IU enters postseason fueled by 2 of its biggest fans

They yell, berate officials, cheer for every player and sit in floor seats for every basketball game. And while they aren’t exactly Spike Lee, they still spark both the players and the Assembly Hall crowd.  

To the media, these fans are lovingly referred to as Superfan and Ponytail, or even just “those guys.” But to the players, they have a special place in the Hoosier family.  

A family that arrives at games more than an hour early and stays even later than the players do.

Clark Byers (“Superfan”) and Jim Hudoff (“Ponytail”) have been coming to IU women’s basketball games for nearly 20 years, and Byers, the more talkative of the two, has been making an impression on fans, players and referees.   

“No matter how you play he’s always going to be there,” junior guard Jori Davis said of Byers. “He’s just a good motivational, little person, a great fan for us. And no matter what, he’s always on our side, so it’s good to have him.”

Byers, a ticket-taker at men’s basketball games, has built a reputation by yelling at the referees during games, sometimes being so exuberant that he has been forced to move up into the stands from his normal floor seat.   

Even players such as Davis, who tend to tune out the crowd noise, will still sometimes catch a glimpse of the action.  

“Every once in a while I can hear Clark getting on the refs,” Davis said. “It really brings more humor to the game than anything, just seeing him, how much he loves the game, the passion he has for us.

“It just makes me want to sometimes just play for him.”

And while most Hoosiers don’t always notice the things that both Byers and Hudoff are doing, they still appreciate everything the two do for the team.  

“When you’re focused on the game, you really don’t see anything other than what the game’s all about,” IU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “But we can feel their spirit, and that’s what’s important.”

Everyone in the stands feels it when either of the fans jump up and down — either in excitement or anger. They are easily the two loudest fans in Assembly Hall and they never miss a game.  

“It’s called a commitment,” Legette-Jack said. “They’re making a commitment that ‘If you guys don’t show up, we’re going to always be here.’ And they love our game, they love our team, they hurt when we hurt, they celebrate when we celebrate.

“Those kind of guys are really who it starts with. It started like that at Michigan State, it started like that at Hofstra, and it’s starting here at Indiana.”

The women’s basketball team is eager for the possibility that the two fans can get a movement started, one that will bring more people to the games. But since the two have been coming for nearly two decades, its hard to say if they alone will be able to ignite more popularity for the women’s team.  

“There’s always that chance they’ll find another buddy to bring with them and just get more and more people to come,” senior guard Jamie Braun said. “That’s what we can hope, so I guess we’ll just keep hoping it.”

In the mean time, many players just appreciate the two fans being there and supporting them, even if the numbers remain small.  

“I think it gives us a sense of hope in knowing that there are people out there that really believe in our program and what we are trying to do here,” junior guard Whitney Lindsay said. “The fact that people go just as hard cheering for us as we go playing for them, it just makes you feel like they’re in it with you, and it makes you feel like you’re going into a battle with a bigger army.”  

Coincidentally, Hudoff initially started coming to the women’s basketball games because fewer people came to the women’s games, thus the tickets weren’t as expensive.  

“It’s a lot cheaper, sit anywhere you want,” Hudoff said. “It’s more fun for me.”  

And while they both have come to love women’s basketball, the players have come to feel the same for them, and the two have become a fixture before every home game.   

“We definitely know every time we’re coming in and out of the tunnel, they are going to be there tapping our hands — we just expect it,” Lindsay said. “We get pumped with them. I always give Clark a really good high five. It gets him pumped up.”  

The connection extends after the final buzzer, too.  

“Every game, after the game, we have this little tradition hug and he’s just like, ‘Jori, you played good,’ no matter what,” Davis said.

This connection, while rare with most fans, is definitely special. But Byers said he believes it’s his duty.  

“I think it’s my job as a fan to emphasize support, to encourage them or just yell either way and also make sure that, hopefully, it’s called both ways, because if it’s not called both ways, it hurts the opponents, it hurts IU, it hurts everybody,” Byers said. “But as long as IU’s just working at it, they’re great.

“I love basketball, in through my veins.”