undersized teams. Both Hickory and Milan won the state finals by 2 points: Hickory won 42–40, and Milan won 32–30. The last seconds of the ''Hoosiers'' state final are fairly close to the details of Milan's 1954 final; the last basket in the film was made from virtually the same spot on the floor as [[Bobby Plump]]'s actual game-winner. The movie's final game was filmed in the same gymnasium that hosted the 1954 Indiana state championship game, [[Butler University]]'s [[Hinkle Fieldhouse]] (called Butler Fieldhouse in 1954) in [[Indianapolis]].<ref name=reallife/>

Unlike the film's plot, the 1954 Milan Indians came into the season as heavy favorites and finished the '53–'54 regular season at 19–2. In addition, the 1952–1953 team went to the state semifinals, and they were considered a powerhouse going into the championship season despite the school's small enrollment.<ref name=reallife/>