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Heartland: A Forgotten Place, an Impossible Dream, and the Miracle of Larry Bird
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From the New York Times bestselling author of Charlie Hustle and Fly Girls comes one of America’s greatest sports stories: the improbable rise of Larry Bird and the Indiana State Sycamores.
In the fall 1974, Larry Bird—one of the greatest players to ever pick up a basketball—was lost, and in danger of slipping away.
He had dropped out of Indiana University, spurning legendary Hoosiers head coach Bobby Knight. He returned home to French Lick, a tiny town in the second poorest county in Indiana, and he got a job hauling trash.
It could have ended right there for Bird, were it not for two men: Bob King, an old coach with bad knees, and Bill Hodges, a man who knew what it was like to be poor and overlooked. In the spring of 1975, during one of the darkest chapters of Bird’s life, King and Hodges convinced Bird to leave French Lick and play basketball at Indiana State University, a college that couldn’t even fill its arena, much less compete with Bobby Knight. Then, while no one was watching, King and Hodges built a team of players around Bird who were just like him: they were castoffs and leftovers, ready to work.
Four years later, in March 1979, this unheralded team would put together one of the greatest seasons in American sports history. By the time it was over, more than 50 million people would tune in to watch the Indiana State Sycamores play in the NCAA finals against Magic Johnson and Michigan State.
What happened that night would change college basketball and the NBA. Perhaps more importantly, it would change the members of this hardscrabble team, binding them together forever. In some ways, their one shining moment would never end.
Drawing on exclusive, in-depth interviews with players, coaches, and staffers, New York Times bestselling author and PEN American award–winning biographer Keith O’Brien offers a stirring account of the mighty Indiana State Sycamores. With its unforgettable ensemble cast, Heartland is more than just a sports book. It’s the story of a group of young men who achieved the greatest feat of all: immortality.
In the fall 1974, Larry Bird—one of the greatest players to ever pick up a basketball—was lost, and in danger of slipping away.
He had dropped out of Indiana University, spurning legendary Hoosiers head coach Bobby Knight. He returned home to French Lick, a tiny town in the second poorest county in Indiana, and he got a job hauling trash.
It could have ended right there for Bird, were it not for two men: Bob King, an old coach with bad knees, and Bill Hodges, a man who knew what it was like to be poor and overlooked. In the spring of 1975, during one of the darkest chapters of Bird’s life, King and Hodges convinced Bird to leave French Lick and play basketball at Indiana State University, a college that couldn’t even fill its arena, much less compete with Bobby Knight. Then, while no one was watching, King and Hodges built a team of players around Bird who were just like him: they were castoffs and leftovers, ready to work.
Four years later, in March 1979, this unheralded team would put together one of the greatest seasons in American sports history. By the time it was over, more than 50 million people would tune in to watch the Indiana State Sycamores play in the NCAA finals against Magic Johnson and Michigan State.
What happened that night would change college basketball and the NBA. Perhaps more importantly, it would change the members of this hardscrabble team, binding them together forever. In some ways, their one shining moment would never end.
Drawing on exclusive, in-depth interviews with players, coaches, and staffers, New York Times bestselling author and PEN American award–winning biographer Keith O’Brien offers a stirring account of the mighty Indiana State Sycamores. With its unforgettable ensemble cast, Heartland is more than just a sports book. It’s the story of a group of young men who achieved the greatest feat of all: immortality.
- GenresSportsBasketball
384 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication March 3, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Before Larry Bird became a legendary NBA player with the Boston Celtics, he was an All-American player for the Indiana State Sycamores, a basketball program very few knew about before Bird’s arrival. The story of Bird’s path to the Terre Haute campus and the Sycamores’ magical 1978-79 season is told in this excellent book by Keith O’Brien.
Much like his other books, most notably his biography of Pete Rose, O’Brien conducts hundreds of interviews with people involved in Bird’s life. They can be family, teammates, other acquaintances or even someone who had a brief encounter or event with Bird. An example of this is that O’Brien interviewed the two Indiana State cheerleaders who appeared with Bird on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1977. At that time, getting on that cover was very prestigious. Getting the perspective of that event from these two women is just one example of the depth of the book.
O’Brien has also shown in other books that storytelling is one of the strengths of his writing and this book has plenty of stories. Whether these are from coaches such as Bob King and Bill Hodges the two coaches for Indiana State during Bird’s time there (King had to give up coaching due to health issues and Hodges, who was on King’s staff, took over those duties), from teammates such as Carl Nicks and Bob Helton, or even people from Bird’s hometown of French Lick, Indiana, these paint a fascinating picture of Bird during this time frame.
The book not only covers the Indiana State basketball team, but also a deeper look at Bird’s life before he reluctantly agreed to go with King to visit the campus. It is known that he originally intended to attend Indiana and play for legendary coach Bob Knight there, but he grew depressed and lonely there and did not play a game for the Hoosiers. This, along with other parts of his personal life such as a short marriage that resulted in a daughter being born, his father’s suicide and his time working for the town as a garbage collector are also chronicled here. No matter what Bird was doing at that point, O’Brien describes it well and completely.
The book is an easy read and is broken up into many smaller chapters, making it easy to digest and finish in a short amount of time. Any basketball fan will enjoy this book on one ofn the true legends of the game.
I wish to thank Atria Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
Much like his other books, most notably his biography of Pete Rose, O’Brien conducts hundreds of interviews with people involved in Bird’s life. They can be family, teammates, other acquaintances or even someone who had a brief encounter or event with Bird. An example of this is that O’Brien interviewed the two Indiana State cheerleaders who appeared with Bird on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1977. At that time, getting on that cover was very prestigious. Getting the perspective of that event from these two women is just one example of the depth of the book.
O’Brien has also shown in other books that storytelling is one of the strengths of his writing and this book has plenty of stories. Whether these are from coaches such as Bob King and Bill Hodges the two coaches for Indiana State during Bird’s time there (King had to give up coaching due to health issues and Hodges, who was on King’s staff, took over those duties), from teammates such as Carl Nicks and Bob Helton, or even people from Bird’s hometown of French Lick, Indiana, these paint a fascinating picture of Bird during this time frame.
The book not only covers the Indiana State basketball team, but also a deeper look at Bird’s life before he reluctantly agreed to go with King to visit the campus. It is known that he originally intended to attend Indiana and play for legendary coach Bob Knight there, but he grew depressed and lonely there and did not play a game for the Hoosiers. This, along with other parts of his personal life such as a short marriage that resulted in a daughter being born, his father’s suicide and his time working for the town as a garbage collector are also chronicled here. No matter what Bird was doing at that point, O’Brien describes it well and completely.
The book is an easy read and is broken up into many smaller chapters, making it easy to digest and finish in a short amount of time. Any basketball fan will enjoy this book on one ofn the true legends of the game.
I wish to thank Atria Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
When someone thinks of Larry Bird, the vast majority of us will either picture him in Boston Celtics green or in a suit overlooking the Indiana Pacers. Or maybe you don't like sports, and you have no idea who I am talking about. Either way, you are probably not thinking about his time on the Indiana State Sycamores. Yes, that is an actual college and that is their mascot. However, it all happened in one of the most improbable stories in sports history. Keith O'Brien tackles all of this in Heartland.
I can't even begin to explain how ridiculous this true story is. Larry Bird was going to play at Indiana University under the legendary (and extremely temperamental) Bobby Knight. Bird decided to leave before playing a single game. He bounced (pun intended) around and improbably ended up at Indiana State in beautiful Terre Haute (famously name-checked in A Christmas Story and go ahead and verify, I'll wait). What follows is basically a montage of every sports cliché you have ever heard. Players come and go while becoming a team and they become bigger than the sum of their parts. There is tragedy, people pushed into positions they never anticipated, and the inevitable clash with the other best player in existence at the time, Magic Johnson. I'm not sure if it can even be called cliché since all of it happened.
O'Brien is also the perfect author for this story. He is a journalist at heart, which means he never tells you how to feel or lays anything on too thick. There is no editorializing or, more importantly, schmaltz. He reports the facts and lets you decide how to feel about it. Do you think Bird is kind of a jerk for the way he treats reporters? Maybe you think he is completely justified in how he refuses to speak to them unless it is completely on his terms. Either way, O'Brien doesn't weigh in. He reports the facts, and gives you as much background as possible, but never crosses the line into opining.
O'Brien also nails the pace of this book. He chops this story up into short chapters. This tactic can be absolutely disastrous when used incorrectly. Instead, O'Brien makes every single chapter feel frenetic. It feels like a bunch of news articles formed into a cohesive and engaging narrative. I loved this book and I don't even like basketball. O'Brien tells a human story, not a sports story.
(This book was provided as a advance reader copy by NetGalley and Atria Books.)
I can't even begin to explain how ridiculous this true story is. Larry Bird was going to play at Indiana University under the legendary (and extremely temperamental) Bobby Knight. Bird decided to leave before playing a single game. He bounced (pun intended) around and improbably ended up at Indiana State in beautiful Terre Haute (famously name-checked in A Christmas Story and go ahead and verify, I'll wait). What follows is basically a montage of every sports cliché you have ever heard. Players come and go while becoming a team and they become bigger than the sum of their parts. There is tragedy, people pushed into positions they never anticipated, and the inevitable clash with the other best player in existence at the time, Magic Johnson. I'm not sure if it can even be called cliché since all of it happened.
O'Brien is also the perfect author for this story. He is a journalist at heart, which means he never tells you how to feel or lays anything on too thick. There is no editorializing or, more importantly, schmaltz. He reports the facts and lets you decide how to feel about it. Do you think Bird is kind of a jerk for the way he treats reporters? Maybe you think he is completely justified in how he refuses to speak to them unless it is completely on his terms. Either way, O'Brien doesn't weigh in. He reports the facts, and gives you as much background as possible, but never crosses the line into opining.
O'Brien also nails the pace of this book. He chops this story up into short chapters. This tactic can be absolutely disastrous when used incorrectly. Instead, O'Brien makes every single chapter feel frenetic. It feels like a bunch of news articles formed into a cohesive and engaging narrative. I loved this book and I don't even like basketball. O'Brien tells a human story, not a sports story.
(This book was provided as a advance reader copy by NetGalley and Atria Books.)
February 7, 2026
I am a millennial.
I know exactly where I was when the Dream Team won the gold medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics (the YMCA swimming pool in Brentwood, Tennessee). I had the McDonald’s cups, including Larry Bird. For me, Larry Bird has always been that guy. A little older than Michael Jordan, but still a name, face, and a voice I recognize.
I knew he had a relatively illustrious college career, but it was before I was born and, honestly, when I first started watching basketball, he was on the tail end of his career. My one memory of watching him actually play was on the Dream Team and those were actually the last competitive games of his career.
Keith O’Brien’s new book Heartland dives into this period leading to (and through his college career) before Larry Bird was LARRY BIRD. The book is interesting, well-paced, and meticulously researched. If you read O’Brien’s Charlie Hustle, you will recognize his writing style.
There is a lot of detail of individual games and instances but it never gets tired. There seems to be a rhyme or reason for individual game accounts (if you have read books that just seem like a recitation of game statistics over and over, you will understand how important this is).
The book also includes a lot of primary source material with interviews with Bird’s Indiana State coaching staff and teammates. The glaring omission is there is nothing from Bird himself, but not surprising if you read the book.
It’s a fantastic, deep dive into a very specific portion of his career. Sort of his hero origin story. I will continue to read anything Keith O’Brien puts out.
And, of course, thank you to Keith O’Brien and Atria Books for allowing me an advanced copy of this book.
I know exactly where I was when the Dream Team won the gold medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics (the YMCA swimming pool in Brentwood, Tennessee). I had the McDonald’s cups, including Larry Bird. For me, Larry Bird has always been that guy. A little older than Michael Jordan, but still a name, face, and a voice I recognize.
I knew he had a relatively illustrious college career, but it was before I was born and, honestly, when I first started watching basketball, he was on the tail end of his career. My one memory of watching him actually play was on the Dream Team and those were actually the last competitive games of his career.
Keith O’Brien’s new book Heartland dives into this period leading to (and through his college career) before Larry Bird was LARRY BIRD. The book is interesting, well-paced, and meticulously researched. If you read O’Brien’s Charlie Hustle, you will recognize his writing style.
There is a lot of detail of individual games and instances but it never gets tired. There seems to be a rhyme or reason for individual game accounts (if you have read books that just seem like a recitation of game statistics over and over, you will understand how important this is).
The book also includes a lot of primary source material with interviews with Bird’s Indiana State coaching staff and teammates. The glaring omission is there is nothing from Bird himself, but not surprising if you read the book.
It’s a fantastic, deep dive into a very specific portion of his career. Sort of his hero origin story. I will continue to read anything Keith O’Brien puts out.
And, of course, thank you to Keith O’Brien and Atria Books for allowing me an advanced copy of this book.
November 12, 2025
Keith O’Brien crushed it again with this book that takes a deep dive into the high school and college career of Larry Bird. After being captivated by his previous release “Charlie Hustle”, which takes a look at the rise and fall of Pete Roses’ career, I knew I had to get my hands on his next release and boy did he not disappoint.
Heartland is filled with all the anecdotes, quotes, and details surrounding the high school and college career that helped shaped Larry Bird into one of the all time NBA greats. This book was filled with so many interesting stories including the death of Larry’s father, his short lived stint at the University of Indiana, taking time off to work for the city before being persuaded to enroll at Indiana State University where one of the most magical seasons took place in 1979, leading up to the clash of two very different personalities in the NCAA championship in March of 1979, considered by some to be the biggest/most hyped game of all time.
Keith did such a great job at telling Larry’s story in a way that hasn’t been done up to this point. So much of the material out there on him focuses on his illustrious NBA career, but seems to glance over the steps that it took for him to arrive at that point. This book was such a nice, quick, easy read due to the fact that it was portioned out into short chapters, so it made it easy to allow myself just “one more chapter” over and over again until I had this thing knocked out in 5 days 😂.
I highly recommend this book, as well as Keith’s other writings, he does not disappoint! Special thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest and fair opinion.
Heartland is filled with all the anecdotes, quotes, and details surrounding the high school and college career that helped shaped Larry Bird into one of the all time NBA greats. This book was filled with so many interesting stories including the death of Larry’s father, his short lived stint at the University of Indiana, taking time off to work for the city before being persuaded to enroll at Indiana State University where one of the most magical seasons took place in 1979, leading up to the clash of two very different personalities in the NCAA championship in March of 1979, considered by some to be the biggest/most hyped game of all time.
Keith did such a great job at telling Larry’s story in a way that hasn’t been done up to this point. So much of the material out there on him focuses on his illustrious NBA career, but seems to glance over the steps that it took for him to arrive at that point. This book was such a nice, quick, easy read due to the fact that it was portioned out into short chapters, so it made it easy to allow myself just “one more chapter” over and over again until I had this thing knocked out in 5 days 😂.
I highly recommend this book, as well as Keith’s other writings, he does not disappoint! Special thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest and fair opinion.
November 3, 2025
I got this from Netgalley, so I can read and review it before it's published. Before I begin, I will tell you that when I was 13 years old in 1990, Larry Bird was my favorite player in the NBA. Don't know why, when I had my hometown San Antonio Spurs to cheer for. A friend of the family, at that time, worked for the Boston Celtics and somehow, word got to him, and an autographed picture from Larry arrived for me. How awesome is that?
This book primarily looks at Larry's high school and college playing days, and everything that happen during those days. From his father's suicide to Larry working manual labor jobs to Larry not talking to the media, to Larry's work ethic as a basketball player, and to Larry's toughness on the court. Coaches and players he played with and against are interviewed throughout the book. I am glad that Larry never gave up basketball, as he probably could've easily done that as enjoyed outdoor labor!
He started his college playing days at Indiana under head coach Bobby Knight and was recruited by Dave Bliss. But, he left and eventually attended Indiana State. In 1979, Indiana State went undefeated before losing to Michigan State and Magic Johnson. Yep, Bird and Magic and that rivalry continued in the NBA. A lot of details on games and how the Indiana State basketball came to be (from the coaching staff and all of the players) is in the book.
The last few chapters flash forward to a where are the key players now, and that was interesting for me to learn.
This book primarily looks at Larry's high school and college playing days, and everything that happen during those days. From his father's suicide to Larry working manual labor jobs to Larry not talking to the media, to Larry's work ethic as a basketball player, and to Larry's toughness on the court. Coaches and players he played with and against are interviewed throughout the book. I am glad that Larry never gave up basketball, as he probably could've easily done that as enjoyed outdoor labor!
He started his college playing days at Indiana under head coach Bobby Knight and was recruited by Dave Bliss. But, he left and eventually attended Indiana State. In 1979, Indiana State went undefeated before losing to Michigan State and Magic Johnson. Yep, Bird and Magic and that rivalry continued in the NBA. A lot of details on games and how the Indiana State basketball came to be (from the coaching staff and all of the players) is in the book.
The last few chapters flash forward to a where are the key players now, and that was interesting for me to learn.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
I've never really been into the NBA which is probably why I didn't know anything about Larry Bird's backstory. But I love college basketball so I figured this book would be good to learn some things and it sure was. This was awesome. I had no idea the extent of Bird's backstory and the underdog way he became one of the greatest players of all time. The story of Indiana State basketball was crazy; I am bummed they've never really been able to recapture that magic especially now that NIL has made it much harder for mid-majors to develop players in the way necessary for them to be long-term competitive. A lot of times when lots of games have to be described they can get kind of boring but the descriptions of these games were so well done I could almost watch the game in my head and now I feel like I have to go watch the YouTube highlights of the national championship to see how they match up. I learned a ton during this including how the 1979 natty was the catalyst for the development of March Madness as we know it today. 10/10 book
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews