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USA250: 10 greatest Indiana college athletes in history
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- USA250: 10 greatest Indiana college athletes in history
Indiana is best known for basketball even if a school from the state won the football national championship six months ago. So it's unsurprising a list of the top college athletes from Indiana will include several basketball standouts. But that's not all the Hoosier State can offer among the 11 institutions that compete in Division I.
While Indiana won that 2025 football title , it's Notre Dame that has featured some of the biggest names on the college football. There are a pair of decorated college swimmers that had impressive successes at the Olympics. And there's one of the great men's soccer programs in NCAA history.
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So while our compilation of the 10 members recognized below has a distinctive basketball flavor, there's some strong variety included on among the selections. Without further ado, here's our list that surely will inspire debate:
10 greatest college athletes from Indiana
Larry Bird, Indiana State
The Hick from French Lick originally attended Indiana before dropping out and heading home. He was eventually coaxed to Terre Haute by Sycamores coach Bill Hodges. The rest is history. Bird led Indiana State to an undefeated regular season and reached the 1979 national championship game where he matched up famously against Magic Johnson and Michigan State. The Spartans won the title, but Bird was named Naismith Player of the Year after the Sycamores went 81-13 in his three seasons.
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Zach Edey, Purdue
This isn't recency bias. Edey was a two-time national player of the year and led the Boilermakers to their first Final Four in more than 40 years. He won Big Ten player of the year and overall male athlete of the year twice and left as Purdue's all-time leading scorer (surpassing Rick Mount) and all-time leading rebounder (surpassing Joe Barry Carroll). He was the first repeat national player of the year winner since Ralph Sampson (1982-83).
Purdue center Zach Edey (15) is guarded by Connecticut center Donovan Clingan (32) during the 2024 NCAA men's basketball tournament championship game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on April 8, 2024.
Bob Griese, Purdue
After an impressive 1965 campaign where he finished eighth in the Heisman race, Griese led Purdue to a 9-2 record and the school's first trip to the Rose Bowl at the end of the 1966 season where it defeated Southern California. He finished runner-up in the Heisman race to Steve Spurrier. His exploits weren't confined to football. Griese played for Purdue's basketball team and was 12-1 in one season pitching for the Boilermakers baseball team. In addition to playing quarterback in football, he also was a punter and placekicker.
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Johnny Lujack, Notre Dame
One of the school's seven winners of the Heisman Trophy, Lujack was a two-time unanimous All-American and helped Notre Dame win three national championships. In between, he helped hunt Nazi submarines. Lujack started the final four games of the 1943 national championship season, after Heisman winner Angelo Bertelli was called into duty with the Marines. Lujack joined the Navy after the season and served in the English Channel for nearly three years. He returned to lead Notre Dame to two more national titles (1946, '47) and finished his career 21-1-1 as the Irish's starting quarterback.
Scott May, Indiana
A two-time Big Ten Player of the Year and 1976 national player of the year, May led the Hoosiers to an undefeated national championship season in 1976 (the last men's NCAA Division I unbeaten champion). Some argue the 1975 team was even better, but May suffered a broken arm late in the season derailing the Hoosiers' title hopes. He was also a member of the 1976 Olympic gold-medal winning team and set a then-school single-season record with 752 points as a senior (23.5 per game).
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PROGRAM RANKINGS: Top 25 | Big Ten | SEC | ACC | Big 12
Mark Spitz, Indiana
One of the greatest American athletes of all-time, this Californian planned to attend Long Beach State, but instead ended up in Bloomington to learn under iconic swim coach Doc Counsilman. Smart move. He captured 13 Big Ten titles, eight NCAA individual titles and helped Indiana win four of its six consecutive national titles (1968-73). Spitz is most known for his performance at the 1972 Munich Olympics where he won seven gold medals in seven events with seven world records.
Rick Mount, Purdue
One of the purest shooters in NCAA history, Mount scored 2,323 points in his career and would have had much more had there been a 3-point line and there weren't restrictions on freshmen playing. He led the Boilermakers in scoring in each of his three seasons and was a three-time All-Big Ten selection and two-time first-team All-American. Mount and his 33.3 ppg led Purdue to the 1969 Big Ten title and the NCAA championship game, where the Boilers lost to Lew Alcindor and UCLA. Purdue's all-time leading scorer, Mount broke Don Schlundt's Big Ten scoring mark and holds the conference scoring average record with 32.3 ppg. His 61 points against Iowa Feb. 28, 1970 is also a Big Ten record.
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Skylar Diggins, Notre Dame
A two-time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award (NCAA's top point guard), Diggins led the Fighting Irish to three Final Fours, including two national title games. A two-time first team All-American, Diggins was first in career scoring (2,357) and second in assists (745) when she finished her career at Notre Dame in 2013.
Lilly King, Indiana
King is one of the few athletes that has won an Olympic gold medal while in college. King captured the 100-meter breaststroke and 4x100 medley relay gold in the 2016 Games while in the midst of winning four consecutive individual NCAA titles in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Only the second woman in NCAA history to sweep two distances of one stroke, her eight NCAA titles are the most for any woman in Big Ten history.
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Ken Snow, Indiana
Snow is on the short list for best all-time players for a program that boasts eight national championships. He was the Hoosiers' first four-time All-American and still holds IU career records for points (196) and goals (84), and his 28 goals in 1987 are a single-season best. Snow is the only Hoosier to have won the MAC Hermann Trophy, awarded annually to college soccer's most-outstanding player, twice.
IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: USA250: 10 greatest Indiana college athletes in history
