Hoosier Gym

The thrill of a lifetime! Not only that, but the volunteers were so helpful & friendly! If you liked the movie, you’ll love this place!

What the baseball bat is to Louisville & what fast cars are to nearby Indianapolis, the heritage of high school basketball is to many small towns throughout Indiana. This tradition was so memorably captured onscreen in the 1986 feature film starring Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper & Barbara Hershey & this gym stands today as both a monument to the film & to that continuing tradition & as an embodiment of the spirit the movie captured — community, family, friendships, positive values, & redemption.
As a brief bit of history, the gym opened in 1922 & was in use until 1966, when it was replaced with a more modern facility. Then, Hollywood came knocking. In the years since its time onscreen, it has been featured in countless documentaries & tv commercials. It plays host to an annual tournament featuring top Indiana high school basketball players. And, perhaps most beneficial to the community, it serves as a gathering place. For a shockingly reasonable rate, the space can be rented for concets, banquets, wedding receptions — the night before I went, they’d played host to a prom.
But of course, the draw for most is the legacy of the film & in that respect, the gym remains largely unchanged from its onscreen depiction. On my visit, I had the good fortune to have an extended chat with & a tour given by one of the facility’s directors & found his passion for the building & its history, along with that of the surrounding area compelling. We began with a look in the locker room & I enjoyed looking at the team’s chalkboard, a pair of Chuck Taylors & some other retro clothing on one wall & a collection of jerseys from teams that have visited on another.
On the ground floor, in a hallway, there’s an expansive Wall of Fame, of sorts, & a window overlooking a nearby historic building which was used as a holding area & barbershop for cast members during filming.
Leading to the gymnasium itself is the doorway, where you might remember the line «Welcome to Indiana basketball.» In the right light, the gym looks beautiful. The bleachers are painted in the same muted grey where Gene Hackman stood & reminded the Hickory student body that «This is your team.»
And you cannot leave without taking a few shots. There are a couple of basketballs tempting you to do just that. I spent about half an hour & was instantly transported back to my gradeschool days, although I was probably a better shot back then, sadly…
In the lobby, they have the film running on loop, a number of photos, screenplays, signed memorabilia & other things from the film. And as I’ve mentioned, because the film & the gym have become so iconic, it has attracted many visitors who are iconic in their own right, including Basketball Jesus, Larry Bird, who is photographed with Magic Johnson — there’s a signed Wheaties Box, a signed basketball & some other things — you’re in his homeland, after all.
This will be an exciting year for Hoosiers, with the Pacers wearing the Hickory unifoms to mark the film’s 30^th anniversary. If you’re a fan of this film or of basketball, I can’t stress how worthwhile a visit this is. I’d also strongly suggest that you 1) make a donation — throw in a couple bucks in the basketball shaped donation jar in the lobby & 2) hit the merchandise room. They have a book on the making of the film, Hickory jerseys, «I’ll make it!» jerseys, Hickory Huskers t-​shirts, magnets, plaques, postcards, lapel pins, posters, mini basketballs & so much more. There’s no admission fee & given the experience you’ll have is pretty much priceless, you really should take a part of your visit home with you.

I rarely review attractions (I generally keep it to food), but this place is special.
In business in Indianapolis for a couple months, I made a resolution to make the 30−40minute drive out to Knightstown to visit Hoosier Gym. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
The night before, I made my girlfriend watch Hoosiers and, of course, she loved it. So walking in to Hoosier Gym today and seeing the vintage high school gymnasium where they filmed the movie was beyond special.
Upon entering, we walked through the lobby, first glimpsed the court, and we both lit up. It was awesome. I made my way straight to the back of the gym in search of the locker room. Down a staircase, there it was. Some great scenes from the movie were filmed in that tiny locker room. For atmospheric effect, a pair of old Chuck Taylor’s hung from a hook on the wall and an old chalkboard had a play diagramed on it revealing the ‘Picket Fence’ accompanied by the quote, «Don’t get caught watching the paint dry!»
Up we went and onto the court. The extremely friendly gentleman working there threw a basketball our way, encouraged us to shoot, and answered any questions we might have. We shot around for a solid hour prior to leaving with some Jimmy Chitwood ‘Hickory’ practice jerseys and a book on the making of the movie.
It was awesome.
If anybody is a fan of this movie in ANY way, this is beyond a five-​star experience.

My brother and I were taking a «Hoosier» vacation and this place didn’t disappoint. They have tons of cool stuff in the front lobby area and we go to see the stage and the locker room. Unfortunately they were resurfacing the floor so we couldn’t shoot around. The guide made a special trip up there to let us in and give us a tour. He was really nice and had a lot of pride about the gym. Also they have quite a collection of shirts and merchandise available to purchase and the prices were very reasonable.
Welcome to Indiana basketball !

Finding out that this place actually existed was great news… my job sending me to training Indianapolis was even better. The man who runs the gym is incredible, he has some great stories and takes a great deal of pride in the gym. The gym itself is everything I dreamed it would be. The best part was getting to shoot around for close to an hour. When my boys are old enough we will be making the trip back here.

This is a very unassuming spot and location, but a must see if you love sports and movies! When you walk up the exterior, it’s just a brick building, but when you walk into the lobby area inside, you are transformed into a kid in a candy store!
They have tons of memorabilia form the movie, from pictures, posters, clothing, signed merchandise, signed scripts, etc. They also have other signed stuff and pictures of when Magic, Larry, LeBron, and Carmelo visited, pics of the Lombardi Trophy (when Indy had the SuperBowl). They also have a TV running snippets of the movie!
The manager of the place is this older burly guy and you can tell he is really REALLY proud of his little gym and basically tells you about it like a proud father. He takes you to each trophy case and explains the history behind each item and is just happy to be able to tell you the story.
When i visited, they had another event, so i was not able to go inside the gym and shoot hoops, but normally he lets you! Also, you can rent it out at $ 25 an hour, how cool is that!