Hoosier hysteria

Hoosier hysteria refers to the excitement surrounding basketball in the U.S. state of Indiana. This excitement generally revolves around the Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament, the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team of Indiana University (IU), the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Indiana's passion for basketball was observed and written about by basketball's inventor, James Naismith. In 1925, Naismith visited an Indiana basketball state finals game along with 15,000 screaming fans. He later wrote that while it was invented in Massachusetts, "basketball really had its origin in Indiana, which remains the center of the sport". In the 1954 Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament, underdog Milan, with just an enrollment size of 161 students, defeated the heavily favored Muncie Central to win the state title. The 1986 David Anspaugh film Hoosiers, starring Gene Hackman, is loosely based on the 1954 tournament.

Since the late 20th century, numerous basketball stars have generated excitement and fan generation in Indiana. One of these players, Larry Bird, became one of the most marketed and popular Indiana athletes in history due to his play for the Indiana State Sycamores from 1976 to 1979, and for his head coaching tenure for the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. Players such as Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose became popular during Bird's tenure as head coach of the Pacers. In the 21st century, athletes such as Caitlin Clark, Paul George and Tyrese Haliburton have generated similar excitement to a lesser degree. The Caitlin Clark effect has particularly generated excitement around the Indiana Fever of the WNBA.