Favorite No. 5 Hoosier? Picking Indiana’s Favorite Basketball Players, One Number at a Time

By Jennifer E. Alvarado On Jul 13, 2022

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Welcome to our summer series where Hoosier basketball fans can vote for their favorite Indiana players to wear each number. Today, we resume with all the best to wear number 5.

Favorite Hoosier?

Each day we’re going to give you four picks along with a short player bio to choose your favorite Hoosier who wore a certain number.

Here are your four No. 5 jersey picks in alphabetical order so we don’t show bias. Be sure to take the poll below via Twitter.

(Editor’s note: We’ll be taking results for 48 hours on the poll, then sharing the results on this story the next day, so check back regularly to see the results.)

Ernie Andres (1937-39)

Ernest Andres, nicknamed Junie, was a multi-talented athlete in Indiana, playing both baseball and basketball from 1937 to 1939. The Jeffersonville, Indiana native is a member of both Indiana Basketball and Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame and the only Hoosier to play both professional baseball and basketball.

On the basketball side, Andres won the Balfour Award as the school’s top athlete and was named a Conference All-American and All-Big Ten. Andres then played professional ball with the Indianapolis Kautskys of the National Basketball League (NBL) from 1939 to 1940.

Andres also played as a third baseman for the Boston Red Sox in the 1946 season.

Andres missed four athletic seasons from 1942 to 1945 serving with the United States Navy in the Pacific theater of operations during World War II.

He passed away in 2008, living a life full of baseball and basketball. He was Indiana’s baseball coach from 1948 to 1973.

Ernie Andres

Professional Basketball Encyclopedia

Marco Killingsworth (2005-06)

Forward Marco Killingsworth began his college basketball career at Auburn when he originally wanted to sign with Indiana. He said he changed his mind after former Hoosiers coach Bob Knight was accused of choking a player.

After three seasons with the Tigers, Killingsworth declared himself for the NBA draft in 2004, but later retired his name and was transferred to Indiana.

Due to NCAA transfer rules, Killingsworth had to sit out for the 2004–05 season. When his time came, the Montgomery, Alabama native shot 54.2% from the field and was named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press at the end of the season with Indiana.

Killingsworth and the Hoosiers made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but fell short of Gonzaga for head coach Mike Davis’ final game as head coach.

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Neil Reed (1994-97)

Guard Neil Reed is known as the alleged victim of former head coach Bob Knight’s choking during practice in 1997 (which is why Killingsworth was reluctant to come to Indiana).

At the time Knight denied the allegation, but less than a month later a video showing the incident surfaced and Knight was released in September 2000.

Incidents aside, Reed played in 122 games at Indiana, starting 98 of them and scoring 1,426 points overall. He qualified for the NCAA Tournament with his fellow Hoosiers three times in a row during his time with Hoosiers.

Reed died in 2012 of heart complications.

Troy Williams (2013-16)

Forward Troy Williams of Hampton, Va., was ranked No. 10 in his position by Rivals.com as a freshman heading to Indiana. As a freshman and sophomore, he played or started in all 32 games in each respective season.

Williams had 11 points, 12 rebounds and four assists in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, which was his fifth double-double of the season.

For his junior and final season with the Hoosiers, Williams started 34 of 35 games and scored 21 points and shot 5 for 8 from the three-point line against North Carolina in the Sweet 16 where the Tar Heels won the win 101-86.

After the season, he was named a third-team All-Big Ten before declaring for the 2016 NBA Draft. He was undrafted, but joined the Phoenix Suns for the 2016 NBA Summer League before eventually signing with the Memphis Grizzlies, then later with Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League.

After short stints with several teams, Williams is currently playing for the T1 League’s Taoyuan Leopards in Taiwan.

Indiana’s all-time number 5

Here are all the players who have worn number 5 at Indiana:

Michael Shipp — (2019-current)
Quentin Taylor — (2015-19)
troy williams — (2013-16)
Jeremiah Rivers —(2006-11)
Jordan Crawford — (2007-08)
Marco Killingsworth— (2005-06)
George Leech — (2000-04)
Neil Reed — (1994-97)
Chuckie White — (1988-89)
Samuel Miranda — (1949-52)
Bob Lukemeyer — (1948-49)
Murray Mendenhall — (1947-48)
ralph hamilton — (1941-43, 1946-47)
Charles Radcliffe — (1945-46)
Ed Schienbein — (1944-45)
Leroy Mangin — (1942-43)
Ernie Andres — (1935-39)
Vern Huffman — (1933-37)
Bernard Dicky — (1931-33)
Dale Wells — (1927-29)
Michael Nyikos — (1922-24)

Vote for your favorite number 5 on Twitter

You will be able to vote on Twitter for your favorite player with each number. Here is the link to today’s poll for #5.

HOOSIER FAVORITE NO. 4? CLICK HERE
HOOSIER FAVORITE NO. 3? CLICK HERE
HOOSIER FAVORITE NO. 2? CLICK HERE
HOOSIER FAVORITE NO. 1? There are no names on Indiana basketball jerseys, just a number, and those numbers mean a lot to any Hoosiers fan. We want to know who your favorites are, picking up with the No. 1 in Indiana basketball history that means the most to you. Pick your favorite, and we’ll do it every day for the rest of the summer. CLICK HERE
HOOSIER FAVORITE NO. 0? There are no names on Indiana basketball jerseys, just a number, and those numbers mean a lot to any Hoosiers fan. So we want to know who your favorites are, starting with the No. 0 in Indiana basketball history that means the most to you. Pick your favorite, and we’ll do it every day for the rest of the summer. Some choices will be more difficult than others. CLICK HERE