For 200 years, many IU athletes have made history and changed the world both on and off the field. Here is a list of just a few who had a lasting influence.
Will Bruin (Soccer)
Bruin played three seasons for IU men’s soccer where he scored an impressive 33 career goals. After his IU soccer career, Bruin was drafted to the Houston Dynamo where he played for five seasons. He joined the MLS team the Seattle Sounders in 2016 where he scored 11 goals in his 2017 season.
Derek Drouin (Track)
Drouin competed for the Hoosiers in high jump and hurdles. Drouin won a record five NCAA titles for high jump during his college career and won gold in high jump in the 2016 Rio Olympics. He cleared a bar of 7 feet, 9 and three-quarters inches, earning him the first individual Olympic gold medal an IU track and field athlete had won in 60 years.
Quinn Buckner (Basketball)
Buckner was a former Indiana basketball star who was on the 1976 NCAA Championship-winning team. He also was captain of the gold medal-winning Olympic team in 1976. Buckner had a 10-year NBA career playing for the Bucks, Celtics and Pacers. He later became the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Buckner eventually was a sports broadcaster for the Pacers where he worked his way up to become the vice president of communications for Pacers Sports and Entertainment.
Bill Garrett (Basketball)
Garrett integrated the conference when he started on the 1948 varsity team by being the first black basketball player at IU and in the Big Ten. His influence was clear after he graduated in 1951 six black men’s basketball players joined the Big Ten the next year. After his time as an athlete, Garrett coached high school basketball. Garrett died of a heart attack Aug. 7, 1974.
Tracy Grose (Soccer)
Tracy Grose attended IU and played soccer 1995-99. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies with a sociology minor. She played on the Indiana Blaze from 1997-2000 and the Carolina Courage in 2002. The Courage won the Women's United Soccer Association champion that year. She was named the 1998 United Soccer Coaches Association of AmericaAll American, the first woman in Indiana to get this award. She was the 1995 Big Ten Freshman Player of the Year. After graduation, she went on to coach the sport, acting as an assistant coach at IU in 2000. She coached at Northern Arizona University from 2001 until 2008. In 2009, she was named the assistant coach of the Iowa State soccer team. She is now the administrative assistant for the Southern Illinois University's Edwardsville men’s program.
Lilly King (Swimming)
Lilly King was a four-year swimmer at IU, King has eight NCAA Championship breaststroke titles and was the first woman to swim the 100-yard breaststroke in under 56 seconds. She won two gold medals in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games for the 100 breaststroke and 4x100 medley relay. She graduated in 2019.
Branch McCracken (Basketball)
McCracken dedicated 24 years to coaching IU men'sbasketball during which he won two National Championships, one in 1940 and one in 1953. He was the first IU men's basketball coach to reach this accomplishment. Before he was coach, he played as an IU guard for three seasons. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 after his death in 1970.
Cynthia Potter (Diving)
Cynthia Potter was a part of the 1968 and 1972 U.S. Olympic diving team while she was at IU. She graduated in 1973. She was also on the 1976 team. She won the 1976 bronze medal in the three-meter springboard. In 1987, she was inducted in the International Swimming Hall of Fame. She went on to be a commentator for diving competitions for networks such as NBC. She was an analyst for NBC’s coverage of the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. She is now a diving coach at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta.
Kyle Schwarber (Baseball)
Kyle Schwarber is the highest pick in the MLB draft from IU baseball and has made it to the big leagues playing for the Chicago Cubs. Schwarber played as an outfielder and catcher for the IU baseball team and played for the Cubs as a catcher and left outfielder.
Mark Spitz (Swimming)
If you have ever been to Potbelly Sandwich Shop on Kirkwood Avenue, there is a good chance Spitz’s picture of his Olympic gold medals dangling around his neck has been staring at you while you eat your sandwich. Spitz was the captain of the men’s IU swim team and graduated in 1972. During his career, he competed in the 1967 Pan American Games, the 1968 Mexico City Games and the 1972 Munich Games where he won five, two and seven gold medals. He won his gold in freestyle, freestyle relay, medley relay and butterfly. In total, Spitz holds 32 world records.
Isiah Thomas (Basketball)
Isiah Thomas grew up in Chicago. This basketball player found himself playing for the Hoosiers for two seasons before he was the No. 2 draft pick in the NBA draft. He had a 13-season career with the Detroit Pistons and became a 12 time NBA All-Star.
