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Report: Former Hoosier, current Michigan State assistant expected to join Mike Woodson’s staff at IU

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Another former Indiana basketball player will be on the bench in Bloomington for the upcoming season.

Monday, Jeff Rabjohns of Peegs.com reported that former Hoosiers player and current Michigan State assistant coach Dane Fife will be leaving East Lansing for a spot on Mike Woodson’s staff at IU. Fife has been on Tom Izzo’s staff since 2011.

Fife started his coaching career as an assistant at Indiana under then-head coach Mike Davis from 2003-05. He then took a head coaching gig at IPFW, where he spent six seasons. During that time, Fife’s teams improved their win totals nearly every season.

IPFW was 82-97 under Fife, but posted winning seasons in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons.

Fife was a member of Indiana’s basketball team from 1998-2002, playing under both Bob Knight and Davis during that time. He was a member of Indiana’s 2002 squad that reach the national championship and was named the B1G’s Defensive Player of the Year that season.

There was some thought that Fife might be in line to take over as the head coach at Michigan State when Izzo retires after spending a decade on the staff. But with the coaching change in Bloomington, joining another former in Woodson was too good to pass up.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB