Branch: The Branch Mccracken Story

Bill Murphy

nov 2013 · Author House

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Many Indiana University fans have heard the name Branch McCracken, after whom the hallowed court at Assembly Hall is named, but how many of them know about the legendary coach himself? Before Tom Crean, before Bob Knight, IU basketball relied on this man to make the school famous for its hoops stars. And boy did he--with two national titles, four Big Ten titles, and numerous other accolades, McCracken defined Hoosier Hysteria for a generation. However, his greatest legacy remains the example of good character he set and the way he touched the lives of everyone around him. Fans remember him as the coach who helped IU break the color barrier in Big Ten basketball, and players remember him as a second father. If, as McCracken once wrote, "A coach is not paid in money or winning teams, but in the men his players become," he was a rich man, indeed. Branch McCracken made Indiana University basketball a force to be reckoned with, and this is his story.

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Author Bill Murphy teaches US History at Greenfield Junior High and has been in the Greenfield School System for the last 35 years. He is also the author of The Cardiac Kids: A Season to Remember, the story of the 1967 Indiana University football team that captured the Big Ten Championship and represented the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl. A veteran of 36 seasons of coaching basketball from grades five through high school, he feels privileged to have worked with thousands of students over his many years of dedicated service. He has been an IU season-ticket holder for the last 58 years and is also an avid collector of Indiana memorabilia. One of his earliest memories is of attending a McCracken-coached team in the Old Fieldhouse.