In the spring of 1967, Erv Inniger, a kid from Berne, Ind., who had gone on to play for the Hoosiers, thought his basketball career had ended. He was a senior on an Indiana team that, tied for last in the Big Ten the year before, was about to finish tied for first.
Then, with a few games to go, Inniger, a 6-3 guard, injured his wrist. He wanted to play with a cast. But, as he remembers it, the Big Ten — having watched former Gophers great Lou Hudson play with a cast the year before — decided that wasn’t a good idea.