Bobby Plump — the real-life Jimmy Chitwood — said Gene Hackman deserves as much credit as anyone for taking his small-town Hoosier state basketball story beyond Indiana to the rest of the world.

Bobby Plump -– the real-life Jimmy Chitwood ... A day after Hackman was found dead at the age of 95 in his New Mexico home, Plump reflected on the late star and the “Hoosiers” phenomenon.

Bobby Plump -– the real-life Jimmy Chitwood ... A day after Hackman was found dead at the age of 95 in his New Mexico home, Plump reflected on the late star and the “Hoosiers” phenomenon.

Bobby Plump — the real-life Jimmy Chitwood ... A day after Hackman was found dead at the age of 95 in his New Mexico home, Plump reflected on the late star and the "Hoosiers" phenomenon.

(AP Photo/Tom Strickland, File) Bobby Plump — the real-life Jimmy ... A day after Hackman was found dead at the age of 95 in his New Mexico home, Plump reflected on the late star and the ...

A day after Hackman was found dead at the age of 95 in his New Mexico home, Plump reflected on the late star and the “Hoosiers” phenomenon. “How important was his role? I think it was the ...