A Dark Night in the Fieldhouse is historical fiction depicting the Indiana high school basketball championships of 1955. It chronicles the season beginning with the end of the 1954 state championship game which itself was depicted in the movie Hoosiers. The story begins when that game ends and could be seen as a sequel to Hoosiers.

A Dark Night in the Fieldhouse encompasses the history of Indiana high school boys’ basketball, the politics of the sport, and the segregation in Indiana and America at that time. A Dark Night in the Fieldhouse occurs after Brown vs Board of Education passed through the Supreme Court outlawing segregation in education in America. While the story’s characters are purely fictional, some of the real players involved in the historic season went on to become prominent figures in the evolution of basketball both at the college and professional level. These players were vital to the development of basketball which has made the NBA so popular today and propelled basketball to the status of one of the most popular sports in the world.

About the Author

J Lewis Johnson grew up primarily in Indiana, first in Lafayette as a youth then spent several years in Bloomington at Indiana University. He is a history, music, and sports aficionado. Jerry learned of the events of the 1954/55 high school basketball season from his brother and other friends and relatives who came of age during that time. His love of basketball continues to this day as he shares his enthusiasm with family and friends and hopefully you through the information divulged in A Dark Night in the Fieldhouse.