By Billy Watkins

I have read on Facebook where many of you have gone back and watched the sports movie of 1986, Hoosiers, following the recent death of its splendid lead actor, Gene Hackman.

So have I. Along with Field of Dreams, it is my favorite sports movie of all time.  

It is based on a true story, when Milan High School — with an enrollment of  161 — won the 1954 Indiana state basketball championship. 

Milan was a heavy underdog against a much larger school in the final game. In those days Indiana didn’t classify schools by size, so it was every team in a basketball-rich state playing for one gold ball.

Hackman, a two-time Academy Award winner, played the role of  Norman Dale, a dead-end coach hired by a longtime friend.

Another standout in the movie was Maris Valainis, who played sharp-shooting Jimmy Chitwood. I interviewed Valainis by phone after the film hit the box office.

I was shocked to learn he had never acted and never played high school basketball. He came across as a seasoned actor and possessed a textbook jump shot. Plus, he was a true Hoosier, born in Indiana.

“I went out for my high school team my freshman year but I was little too short — about 5-foot-6 or 5-7,” Valainis told me back then. “My senior year, I grew to 6-2 but it was a little too late (to play on the high school team).”

But he loved the game so much, he continued to play — by himself and on intramural teams at Purdue University while studying engineering.

During a visit home to Indianapolis one weekend, Valainis was playing pick-up games at a local church gym.

“The casting director came by and was watching us play,” he said. “We didn’t know who he was, but he called me over and asked if I wanted to audition for a movie.”

Valainis was one of 800 who began competing for eight player roles.

When tryouts began “we played some basketball,” he said. “The next day we read a few parts. Then we played a little more basketball and did some more reading. Over a two-month period, they kept whittling it down.”

They finally chose the eight survivors “but we really didn’t know what part we were gonna have until right before we started shooting,” he said.

I offer a salute to casting director Ken Carlson and his crew. Every role seemed to be filled by the perfect person, especially Hackman and Valainis.

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The coach and his star player were both struggling as the basketball season approached.

Dale had coached for 10 years in college, but was fired after striking a player. He thought he may never get another chance to coach — and wasn’t sure he wanted one. Chitwood was grieving the death of the previous coach, who had been a father figure to him. The loss hit him so hard, he decided not to play his senior year.

There is a scene in the movie when Dale visits with Chitwood on a deserted dirt court featuring a well-worn goal and backboard.

Dale’s message was that each person is given a gift, and it is up to him or her to choose what to do with it. 

The whole time he’s talking, Chitwood drains jump shot after jump shot and appearing to tune out the coach’s words.

“It was kinda funny,” Valainis said with a laugh. “I made all those shots — except the last one. They shot all of that from a distance but they said they had to cut away from that particular angle for the last shot because it would take away from what the coach was saying.”

During the closeup, Dale rebounds Chitwood’s only miss and told him: “I don’t care if you play on the team or not.”

The coach’s words made him reconsider, just as Dale had been forced to do. Chitwood joined the team and led them on a journey that they still talk about in real-life Indiana.

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The ending is not fiction. 

In 1954, Milan’s Bobby Plump made a last-second shot to win the title.

But in the movie, there is a twist during the timeout with the score tied and only seconds to go.

Dale informed the team that Chitwood would be used as a decoy and set up a shot for another player. The players looked around with disgust on their faces.

“What’s the matter with you guys?” Dale yelled above the crowd noise. “What’s the matter!?!”

In a matter-of-fact manner, Chitwood looked at Dale and said: “I’ll make it.”

That line still gives me chill bumps.

And, of course, Chitwood delivered string music from the top of the key.

Dale and Chitwood had reclaimed God’s gifts to them. Chitwood had found another father figure. And the man who once hit a player would now, without hesitation, tell his players he loved them.

But what about that last shot from the top of the key? How many takes did it require?

“Actually, I hit that on the first one,” said Valainis, now 62 and working as a construction consultant. “I was practicing before we were gonna shoot it, and I was missing all over the place. Somebody told me I wasn’t looking at the basket so I adjusted for the first take.”

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