Best Indiana Men’s Basketball Players Of The 2020s So Far: No. 13 Rob Phinisee

Indiana guard Rob Phinisee was known as “Big Shot Rob,” and to understand why head to his biography still archived on the official men’s basketball website.

If you do a keyword search for “game-winning,” three hits turn up, one for each of Phinisee’s seasons as a Hoosier. If you do the same search for “game-tying,” you get two more hits.

Phinisee’s overall career at Indiana was up and down. He played for both Archie Miller and Mike Woodson. He started more games as a freshman than he did as a senior.

And yet, Phinisee belongs at No. 13 on the best of the 2020s so far because he provided some memorable moments. He played three seasons in the 2020s – Jordan Geronimo, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Xavier Johnson, Anthony Leal, Malik Reneau and Race Thompson were the only other players who qualified for consideration who equaled or played more seasons in the 2020s.

Phinisee’s counting stats are run-of-the-mill. The Lafayette native averaged 6.3 points in the 2020s, second-lowest of anyone in the top 16. He averaged 2.7 assists and 2.3 rebounds and converted just 34.7% from the floor. He came off the bench and averaged just 18.3 minutes per game in his final Indiana season.

Yet Phinisee was there when the big moments came along.

He hit the first of his game-winning shots against Butler in 2019, but two of his three career game-winning shots came in the 2020s.

In the 2020-21 season, Phinisee converted a jumper with 13 seconds left in overtime to lift the Hoosiers to an 87-85 victory over Penn State at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. He also had three blocked shots in that contest.

In that same season, Phinisee hit a game-tying 3-pointer with 1:19 left at Assembly Hall against No. 8 Iowa. Armaan Franklin later hit a game-winning bucket to upset the Hawkeyes.

However, Phinisee will be remembered most for the final game-winning shot of his Indiana career.

On Jan. 20, 2022, No. 4 Purdue rolled into Assembly Hall, and Phinisee was at his zenith. He scored a career-high 20 points to go with four steals and four rebounds, but he saved his most important three points for last.