Bob Knight: On the Record: The Story of a Complex Character and Hall of Fame Coach

BOB KNIGHT ON THE RECORD

The Story of a Complex Character and Hall of Fame Coach

Credits

Stories

Stephen Beaven

Dana Hunsinger Benbow

Bill Benner

Barb Berggoetz

Bob Collins

Gregg Doyel

Matthew Glenesk

Terry Horne

Terry Hutchens

Bob Kravitz

Ray Marquette

John Masson

Kyle Neddenriep

John R. O’Neill

Zach Osterman

Dave Overpeck

Phil Richards

Rob Schneider

John Strauss

Max Stultz

Bill Theobald

Richard D. Walton

Photography

Jeff Atteberry

John Bard

John Bazemore

Bud Berry

Chuck Burton

Heather Charles

Jerry Clark

Rich Clarkson

Larry Crewell

Matt Detrich

Karen Ducey

Jimmy Ellis

Malcolm Emmons

Frank Espich

Mike Fender

Frank Fisse

John Gentry

Rob Goebel

Angela Gottschalk

Greg Griffo

Robert Hanashiro

Harry Harris

Jeremy Hogan

Jack Kanthal

Rich Miller

D. Todd Moore

William A. Oates

LM Otero

Michelle Pemberton

Susan Plageman

Chuck Robinson

Robert Scheer

David Schreiber

David Snodgress

Brian Spurlock

John Terhune

Kim Travis

John Warner

Kelly Wilkinson

Kathy Willens

Joe Young

Foreword

BY STEVE ALFORD, AS TOLD TO DANA HUNSINGER BENBOW

As a high school kid, I sat wide-eyed in my living room in New Castle, Indiana, across from a larger-than-life, legendary college basketball coach. I sat and I listened as Coach Knight made four promises to me.

Coach Knight was a dominant and respected figure. When he talked, you listened. I hung on his every word as he looked straight into my eyes, man to man, telling me what I would get if I came to play basketball for him at Indiana University.

Coach promised I would get my degree on time. He promised me I would get to play for a championship ring. He promised me I would have great teammates. And he promised me I would have a friend for life – in him.

For the next four years and decades to come, Coach Knight made good on every single one of those promises — and then some.

Throughout my own career, 33 years coaching college basketball, I have often

looked back in admiration at the man and leader Coach Knight was. He was honest, fair, extremely demanding, and one of the greatest men I have ever known.

What made Coach Knight special, outside of his genius knowledge of basketball, how he broke down film and how he went about the Xs and Os of the game, was his consistency. He was consistent in everything he did.

Coach Knight wanted no surprises and he led with a strict military approach, which earned him the nickname “The General.” Coach made sure we knew to always show respect to the person above us in rank and to never ever be late.

If he said we were viewing film at 1:15 p.m., everybody would be there by 1 p.m. If practice was at 3 p.m., everybody was there by 2:30 p.m., warmed up and ready to go. If the bus was leaving at 8 a.m., players were loading the bus by 7:45 a.m.

It didn’t matter who you were — the best player on the team, a starter, or

somebody off the bench — everybody’s rules were the same. Coach taught us manners and how to treat people. He told us life was about serving one another, not about serving yourself. Coach embodied that every single day.

He may have had a hard side, a tough guy side, but there was a softness to his spirit. He wanted only the best for us. He wanted only the best for the game of basketball. He truly loved and respected the game. He never cut corners, and he went by the book no matter what the circumstance was. Coach wanted the game, the competition, to remain pure.

Since Coach Knight died, I have thought a lot about his legacy. I want people to remember how much he did for the game and what he did for his players. He touched so many lives.

I know most people will remember Coach for his championships, for his wins, for making IU a powerhouse. I want them to remember, too, that he did it the right way. •

RIGHT: The search is over — Indiana University yesterday ended its search for a basketball coach to replace the resigned Lou Watson by signing Bob Knight who has stressed discipline and defense at West Point. Knight, left, is shown here with Indiana Athletic Director Bill Orwig soon after the signing.

Army’s Knight new IU cage coach Hoosiers hire disciplinarian

STAR STATE REPORT • MARCH 28, 1971

Bloomington, Ind. — Bob Knight, who stressed discipline and defense in his six years at West Point, yesterday was given the task of straightening out Indiana University’s basketball situation.

The 30-year-old Ohio State graduate replaces Lou Watson at the help of a Hoosier ship that was shaken by player unrest at the end of the season which resulted in the IU coach resigning.

The sophomore-dominated Hoosiers were picked by many to win the Big Ten title, but they never made it to the top of the ladder, finishing 17-7 overall and 10-4 in the conference.

The unrest came to light in the final week of the campaign when the squad held several meetings, then conferred with IU President John W. Ryan on the night Watson announced his resignation.

Knight comes to Indiana after six seasons as head coach at West Point, where he posted a 102-50 record. Four times his Army teams went to the National Invitation Tournament and they reached the semifinals on three occasions.

Quartered at Indiana Athletic Director Bill Orwig’s home yesterday before flying back to West Point where his wife Nancy is in the hospital with an injured back, Knight told The Star “I’d rather not make any definite statements” until his press

conference Tuesday morning.

Asked if he was selected because he’s noted for discipline, Knight replied, “Well I’m not so sure they a disciplinarian, but we’ll see.”

Knight’s Army teams led the nation in defense three consecutive years, a record matched only twice by Hank Iba at Oklahoma State.

He took over as West Point coach when Tates Lock left the Academy for Miami (Ohio). Before that he was an assistant for two years at West Point and a high school assistant for one season at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

In 1968 Knight accepted the University of Wisconsin basketball coaching post, then withdrew his name. There have been reports Norm Sloan of North Carolina State was Indiana’s first choice, but he rejected the offer. No one would confirm or deny the report. Colonel Gus Dielens Jr., director of athletics at West Point, said the Military Academy has no announcement to make at this time regarding a successor to Knight.

“We at West Point are extremely proud of the job Bob Knight has done here the past six years in building a solid basketball program, a program that has put us in the national limelight,” Dielens said. “We are very sorry to see him go, but wish him

the best knowing he will do an outstanding job where he is.”

A 1962 graduate of Ohio State, Knight played on the Buckeyes’ 1960 national championship team and the club that finished second in the NCAA in 1961–62.

Knight is expected to make a decision soon on the status of IU assistants

Jerry Oliver and Tom Bolyard.

“We always permit our head coaches to pick their own assistants,” Orwig said yesterday.

Orwig asserted “we are very fortunate that Bob Knight is willing to join our coaching staff. He has had an outstanding record as a player and a coach.”

Ryan said “with Knight I think our basketball team will carry on the excellence in sports the university deserves.”

Oliver disclosed that he received at least one offer for a college head coaching job

ABOVE: Steve Green (left) with Bob Knight as he signs his national letter of intent to play at IU in 1971.

in the Midwest and he might also think about returning to the high school ranks.

Jerry coached Indianapolis Washington for eight years winning the 1965 state high school title. George McGinnis and Steve Downing of the 1969 Washington state championship team followed Oliver to IU

Oliver was interviewed for the Indiana job Sunday and the announcement was a big personal disappointment.

“We tried to do the best we could. We recruited these kids and had the best season Indiana’s had for a long time. I just felt we should have been shown a little more consideration.”

Oliver didn’t know if any stipulations concerning Knight’s assistants were made.

“Originally, I said I didn’t want to stay but now I’m not going to rule it out completely. I don’t know what his plans are and I’d have to talk to him about it.

“All of this happened so fast I haven’t had much time to think about what I’m going to do.”

Oliver flew back to Bloomington from the NCAA Finals in Houston at 4 a.m. yesterday to try and find out what was going on. Late in the afternoon he still had no official word.

One prominent Indiana grad called Knight a young, clean cut coach who was given the job to raise the Hoosier image.

“Knight normally plays more of a ball control game and is well known for his hard-nosed defense,” he said. “Because of all the speaking he’s done around the country on defense, Knight probably is better known than (North Carolina State’s) Norm Sloan among the coaches.” Sloan was considered a leading candidate for the job.

“I think the alumni will be pleased with the choice. They were unhappy with the image so it was only natural that Orwig would recommend Knight (an Army man) because of his discipline.

“There might be some trouble until he gets things straightened out but he’ll definitely rule the roost.”

For recruiting purposes, he thought the most sensible thing to do now would be to give a lot of consideration to Oliver, or someone else close to the Indiana high school picture.

Bill Garrett who starred for Indiana in the late ’40s and early ’50s and then coached Indianapolis Crispus Attucks to the 1959 state high school crown was another mentioned for the role. •

RIGHT: Bobby Knight addresses the media during a press conference on March 30, 1971, two days before his first day on the job as the new Indiana University men’s basketball coach. WILLIAM A. OATES / INDYSTAR

Disciples over discipline is Knight’s way

Will seek character, not characters

RAY MARQUETTE • MARCH 31, 1971

Anyone among the Indiana University basketball faithful who think Bobby Knight is going to pull a drill instructor act for the Hurryin’ Hoosiers has another think coming.

The 30-year-old United States Military Academy coach who has stepped into the IU breach has been heralded as the greatest disciplinarian since Herod the Great. Quite naturally, the connotation of the word “discipline” has the intense young man from Ohio a bit up tight.

He’s just not the type who will walk onto the practice court carrying a whip or baton and expect everyone to snap to attention. Instead, one of his most able weapons of basketball success has been the ability to communicate and convince young men that a disciplined game is the key to victory.

“There’s a lot of difference in the meaning of the word,” he said after a press conference yesterday when he deftly handled a hundred or so questions from newsmen.

“In the first place, I don’t know a thing about the so-called trouble the Indiana team had this season. As far as that’s concerned, it’s past history. I’m interested in the future.

“When I talk about discipline, I mean a disciplined game of basketball. I’ve had

players at West Point who were fine high school scorers. I had one from Chicago who was the leading scorer I the Catholic league.

“But I convinced him that his job would be to play good defense and get the ball to players I felt could score better than he in college. He averaged seven points a game for three years with us and never complained. He also played most of every game.

“That’s more what I mean by discipline. I’m concerned with character not characters. When you have a freelance player or players, you end up with one guy doing the action and four others standing around. This is the easiest kind of team to defense. And you don’t have too many winners with a setup like that.

“As a coach, you have to convince an individual that he wants to win and to show him how he can best help the team. And I also believe in building a system to suit your personnel.

“We averaged about 60 shots a game at West Point and that was about 13 more than our opponents. Again, our game was built around our personnel.

“Defense is the key to winning in any sport and that’s what I believe in. We’ve always played a basic man-to-man

defense because I like it and it’s suited our personnel.

“Some people might think I don’t believe in the fast break. That not true because I like an ‘intelligent’ funning game and the most effective fast breaks are those that come off an opponent’s turnover — and those are caused by the defense.”

Right now, the Ohio State graduate is more concerned with recruiting than signing a contract with Indiana. He headed out of town yesterday morning to talk to Indiana high school prospects and doesn’t expect to get to Bloomington until the weekend.

“I haven’t talked to any of the IU players or the assistant coaches now on the staff,” he said. “I figure the foundation for our program has to start with a freshman class. We’re already late in recruiting and I want to talk to the top players first and let them know we’re interested in them.

“I hope to talk to most of the returning players over the weekend. I’ll talk to them individually, not as a group. I have movies of some of the games in the trunk of the car and I expect to look at them every night to see what I can find to help the players we’ll have back next year.

“Mr. Orwig (athletic director Bill Orwig) is giving me complete freedom of choice in

IU National Basketball Champs

Beats Michigan in NCAA, 86-68

RAY MARQUETTE • MARCH 30, 1976

Philadelphia — When they write the book on the 1976 national Collegiate basketball championship, they’ll have to call it Indiana University’s finest hour.

Taking nothing away from the first two Hoosier NCAA titlists, last night’s heart-stopping, emotion-shattering 8668 victory over archrival Michigan came as hard as any triumph ever did.

Never before has a Hoosier team gone into such an important game carrying an unbeaten record and a No. 1 ranking. And never before has such a club lost one of its key players on a “knockout” punch within the first 3 minutes of the title game and still come back to triumph.

In becoming the seventh unbeaten team ever to win the premier postseason title, the Hoosiers won their 64th game in the last 65 starts to cap a 32-0 season that has been matched only once (North Carolina) in tournament history.

And only one thing marred the happy celebration of Bobby Knight’s hard workers. That was the absence of senior Bobby Wilkerson, a key member of the drive to

the throne this team has been seeking the last four years.

Completely and instantly knocked out when he caught an elbow from the Wolverines’ Wayman Britt with 17:17 left in the opening period in the Spectrum, the senior from Anderson was treated on the floor for almost 15 minutes, then taken to Temple University Hospital for observation of a concussion.

Officials ruled the collision and knockout an accident and called no foul as Wilkerson tried to stop a scoring drive by the Michigan senior who has just given the Big Ten runners-up a 6-4 lead.

Few teams ever have been more stunned in the opening moments of such an important game. And maybe a lot of them would have quietly wilted and called the accident one of those saddening strictures of fate.

But not this team that Knight himself terms “one that won’t let itself be beaten.”

Instead of showing any signs of panic, the Hoosiers rallied behind their senior co-captains, Scotty May and Quinn

RIGHT: Indiana Hoosiers head coach Bobby Knight during the 1976 NCAA Tournament, March 1976, Dayton, OH. MALCOLM EMMONS / USA TODAY SPORTS

Buckner, took strength from the muscular shoulders and deft shooting of Kent Benson and refused to roll over and curse the fates.

It wasn’t easy — nor was it a quick road to the throne room.

With Knight trying three different guards to replace Wilkerson and having trouble getting either the offense or defense percolating properly, the Wolverines found themselves dancing in front, 18-10, by hitting nine of their first 12 shots.

By this time, the capacity crowd of 17,540 persons in the Spectrum figured they were watching the beginning of the unbeatable dream.

But they reckoned without the determination of Buckner and Benson, who combined for such a show of strength on both ends of the floor that Indiana kept climbing back and finally took a 27-26 lead with six minutes left when May, college player of the year, tossed in a lovely bomb from the corner.

The Hoosiers lost that lead almost immediately and went into the dressing room behind, 35-29, as Michigan shot a fancy .615 from the field (16 of 26).

This wasn’t the first time Indiana had been faced with a staggering road to comeback and the confidence it has picked up in traveling the road to the NCAA title the last four years never was more evident during the second half as Knight’s basketball workers went into high gear.

It was Benson, May and Buckner who led the charge that brought a tie at 41 and 43 and then a 47-43 lead with 12:13 still to play.

The Wolverines, with Steve Grote running the offense, weren’t going to concede either, and struck back for three straight ties before May hit a one-hander to put IU in front, 53-51. Never again was it to be headed.

Five straight points were in this surge before Michigan could answer and when Buckner stepped to the free throw line

LEFT:

Swenson.

(Back Row, L to R) Coach Robert “Bobby” Montgomery Knight, Assistant Coach Harold Andreas, Jim Roberson, Jim Wisman, Assistant Coach Bob Donewald, and Assistant Coach Bob Weltlich.

INDIANA UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

on Phil Hubbard’s fifth and final foul with 7:27 left, his free throw was the beginning of the end.

May and Benson added four points, Buckner calmly put in a pair of free throws at the 5:28 mark for a 67-59 advantage and when Britt fouled out 30 seconds later, the Wolverines were on the brink of defeat.

Not even a stern press that did give the Hoosiers some problems could have off the charge to victory. A 14-point lead was sliced to 8 before Jimmy Wisman, May and Buckner added the final and clinching points that sealed the victory and started a victory celebration with 44 seconds left and Indiana in front 82-66.

“For two years this has been our objective,” said a bubbling and teary-eyed Knight. “Not just this year, for two years these kids have worked hard and no one knows how hard any more than I do.”

May, joining Abernethy and Benson on the all-tournament team along with Michigan’s Rickey Green and UCLA’s Marcus Johnson, was the game’s top point producer at 26. But Benson, a unanimous choice for most outstanding

player, had 25 points, nine rebounds and Buckner, still the heart and soul of this club, hit six of nine free throws and five of 10 from the field for 16 points to go with eight rebounds and four assists.

And it was May who gave Knight a tearful and happy hug, then huskily told his coach, “We worked so hard, so hard for this and we finally beat ’em, baby.”

Knight said to the public that losing Wilkerson didn’t really shake his team — but it had to.

“Without Wilkerson we weren’t able to pressure as much. But the kids did a great job, particularly in the second half. Quinn played a great game, bringing us down to the end — but our whole team has been tremendous for us. It’s been a team achievement.”

It has been that kind of wild and wonderful season where “togetherness” is not a trite expression on IU’s third national championship and no one has ever been able to detract from this label.

Abernethy, who played 35 minutes despite a taped-up knee that had been badly bruised in Saturday’s semifinal, also did an outstanding job, scoring 11 points and grabbing four boards. And so

(Front Row, L to R) Bobby Wilkerson, James Crews, Scott May, Quinn Buckner, Tom Abernathy, and Kent Benson. (Middle Row, L to R) Tim Walker, Rich Valavicius, Mark Haymore, Scott Eells, Wayne Radford, Bob Bender, and Manager Chuck

did Wisman, who contributed six assists and ran the IU offense quite well the entire second period.

Michigan, finishing at 25-7 for the season, had 18 points from Green, 12 from Grote, 11 from Britt and 10 from Hubbard — but faded in the second half when Indiana outshot it, .600 to .355, to show once again how strong its defense is. •

RIGHT: Indiana Hoosiers head coach Bobby Knight with guard Bobby Wilkerson (20) during the 1975 season, Bloomington, Ind. Bobby Knight has coached at Army, Indiana and Texas Tech. Knight won three national championships with Indiana and is second in all-time wins for a Division 1 coach.

MALCOLM EMMONS / USA TODAY SPORTS

LEFT: Indiana center Kent Benson (54) celebrates after winning the 1976 NCAA basketball championship, Philadelphia, PA, USA. The Hoosiers beat the Wolverines 86-68 and went undefeated for the season.

MALCOLM EMMONS / USA TODAY SPORTS

Chair incident surprised everyone

PHIL RICHARDS • FEB. 24, 1985

Bloomington, Ind. — Steve Reid was reaching for the basketball when the chair went by.

“I was shocked. I was shocked and it’s as simple as that,” said the Purdue guard. “I was going up to the free-throw line and a chair went by. I didn’t know what to do.”

Bob Knight had struck again.

Referee Fred Jaspers knew what to do. He slapped the Indiana coach, the man who threw the chair, with a technical foul, his second in a matter of seconds. A moment later No. 3 was called and Knight took the long walk to the dressing room, disqualified.

It happened with 15 minutes to play in the first half of Purdue’s 72-63 Big Ten basketball victory Saturday in Assembly Hall. The Hoosiers trailed 11-6 when Purdue’s Mark Atkinson and Indiana’s Marty Simmons dove on the floor for a loose ball near midcourt. As the two scrambled for possession, the ball went back and forth and at times was controlled by both simultaneously.

The obvious call was jump ball. Referee London Bradley called a foul on Simmons.

Knight erupted. He raged at Bradley from in front of the Indiana bench until Jaspers called the first technical. Then he picked up his chair and threw it across the lane as Reid stepped to the foul line to shoot the free throws.

Jaspers called a second technical. When Bradley passed by the bench, Knight raged at him. Technical No. 3 was called by Bradley.

Knight walked to the locker room, followed by Athletic Director Ralph Floyd and University President John W. Ryan. The crowd chanted, “Bobby, Bobby.”

“I’ve got no comment,” said Floyd when approached at halftime. “I’ll make my comments to the commissioner (the Big Ten’s Wayne Duke).”

Floyd then retired to the tunnel under the west stands where he engaged in an animated 15-minute discussion of the play in particular and Big Ten officiating in general with league Supervisor of Official Bub Burson.

players were.

“It’s not something we were really expecting to happen but then again we don’t really know what to expect,” said Indiana forward Daryl Thomas.

“I’ve seen a lot of things in my four years here but I haven’t seen that one,” said Indiana senior co-captain Dan Dakich. “I don’t think anybody in the administration would think Coach Knight did anything wrong for the school.”

“That was just a thing to inspire us and fire us,” said Hoosier freshman Kreigh Smith.

“I was going up to the free-throw line and a chair went by. I didn’t know what to do.”

STEVE REID

When Burson was asked about the incident, he replied, “I have no comment.”

After the game, a printed statement from Floyd was issued by the sports information department. It read:

“Dr. Ryan has requested that I prepare an immediate report to send to the conference commissioner, with a copy forwarded to Dr. Ryan, and there will be no further comment from Indiana University officials regarding today’s incident.”

If the university wasn’t talking, the

That it did. The Hoosiers played with uncommon fervor for the remainder of the game and the crowd of 17,279 may have been the loudest Assembly Hall has held in its 14 years.

The problem was, too many people weren’t just loud. After the game, Reid had an ugly red welt on his arm where he was hit by a coin thrown from the stands. Purdue Coach Gene Keady’s wife, Pat, went home with a patch over her left eye. She was hit in the eye by a coin and needed

emergency first aid. She said a man in front of her in the stands was hit, too.

“That really disappointed me,” shrugged Reid, who scored 13 points and had nine assists. “The last two times we were down here they were classy, even when we beat them. This time they were obnoxious. Throwing coins out on the floor — there’s no place for that in basketball.”

Said Purdue forward James Bullock, “I didn’t think IU fans were like that. I thought they’d just take it (the chair-throwing incident) like fans. As a matter of fact, afterward a couple of them told me, ‘Good game.’ Of course, a couple of them said some other things, too.”

It made for an ugly situation, one not safe for players, coaches, officials, fans.

“It was scary,” said Boilermaker forward Mark Atkinson, who hadn’t heard about Pat Keady. “I was wondering what would happen next, if somebody was going to get hit in the eye or something.”

The officiating was not good. It was sloppy inconsistent and sometimes almost nonexistent but perhaps Keady had the best prescription for that.

“I tell my players if we play good, we keep the officials out of it,” said Keady.

Saturday was not a proud day for Indiana University. •

OPPOSITE: A March 4, 1985, Dairy Queen sign in Indianapolis after Knight’s chairthrowing game. GREG GRIFFO / INDYSTAR

Indiana captures NCAA title

Smart’s field goal in closing seconds buries Orangemen

PHIL RICHARDS • MARCH 31, 1987

New Orleans — Picked by some to finish as low as fourth in the Big Ten, Indiana ruled all of college basketball Monday night.

With the nation and a Louisiana Superdome crowd of 64,959 watching, the Hoosiers weren’t quite up to their standard but they were up to beating Syracuse. Indiana just grabbed Keith Smart’s shirttails and held on for a ride to the NCAA championship.

Smart hit a 17-foot baseline jump shot with four seconds to play to give IU a 7473 victory in the NCAA title game.

A year ago, Smart was playing at Garden City (Kan.) Community College. Monday night he was named Final Four Most Valuable Player. The 6-1 junior scored 21 points, doled out six assists, grabbed five rebounds and made a career’s worth of big plays to keep Indiana in the game through the second half. Smart scored 12 of Indiana’s final 15 points.

He didn’t defer until he was asked to talk about his performance.

“I just took what was given to me,” he said. “Syracuse was sagging inside and covering Steve (Alford) tight, so he was looking for me and that worked. Having a player like Steve opens things up so much for the others on the team.”

The title was IU’s fifth, pulling it abreast of Kentucky. Only UCLA, with 10, has more.

It was the Hoosiers third national championship under Coach Bob Knight, who also won in 1976 and ’81. That puts him behind just two men, legends both: UCLA’s John Wooden (10) and Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp (5).

“Things couldn’t have ended up better for the three seniors (Daryl Thomas, Todd Meier and himself),” said Alford, who hit seven of 10 three-point attempts and scored 23 points. “Over the years we’ve grown very close as friends and this year

OPPOSITE:

RIGHT: Bob Knight coaches during the 1987 season. JOHN TERHUNE / HERALD-TIMES

34,183 fans watch IU take on Auburn in a second-round NCAA Tourney game on March 14, 1987. D. TODD MOORE / INDYSTAR

Knight fires back

Ex-coach says IU didn’t tell the truth

TERRY HORNE • SEPT. 13, 2000

It was Bob Knight at his most enigmatic. Defiant. Patient. Analytical. And most of all, combative.

In a live, nationally televised interview Tuesday night from a Monroe County resort, the most controversial college basketball coach in recent history, perhaps ever, told his story — his first detailed account of the events that led to his firing Sunday.

Knight accused university officials of lying. He denied yelling or swearing at Indiana University counsel Dorothy Frapwell. He insisted he had fulfilled his obligations to appear at university functions. He explained again the lesson in manners he had tried to teach IU freshman Kent Harvey, whose accusation of being accosted by Knight was the last in a series of incidents that led to the firing.

“That’s something, Jeremy, that I would probably do under the same circumstances tomorrow, and the next day and the day after that,” Knight told Jeremy Schaap, who conducted the interview for ESPN at the Fourwinds Resort and Marina on Lake Monroe.

Mostly, Knight laid the blame for his departure on the IU administration.

“In recent years, things have changed,” Knight said at the outset. “Administration has changed. The athletic department has changed. And for some people that may be good. But for me it hasn’t been.”

After the interview, two university officials defended Knight’s dismissal but declined to speak directly to any of Knight’s explanations.

“I see nothing productive to get into ‘he said, she said,’” said Christopher Simpson, vice president of public affairs and government relations. “I think it’s time to move on.”

Knight clearly wasn’t ready to. But he did make it clear that he’s looking for work.

“You know, I haven’t retired. I’m an unemployed teacher right now, and I’m looking for a place to teach. I want to see how this offense works. I want to see how some thoughts I have on defense work,” Knight said. “There are too many things I have yet to explore about the game of basketball.”

Knight and his supporters arrived at the resort about 5:30 p.m. in a four-car caravan. The fired coach was in a black Toyota sedan. Right behind him was a silver Mercedes driven by Isiah Thomas, the Indiana Pacers coach who played for him at IU.

Knight put his head down and marched into the hotel without acknowledging the reporters or spectators gathered outside.

It seemed Knight was trying to stay focused on his message. But that message was nearly overshadowed by a heated glimpse of a more intimidating Knight.

Schaap was trying to steer the conversation, jumping into pauses to ask questions or to try to pin Knight down. Knight kept rebuking him for interrupting.

Suddenly, Knight took the offensive.

“You have a real faculty for doing that,” he said of Schaap’s interruptions.

“Thank you,” Schaap said, laughing slightly as if to turn aside the rebuke. Knight didn’t let up.

“I don’t think it’s anything to be real proud of, myself.”

Schaap reminded Knight that he had come to do an interview. After a brief exchange about who had interrupted whom, Knight paused. Then came the faintest of grins.

“You’ve got a long way to go to be as good as your dad,’’ Knight said. “You better keep that in mind.”

Schaap was taken aback by the reference to his father, sports announcer Dick Schaap.

But Knight quickly moved on, discussing how little he cared about his total number of victories in college basketball.

The exchange about interruptions may have been the most startling moment in the 40-minute interview, but it wasn’t the most pointed.

Knight later accused former team member Neil Reed, who said the coach choked him, and athletic department secretary Jeanette Hartgraves — who

also was alleged to have been the target of a Knight outburst — of having memory difficulties.

“Are you saying they lied?” Schaap asked.

“Yeah, I’m saying that.”

According to Knight, his confrontation with university counsel Frapwell began after she and another attorney had come to his office to discuss his payment of the $30,000 fine that IU President Myles Brand imposed in May. Knight complained that his accountant had tried four times to straighten out the matter.

Knight admitted that, at that time, he had a negative attitude toward the university.

He said he asked Frapwell,” ‘Do you need me for anything else? Is there anything that needs to be done with you?

Have we done everything with you?’

“She said that we had. And I said, ‘Well, then, I would like to finish this with the other attorney. And I would just as soon that you leave the office,’ “ Knight said.

“If that’s abusive, that’s abusive.”

Knight said he did not scream at her. When Schaap pointed out that Simpson had a different account of the meeting, Knight retorted:

“Well, that’s his interpretation. And he happens to be a guy that puts a lot of interesting spins on a lot of things for a lot of people.”

Knight said his wife and son advised him to leave IU earlier this year. He said he turned down a job offer in June but decided to stay because of the team he had assembled for this year’s season.

“We’ve never been mediocre,” he said. But this year’s squad had the potential for being “very good.”

Knight said the team still has that potential. He said he told the players that when he met with them shortly after he was fired.

He said university statements that he had been warned repeatedly since May about his behavior were totally untrue. And he insisted he had never broken the chain of command.

“There was nothing that came up from May 13th to the present where I needed to interact with the athletic director in any way. … My contract called for me to control basketball and to run basketball.”

Simpson said he was saddened by Knight’s comments but was glad the coach got the opportunity to be heard. He praised all the positive things Knight has done for IU.

Attorney Stephen Backer, an IU trustee, disputed that the “zero-tolerance” policy was never explained clearly to Knight.

“It was spelled out and defined very clearly by President Brand,” Backer said. “It’s just common sense in dealing with people.”

He added that part of the problem was that Knight’s behavior didn’t change with the times, and perhaps previous administrations “looked the other way.”

In the end, Knight defied Schaap’s attempts to define his firing as tragic.

He referred to a family friend who was undergoing cancer surgery. “That’s tragedy,” he said.

Afterward, Knight ducked out a back entrance. Reflecting on the interview, Schaap called the comment about his father “kind of a cheap shot, but it’s not a big deal.”

“That’s who he is,” Schaap added.

“That’s the way he responds to a line of questioning he doesn’t like.”

ESPN spokesman Mike Soltys said the network approached Knight through Digger Phelps, the former University of Notre Dame coach who works as an ESPN analyst and is a longtime friend of Knight’s.

It was not Knight’s only media appearance of the day. He also talked to The Sporting News, making most of

ABOVE: Indiana basketball player

Tom Geyer and friend Sara Gladstein watch the interview in Geyer’s room. Knight said he told the players after this firing that this year’s squad had the potential to be “very good.”

ROBERT SCHEER / INDYSTAR

the same points in that interview and mentioning that he’s selling his Monroe County house. He is scheduled to appear on WTTV (Channel 4) at 10:30 p.m. today and Thursday.

Knight also has said he will speak to students at 6 p.m. today at Dunn Meadow on campus.

Staff writers John Masson and Barb Berggoetz contributed to this report. •

Coach goes out in style — his own

Thousands hear Knight thank students, plug program, jab others.

BARB BERGGOETZ AND JOHN MASSON • SEPT. 14, 2000

Bloomington, Ind. — When it finally came time for him to fade away, like many an old soldier before him, Indiana’s General did it his own way.

In a mostly upbeat speech before a worshipping crowd estimated at more than 8,000, Knight admonished his listeners to keep alive the storied tradition of Indiana University basketball and to dedicate their loyalty to the team he no longer coaches.

And, of course, he worked in a few zingers for the people who ousted him.

“Basketball has been, I think, a real cooperative venture” at IU, Knight said. “There’s been a lot of people who have been involved with it: the coaches, the administrators — not recently — and the fans. And nobody — nobody — any more so than the students over the years.”

Knight was fired Sunday by IU President Myles Brand for what Brand called a pattern of uncivil and defiant behavior.

The crowd was packed shoulder-to-shoulder in Dunn Meadow, a popular gathering spot in the heart of campus. They had waited patiently and peacefully for Knight, who arrived with his wife, Karen, about 20 minutes late.

Some toted cameras to get one last snapshot of their coach. Several students climbed high atop nearby trees and on the top of a fraternity house across the street to get a better view.

A few students held up posters, showing disdain for the administration and support for the coach. “On the eighth day, God created coach,” one read. Another said, “Politics + a punk + cowards {equals} railroading of a great man, Mr. Knight.”

The gathering of students, interspersed with a few older fans, cheered Knight’s barbs tossed at the IU administration. They listened intently to his 20-minute speech, punctuated by a few fans yelling such goodbyes as “You’re the man, Bobby” and “We love you, Bobby.”

For his part, Knight reminded students that during his reign, the percentage of Assembly Hall seats reserved for students has been by far the highest in the nation.

“One thing I’ve taken great pride in is how hard the students have always rooted for us,” Knight said. “The students sensed we needed something a little extra, and they gave it to us.”

That atmosphere inside Assembly Hall may change this fall, he said, when the

advertisers he’s always kept out are likely to appear, full force.

“There’ll probably be ads in it for everything from dog biscuits to Pepsi-Cola,” he sniffed.

Call it a not-so-gentle reminder to fans about who kept the IU program pure.

There were more jabs for his critics, too. Like when Knight urged the audience to be careful not to let too many people know they’d attended the rally, in case an IU administration that is “good at one thing — putting a spin on anything” tried to use their attendance against them.

Or how, when a roaring television news helicopter hovered low enough to practically drown out Knight’s amplified voice, he joked, “That must be the administration helicopter.”

The fans loved it.

But moments later, Knight was almost somber.

“Don’t let the energy, the enthusiasm that the student body has had for basketball — don’t let that change,” he pleaded. “If you must do something to remember me by, do that.”

Then, in a parting shot at the media, another favorite target, he gave IU’s student

LEFT: Bob Knight addresses a crowd at Dunn Meadow on the IU campus. Bob Knight firing story, day four, from Bloomington, Sept. 13, 2000. ROBERT SCHEER / INDYSTAR

Texas Tech celebrates Knight era

Former Indiana coach plays up to the crowd as he’s introduced at raucous news conference.

BOB KRAVITZ • MARCH 24, 2001

LUBBOCK, Texas — It could have been a prelude to a rock concert. Music blared from loudspeakers at the United Spirit Arena. A large banner, “Welcome to Texas Tech, Coach Bobby Knight. A New Era Begins,’’ hung over the podium. Cheerleaders ringed the basketball floor.

Fans, who began filing into the building an hour before the news conference, filled more than 7,000 seats in the 15,000-seat arena. There were a number of Knight-related T-shirts, including one featuring a large red folding chair.

The General was back.

Bob Knight, the successful and controversial figure who dominated Indiana sports the past three decades, officially was announced Friday as Texas Tech’s men’s basketball coach. He replaced James Dickey, who was fired March 9 after 10 years.

As Knight donned the unfamiliar Texas Tech red sweater vest Friday, he smiled and did the Texas Tech “guns up’’ salute.

“This is, without question, the most comfortable red sweater I’ve worn in six years,’’ Knight said, eliciting a huge ovation.

After six years at Army, after 29 years in Bloomington, after 11 Big Ten titles, three national titles and Olympic gold, Knight returned to basketball with the

kind of fanfare usually reserved for a rock band or maybe a religious figure.

For the next two hours, he held court, jousting with reporters — playfully, for the most part — playing to the crowd.

“This is the beginning of something really special for Texas Tech basketball,’’ said athletics director Gerald Myers, a

refuted that report Friday night.

When asked whether IU still was contractually obligated to him, and whether IU was paying part of his first-year salary, Knight offered a minimal response.

“I don’t know anything about that,’’ he said.

There are no special behavior or con-

“This is a gamble that’s not without its risk. We believe that it’s foolish to believe that a 60-year-old man will change his personality.”

JAMES SOWELL, TEXAS TECH TRUSTEE

longtime Knight friend.

Contract terms weren’t disclosed, but newspaper reports had Knight making $250,000 a year in base salary for the next five years, with $150,000 a year more coming from endorsement deals, TV/radio appearances and the like.

CNN reported Knight would make only $12,000 from Tech the first year, with the rest coming from Indiana University.

IU athletics director Clarence Doninger

duct clauses in his contract, at least none beyond the standard clauses in all Tech contracts.

“We did extensive background checks,’’ said school president David Schmidly. “And we were satisfied with what we found.’’

One Tech trustee in Dallas, James Sowell, told the Dallas Morning News, “This is a gamble that’s not without its risk. We believe that it’s foolish to believe that a 60-year-old man will change his

personality,’’ but he added he thought some of Knight’s missteps were overblown by the media.

Knight did not promise an NCAA tournament berth or even a winning season next season, but said he would produce a team of student-athletes who would make the school proud. Knight is taking over a program in the dumps. The Red Raiders were 9-19 last season and 47-66 the past four seasons.

“I’ll only tell you this,’’ Knight said. “We’ll give you a product you’ll enjoy watching and one you’ll be proud of.’’

Nor did he promise to change in how he deals with people, except to tell local media he’d give them a chance if they gave him one.

He also vowed to continue some traditions he maintained at IU. He said he would take the names off the back of his players’ uniforms and committed $10,000 toward the Tech library. Knight also said he would let the students vote on which sweater vest he would wear.

“Unless I don’t like the way the vote comes out,’’ he said with a smirk.

For weeks, Knight’s imminent hiring was one of the planet’s worst-kept secrets. On Wednesday, Myers gave his written recommendation to Schmidly. Then Schmidly sent that on to chancellor

John Montford. And the deal was done. A number of coaches who are involved in the NCAA tournament roundly supported Tech’s decision.

“He’s a real good friend,’’ Kansas’ Roy Williams said before his team’s game against Illinois. “We beat them (the Hoosiers) five out of the six teams we played, and he’s still been tremendously nice to me. He’s been a great coach and a great teacher of coaches. We’ve all stolen a lot of things from him.’’

Temple’s John Chaney echoed Williams’

sentiments.

“I think Bobby Knight needs to be involved in coaching,’’ he said. “A guy’s involved with sports for 35 years and someone takes a snapshot of one part of that body of work, and starts flashing it over and over, I do feel that’s unfair.’’

The local newspaper, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, supported the Knight hiring on its editorial page Friday morning.

“Many people focus on Mr. Knight’s legendary temper, and we have no doubt that he has done things in his job that

he regrets and would like to have done differently. Everyone has,’’ the editorial read, in part.

“But few people have had their regrettable incidents blown up and broadcast nationally. The national media that so love to accentuate the negatives are remarkably reluctant to acknowledge the many positives about Bob Knight.’’

When Knight closed the raucous proceedings, he left to the strains of Night Fever.

The General is back. •

difficult

LEFT: Bob Knight makes a “Guns Up” sign after his introduction as Texas Tech’s new basketball coach, March 23, 2001, in Lubbock, Texas. Almost a year ago Mike Davis accepted one of the most

jobs in the nation, replacing Knight, as head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers. LM OTERO / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Bob Knight finally comes back home

Fiery former Indiana coach’s 20-year absence ends

ZACH OSTERMAN • FEB. 9, 2020

Bloomington, Ind. — Fred Heavilon traveled from his home in eastern Pennsylvania to Bloomington this weekend for the same reason a lot of people probably did.

An IU graduate, class of ’75, Heavilon sat in the Assembly Hall stands for Bob Knight’s first game at Indiana. He attended what would turn out to be Knight’s last game as well, a 20-point loss to Pepperdine in Buffalo in the NCAA tournament in March 2000, largely by coincidence. His wife’s alma mater, Lafayette, also played in Buffalo that same weekend.

If the rumors were true — and as recently as Friday night, Heavilon wasn’t sure they were — and Knight really was going to end his 20-year absence and return to Assembly Hall, Heavilon was sure as hell going to see that too.

Heavilon arrived wearing a bright red sweater bearing a vintage stitched Adidas logo and the words “Indiana Basketball” and he, like so many others, got his wish.

On Saturday, Bob Knight came home.

“This,” former Hoosier Randy Wittman said afterward, “is where he belongs.”

Knight’s return, dramatic and emotional, began the way Indiana always hoped it would: with a reunion.

Rarely does a full IU basketball season pass without the university honoring at least one of its illustrious former teams, be it a national champion, a Big Ten champion or a Final Four participant. This year marked 40 since the 1980 team began the season ranked No. 1 in the country, only to be taken apart by injuries before rallying to win its last six regular-season games and what was at that time Knight’s fifth Big Ten title.

Wittman was a redshirt sophomore on that team, and a cornerstone of the Hoosiers’ national championship run the following year. Though he downplayed it speaking with reporters afterward, according to those familiar with the organization of Saturday’s reunion, Wittman was also a driving force in bringing Knight back.

Together with Quinn Buckner, an IU trustee and among the most-respected of Knight’s former players, Wittman convinced his old coach to return to Assembly Hall and rallied nearly 50 former Hoosiers to what eventually morphed into a celebration of the healing of an old and painful wound.

“This was 100% driven by the players. It’s their story to tell on the details,” IU Athletic Director Fred Glass told IndyStar. “It started with Randy inviting (Knight) to come to the 1980 reunion. He’s been invited to several reunions before. But at this point, the planet, the stars and the moon had lined up, and he accepted.”

Indiana itself had left the door wide open to his return, if and when Knight was ever comfortable.

IU inducted him into its hall of fame in 2009, doing away with a rule that said living inductees needed to be present to go in. Glass had made quiet overtures down the years, ensuring Knight and everyone around him understood that door would

OPPOSITE: Indiana Hoosiers former coach Bob Knight returns for the first time in 20 years and waves to the fans as he is escorted with his son Pat Knight and former players Quinn Buckner and Steven Green at halftime of the game against the Purdue Boilermakers at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Feb. 8, 2020. BRIAN SPURLOCK / USA TODAY SPORTS

Legendary IU coach Bob Knight dies

Fiery three-time NCAA champion guided the last undefeated Division I men’s basketball team

ZACH OSTERMAN • NOV. 2, 2023

Bloomington, Ind. — Iconic as he was controversial, Bob Knight for decades embodied the spirit of basketball in a corner of the world mad about it. His hard-nosed, fundamentals-driven style and attention to detail became deeply rooted in the culture of the sport for basketball fans in southern Indiana and elsewhere, his admirers standing as ardently by him as his critics often chastised him.

At the height of his success, few in the sport were more recognizable, or more noteworthy.

Knight died in Bloomington, according to a post on bobknight.com, a website that represents Knight and his foundation. The school later confirmed Knight’s death, announcing his passing ahead of the IU women’s exhibition game Wednesday at Assembly Hall. He was 83.

Knight was renowned for his extremes — an irrepressible winning habit juxtaposed against a fiery temper — which brought him both fame and notoriety. Each helped define one of college basketball’s most distinctive personalities for his 42 years as a head coach.

An Orrville, Ohio, native who played at

Ohio State collegiately, Robert Montgomery Knight was part of Fred Taylor’s 1960 national championship-winning team that also included future NBA hall-of-famers John Havlicek and Jerry Lucas. Knight would make his greatest impact running his own sideline. After graduating from Ohio State, Knight briefly worked as a high school assistant before taking a similar position at Army, under Tates Locke. He replaced Locke as head coach in West Point in 1965.

Over six seasons, Knight won 102 games at Army, with four 18-win seasons and only one year under .500. That work prompted the move that would come to define both Knight’s career and the program that lured him away from the service academy.

In 1971, Knight was hired as head coach at Indiana, a Big Ten school with two national championships but some ways removed from its best years under Branch McCracken. Knight almost immediately restored the Hoosiers among college basketball’s elite, advancing to the Final Four in his second season and winning a national title in his fifth.

His 1975–76 team remains the last in Division I men’s basketball to complete a season undefeated, 32-0.

Those teams were widely considered his best, or at least the most reflective of Knight’s tenacious style.

Between 1974 and 1976, Indiana lost just once, in a regional final to Kentucky with star forward Scott May severely limited by injury. Members of both the 1974–75 team and its immediate successor have since suggested the former squad might have been the better overall, even if the latter finished its undefeated season and won Knight’s first national title.

But 1975–76 returned a hardened core of experienced players, and good defensive balance. It battled all the way to the national final before losing Bobby Wilkerson to injury. Just as it had lost May.

“Coach didn’t write anything on the board, and for a while he didn’t say a word,” Scott May told Sports Illustrated in 1995. “Then he said, ‘If you guys want to be champions, if you want to make history and do something that maybe no other team will ever do, you’ve got 20 minutes to prove it.’ And that was it. Somebody

OPPOSITE: Fans take a moment after the women’s basketball game to stop by the makeshift memorial for former Head Coach Bob Knight after the Indiana versus Northwood women’s basketball game at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Nov. 1, 2023. Knight passed away earlier that evening at 83. RICH JANZARUK / HERALD-TIMES