{"id":1445042,"date":"2021-11-25T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-25T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1445042"},"modified":"2021-11-25T09:00:01","modified_gmt":"2021-11-25T14:00:01","slug":"larry-bird-coach-indiana-state-discovered-legend-playing-basketball-resort-kitchen-staff-convinced-him-join-sycamores-one-simple-phrase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-coach-indiana-state-discovered-legend-playing-basketball-resort-kitchen-staff-convinced-him-join-sycamores-one-simple-phrase\/","title":{"rendered":"Larry Bird\u2019s Coach at Indiana State Discovered The Legend Playing Basketball With a Resort Kitchen Staff and Convinced Him to Join the Sycamores With One Simple Phrase: \u2018That\u2019s When I Knew I Had Him\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/larry-bird\/\">Larry Bird<\/a> is an Indiana basketball hero. But instead of playing at IU with Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight and the Hoosiers, Larry Legend ended up playing at tiny Indiana State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course, by this point, The Hick From French Lick is synonymous with the Sycamores. The battles of <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-magic-johnson-rivalry-had-everything-but-handshakes-there-was-a-hate-factor-there\/\">Bird's powder blues and Magic Johnson's emerald greens<\/a> are as iconic as anything college basketball has ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But how did one of the greatest players in basketball history end up playing in Terre Haut, Ind.?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-larry-bird-began-his-college-career-at-indiana-alongside-bob-knight\">Larry Bird began his college career at Indiana alongside Bob Knight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Game Larry Bird Dropped 49 Points vs Witchita State (Rare Footage)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C8aGWyND74g?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Legend played for Springs Valley High School in French Lick. By the time he graduated, he was the school's all-time leading scorer, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biography.com\/athlete\/larry-bird\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Biography.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Knight offered a scholarship to Bird, who enrolled in Bloomington. He left shortly afterward, however, returning home without a real college basketball plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At 18, the future Hall of Famer was back in French Lick working as a garbage truck driver who got his basketball fix in behind a local resort playing against its kitchen crew, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.indystar.com\/story\/sports\/college\/2021\/11\/16\/movie-how-indiana-state-coach-bill-hodges-recruited-larry-bird\/8528520002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IndyStar<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Bird (presumably) dominated a host of cooks and waiters, a &#8220;down on his luck&#8221; college basketball coach named Bill Hodges happened to be watching the game play out behind some bushes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hodges had an epiphany: If he could convince Larry Bird to play college basketball for him, it would change his career. (Or, in Hodges' case, save it).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bill Hodges got Bird to commit to Indiana State with one phrase<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1250\" height=\"833\" src=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/larry-bird-indiana-state.jpg?w=1024&#038;h=682&#038;strip=all&#038;quality=89\" alt=\"Larry Bird's stats at Indiana State will never be broken as he shakes hands with head coach Bill Hodges.\" class=\"wp-image-1445044\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/larry-bird-indiana-state.jpg 1250w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/larry-bird-indiana-state.jpg?w=300&amp;h=200 300w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/larry-bird-indiana-state.jpg?w=768&amp;h=512 768w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/larry-bird-indiana-state.jpg?w=1024&amp;h=682 1024w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/larry-bird-indiana-state.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800 1200w, https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/larry-bird-indiana-state.jpg?w=90&amp;h=60 90w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1250px) 100vw, 1250px\" \/><figcaption>Indiana State forward Larry Bird gets a handshake of condolence from his coach Bill Hodges after the Sycamores lost to Michigan State 75-64 in the NCAA Championship game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As The Star tells it, Hodges' coaching career was in jeopardy. But he happened to be from Zionsville, Ind., a small town similar to French Lick. So he came home and went to then- Sycamores' head coach Bob King with an idea for a big swing to save his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That swing was Bird.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hodges ran into almost immediate trouble, though. The citizens of French Lick were very protective of their basketball star &#8212; it was hard for the coach to get anywhere near Larry to have a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But eventually, Hodges and Bird started talking, and the 6-foot-9 forward told his future coach about the &#8220;best player he had seen in high school,&#8221; who never played college ball and was now forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That's when the light bulb went off in Hodges' head, according to The Star and filmmaker Patrick Wood, who's in the process of making a movie about the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Bill looked Larry in the eyes,&#8221; Wood said, adding that he's paraphrasing Hodges' words. &#8216;You don't go to college, Larry? That's exactly what people are going to say about you.' Bill said at that moment, as Larry looked at him, he thought, &#8216;That's when\u00a0I\u00a0knew I\u00a0had him.'&#8221;<\/p><p>Hodges gave Bird some time to think about what he'd said and then came back two days later.<\/p><p>Yes, Bird told him. Yes, he would play at Indiana State.<\/p><cite>The story of how Bill Hodges brought Larry Bird to Indiana State University<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>And so began the legend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Indiana State was an important start to Bird's basketball journey<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson COLLEGE DUEL Highlights (1979.03.26) Indiana St vs Michigan St (EPIC!!)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QnPvSxyufFw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The three-time NBA champion played 94 games with the Sycamores. Larry Bird's college stats were as incredible as his mustache &#8212; he averaged more than 30 points and 13 rebounds in his collegiate career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the leadership of Hodges, Bird and Co. went undefeated during the 1978-79 season and advanced to face Magic and his Spartans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The now-famous matchup was Larry's only loss that season, but he made up for it by amassing almost 22,00 career points with the <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/boston-celtics\/\">Boston Celtics<\/a>. He made 10 All-NBA teams, won three MVPs, and even beat out Johnson for the 1979-80 Rookie of the Year Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it all began in Terre Haute. And if it weren't for Hodges playing to Bird's competitiveness, it wouldn't have even made it that far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>All statistics courtesy of <a href=\"http:\/\/basketball-reference.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Basketball Reference<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/larry-bird-legendary-jump-shot-began-with-lesson-from-sixth-grade-coach\/\">Larry Bird\u2019s Legendary Jump Shot Began With a Lesson From His Sixth-Grade Coach: \u2018That, to Me, Changed Everything\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Larry Bird left Bob Knight's Indiana program and was working at a resort where Indiana State coach Bill Hodges found him playing basketball with a kitchen staff. Hodges got Bird to come play for him with one simple, powerful statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"featured_media":1445044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4814,62310],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Larry Bird\u2019s Coach at Indiana State Discovered The Legend Playing Basketball With a Resort Kitchen Staff and Convinced Him to Join the Sycamores With One Simple Phrase: \u2018That\u2019s When I Knew I Had Him\u2019 - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Larry Bird ended up at Indiana State after his coach found him shooting with a resort kitchen staff and convinced him to play with one phrase\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-coach-indiana-state-discovered-legend-playing-basketball-resort-kitchen-staff-convinced-him-join-sycamores-one-simple-phrase\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Larry Bird\u2019s Coach at Indiana State Discovered The Legend Playing Basketball With a Resort Kitchen Staff and Convinced Him to Join the Sycamores With One Simple Phrase: \u2018That\u2019s When I Knew I Had Him\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Larry Bird ended up at Indiana State after his coach found him shooting with a resort kitchen staff and convinced him to play with one phrase\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-coach-indiana-state-discovered-legend-playing-basketball-resort-kitchen-staff-convinced-him-join-sycamores-one-simple-phrase\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-25T14:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-25T14:00:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/larry-bird-indiana-state.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"833\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andrew Hanlon\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@andrewhanlontv\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andrew Hanlon\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-coach-indiana-state-discovered-legend-playing-basketball-resort-kitchen-staff-convinced-him-join-sycamores-one-simple-phrase\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/larry-bird-coach-indiana-state-discovered-legend-playing-basketball-resort-kitchen-staff-convinced-him-join-sycamores-one-simple-phrase\/\",\"name\":\"Larry Bird\u2019s Coach at Indiana State Discovered The Legend Playing Basketball With a Resort Kitchen Staff and Convinced Him to Join the Sycamores With One Simple Phrase: \u2018That\u2019s When I Knew I Had Him\u2019 - 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