Last Friday I did a short post about the completely awesome basketball uniform that former ABA/NBA star George McGinnis wore while playing for his high school team in Indiana, the Washington Continentals (shown above).
That led a few readers to point me toward other cool Indiana high school hoops uniforms, which in turn led me down a fun rabbit hole. In this post, I’ll share some of what I found there.
First, let’s look at uniforms that, like McGinnis’s, feature an illustration and a number on the front, but no team name or school name (it’s worth clicking on all of these pics to see the larger versions):
Next, let’s look at some uniforms whose jerseys featured horizontal stripes:
Next, let’s look at teams with really nice jersey scripts:
You don’t like scripts? Then maybe you’ll like block-shadowed lettering:
Several Indiana schools followed Marquette University’s lead and went with untucked jerseys:
Some teams had two-tone uniform designs, or just a two-tone jersey:
Finally, these last few pics don’t fit into any broader category but are still worth checking out:
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That’s it for the Indiana uni rundown. But I want to share one other thing I found — a program cover from March 21, 1970, which happens to be the day I turned six years old. While I was blowing out the birthday cake, here’s what was happening in the Hoosier State:
Oh man, how awesome is that? Love it!
Those are great. In Nebraska, I’ve been working through the decades of Cornhusker State high school basketball in a 12 Days of Christmas theme. There are ten or so photos a decade to represent changes in uniforms and venues and styles. We did the 70s today. All the posts so far are collected here if anyone wants to look. link
Didn’t the Speedway Sparkplugs have a cool/interesting uniform back in the day?
This what I immediately thought of after seeing the Wood Woodchucks. link
As someone in his late 20s, it always amazes me how much older teenagers and young adults looked as recently as 50 years ago.
Most of these guys look like grown men!
Yup. I did a post on that a few years back, Charlie, probably before you were reading the site: link
The last picture of Plymouth High School includes Scott Skiles (bottom row, third from left), NBA single game assist (30) record holder.
I never knew why the majority of teams wore even numbers at home and odd numbers on the road.
To eliminate any confusion when the ref called a foul. Scorer’s table personnel knew which team wore evens and which wore odds, so the number of fingers made it clear which team was being whistled.
Plus, no digit is over five.
BTW, North Salem 1957 is a keeper.
At first glance, I though the Japer team was wearing their shorts really high.
The Arsenal Tech(nichal) photo includes #50 Landon Turner who went on to star at Indiana University and was a starter on the 1981 NCAA Championship squad.
It looks like they took that 1982 Plymouth HS photo with them wearing their practice gear. That basketball motif was a very popular practice jersey style in the late 70s/early 80s.
Totally agree. Plymouth won the state title that season, and the picture is taken in Market Square arena without fans in the background, so it has to be from the practice session before the final games.
Lots of…unique team photos here. I’m looking at you, North Salem! Especially #34 who looks like a young version of comedian Brian Regan. And the Satans. The Satans! I wonder if they ever played the Devils…and which team won? I’m thinking that Harlan Hawks photo is circa 1938 due to the satin warm-up suits. Reminds me of the Brooklyn Dodgers satin night unis. And those Valpo unis with belted shorts! What a fun rabbit hole today!
The Frankfort Hotdogs!
Nothing but nice pictures in this post! My favorite is the Aurora Devils posing like their mascot. Plus that program, I need that graphic on a t-shirt!
How much wood would a Wood Woodchuck chuck if a Wood Woodchuck chucked wood?
Pete Maravich must have modeled for that program cover.
Paul…thanks for the Plymouth Pilgrims shout out! That’s my high school. And yes, those are practice jerseys. Our actual jerseys were AWESOME (classic font and NNOB) and if I can ever find a clean image, it is what I want for my membership card. Of note, that 1982 Plymouth team played in arguably the greatest state championship game ever. A 2OT thriller when there were still no classes in Indiana basketball. #22 in the front row is future All American and NBA player/coach Scott Skiles.