Robert Montgomery "Bob" Knight (born October 25, 1940) is a retired Americanbasketballcoach. Nicknamed "The General", Knight won 902 NCAADivision I men's college basketball games, second all-time to his former player, Mike Krzyzewski. He is most well known as the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers from 1971–2000. He also coached briefly at Texas Tech (2001–2008) and at West Point (1965–1971).[1]
While at Indiana, Knight led his teams to three NCAA championships, one National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship, and 11 Big Ten Conference championships. He received the National Coach of the Year honor four times and the Big Ten Coach of the Year honor six times.[2] In 1984, he coached the USA men's Olympic team to a gold medal, becoming one of only three basketball coaches to win an NCAA title, NIT title, and an Olympic gold medal.[3]
Knight was one of college basketball's most successful and innovative coaches, having perfected and popularized the motion offense. He has also been praised for running clean programs (none of his teams was ever sanctioned by the NCAA for recruiting violations) and graduating most of his players. However, Knight has also attracted controversy; he famously threw a chair across the court during a game, was once arrested for assault, and regularly displayed a combative nature during encounters with members of the press. Knight also still commands a following among fans of the Indiana Hoosiers basketball program.[4]
In 2008, Knight joined ESPN as a men's college basketball studio analyst during Championship Week and for coverage of the NCAA Tournament.[5] For the 2008–09 season, he joined ESPN as a part-time color commentator as well as continuing his studio analyst duties.
After graduation in 1962, Knight coached junior varsity basketball at Cuyahoga Falls High School in Ohio for one year.[9] Knight then enlisted in the U.S. Army and accepted an assistant coaching position at Army in 1963, where, two years later, he was named the head coach at the relatively young age of 24. In six seasons at West Point, Knight won 102 games, with his first as a head coach coming against Worcester Polytechnic Institute. One of his players was Hall of Fame and current Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
Indiana reached the Final Four in 1973, losing to UCLA. In 1975, the Hoosiers were undefeated and the number one team in the nation, when leading scorer Scott May suffered a broken arm in a win over arch-rival Purdue. Indiana subsequently lost 92–90 to Kentucky in the regional finals of the NCAA tournament, with May playing with a heavily-braced arm.
In 1976, the Hoosiers were undefeated at 32–0 and won the championship, beating Michigan 86–68 in the title game. Immediately after the game, Knight lamented that "it should have been two." No other Division I men's team has had an undefeated season including a championship since.[citation needed]
Indiana won the 1979 NIT championship, and Knight led the U.S. national team to a gold medal in the Olympic Games as coach of the Michael Jordan-led 1984 team (coaches do not receive medals in the Olympics). He also won 11 Big Ten Conference titles. Knight is one of only three coaches to win NCAA, NIT, and Olympic championships, joining Dean Smith of North Carolina, and Pete Newell of California. Knight is the only coach to win the NCAA, the NIT, the Olympic Gold and the Pan-Am Gold.
The Indiana Hoosiers were undefeated in Big Ten Conference play from 1974 to 1976, and lost only one game during the period (the aforementioned regional final against Kentucky).
In 1991, Knight was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility. After he wasn't elected in his first year of eligibility, Knight told the committee to take his name off the list, but they denied his request [citation needed].
From 1991-93, the Hoosiers posted 87 victories, the most by any Big Ten team in a three-year span, breaking the mark of 86 set by Coach Knight's Indiana teams of 1974-76. Teams from these three seasons spent all but two of the 53 poll weeks in the top 10, and 38 of them in the top 5. They captured two Big Ten crowns in 1990-91 and 1992-93, and during the 1991-92 season reached the Final Four. During the 1992-93 season, the 31-4 Hoosiers finished the season at the top of the AP Poll, but were defeated by Kansas in the Elite Eight.
Knight with young fans in Columbus, Ohio in the summer of 1988
On March 14, 2000, just before Indiana was to begin play in the NCAA tournament, the CNN/SI network ran a piece on Knight in which former player Neil Reed claimed he was choked by Knight in a 1997 practice.[11] Knight denied the claims in the story. However, on April 11, 2000, CNN Sports Illustrated aired a tape of an IU practice from 1997 that appeared to show Knight placing his hand on the neck of Neil Reed.[12]
In May of that year, Indiana University president Myles Brand announced that he had adopted a "zero tolerance" policy with regard to Bob Knight's behavior.[13]
In September 2000, IU freshman Kent Harvey reportedly said, "Hey, Knight, what's up?" to Knight. According to Harvey, Knight then grabbed him by the arm and lectured him for not showing proper respect.[12]
Brand stated that this incident was only one of numerous complaints that occurred after the zero-tolerance policy had been placed on Knight. He asked Knight to resign on September 10. When Knight refused, however, Brand relieved him of his coaching duties effective immediately. Later that evening, a crowd of thousands of students swarmed Bloomington in protest, burning Brand in effigy.[12]
Harvey was supported by some and vilified by many who claim he intentionally set up Knight. Kent Harvey's stepfather, Mark Shaw, is a former Bloomington-area radio talk show host and Knight critic.[14]
On September 13, Knight said goodbye to a crowd of some 6,000 supporters in Dunn Meadow at Indiana University. He asked that they not hold a grudge against Harvey and that they let Harvey get on with his education and his life.[15] Knight's firing made national headlines including the cover of Sports Illustrated and around the clock coverage on ESPN. It was also mentioned on major news programs such as CBS News and CNN.
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
Knight watches his team practice in November 2007.
After taking the next season off, all the while on the lookout for vacancies, Knight accepted the head coaching job at Texas Tech, though his hiring was opposed by a group of faculty led by Walter Schaller.[18] At the press conference introducing him, Knight quipped, "This is without question the most comfortable red sweater I've had on in six years."[19]
Knight quickly improved the program, which had not been to an NCAA tournament since 1996. He led the Red Raiders to postseason appearances in each of his first four years at the school (three NCAA Championship tournaments and one NIT). After a rough 2006 season, the team improved in 2007, finishing 21–13 and again making it to the NCAA Championship tournament, where it lost to Boston College in the first round. The best performance by the Red Raiders under Knight came in 2005 when they advanced as far as the Sweet Sixteen. In both 2006 and 2007 under Knight, Texas Tech defeated two Top 10-ranked teams in consecutive weeks. During Knight's first six years at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders won 126 games, an average of 21 wins per season.
Knight has a high regard for education and has made generous donations to Texas Tech. On November 29, 2007, the Tech library honored this with A Legacy of Giving: The Bob Knight Exhibit. When Knight came to the school in 2001, he gave $10,000, the first gift to the Coach Knight Library Fund which has now collected over $300,000.[20]
On February 4, 2008, Bob Knight retired as head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. His son Pat Knight, the head coach designate since 2005, was immediately named as his successor. The younger Knight stated that, after many years of coaching, his father was exhausted and ready to retire.[21] Just after achieving his 900th win, Knight handed the job over to Pat in the mid-season in part to allow him to get acquainted with coaching the team earlier, instead of having him wait until October, the start of the next season.[22]
According to Knight's biographer, Bob Hammel, Knight is expected to continue living in Lubbock.[23]
(*) Indicates record/standing at time of resignation from Texas Tech.
Total:
138–82
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
Bob Knight's motion offense emphasizes post players setting screens and perimeter players passing the ball until a teammate becomes open for an uncontested jump shot or lay-up. This requires players to be unselfish, disciplined, and effective in the setting and use of screens to get open. On defense, players are required both to tenaciously guard opponents man-to-man and to help teammates when needed, although Knight has also incorporated using a zone defense periodically after eschewing that defense for the first two decades of his coaching career.[25]
Coaching victories and awards
On January 1, 2007, Knight achieved his 880th career win at Texas Tech, passing retired North Carolina coach Dean Smith for the most career NCAA Division I men's college basketball victories. The game was a 70–68 victory by the Red Raiders over the New Mexico Lobos. Knight trails both Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith in win differential, which is the difference between wins and losses and reflects Knight's lower lifetime winning percentage, as it took Knight 41 seasons and 100 extra games to achieve the record, compared with Smith's 36. However, Knight overtook Smith at a younger age (he was also one of the youngest or the youngest to reach milestones 200 (age 35), 300 (age 40), 400 (age 44), 500 (age 48) and 600 (age 52).) Knight chalked up win number 900 when the Red Raiders defeated the ninth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies, 68–53, on January 16, 2008.[26]
The Red Raiders' participation in the 2007 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament marked another record. With their inclusion as the #10 seed in the East Regional, Knight became the coach to lead his team to more NCAA Tournaments than any other.[27] However, the team lost to Boston College in the first round by a score of 84–75.
In 1987, Knight was the first person to be honored with the Naismith Men's College Coach of the Year Award. Five years later, he received the Clair Bee Coach of the Year Award. And, in 2007, he was the recipient of the Naismith Award for Men's Outstanding Contribution to Basketball.[28] Knight was nominated to receive a 2007 ESPY Award in the category of Best Record Breaking Performance but was not chosen as the winner.[27]
On May 29, 2008, ArmyAthletic Director Kevin Anderson announced that Knight would be one of ten persons inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame.[29]
On September 20, 2008, Bob Knight was inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2008 in a ceremony during Army's home football game against Akron, at Michie Stadium, West Point, New York.
A number of assistant coaches, players, and managers of Knight have gone on to be coaches.
Controversies
1970s
It was reported (although years after the incident) that Knight choked and punched IU's longtime sports information director, Kit Klingelhoffer, in the 1970s, over a news release that upset the coach.[6]
On December 7, 1974, Indiana and Kentucky met in the regular season in Bloomington with a 98-74 Indiana win. Near the end of the game, Bob Knight went to the Kentucky bench where the official was standing to complain about a call. Before he left, Knight hit Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall in the back of the head.[30] UK's assistant coach Lynn Nance, a former FBI agent who was about 6 feet 5 inches, had to be restrained by Hall from hitting Knight. Hall later said, "It publicly humiliated me."[31] Knight said the slap to the head was something he has done, "affectionately" to his own players for years. "But maybe someone would not like that," he said. "If Joe didn't like it, I offer an apology. I don't apologize for the intent." ... "Hall and I have been friends for a long time," Knight said. "If he wants to dissolve the friendship, that's up to him."[32] Knight blamed the furor on Hall, noting in his inimitable style, "If it was meant to be malicious, I'd have blasted the fucker into the seats."[33]
During the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Knight was accused of assaulting a police officer while coaching the US Basketball team before a practice session. He was later convicted in absentia to a six-month jail sentence, but extradition efforts by the Puerto Rican government were not successful.[34]
1980s
In February 1985, Knight threw a chair across the court to protest a referee's call during a game against the rival Purdue Boilermakers.[35] Knight was suspended for one game and received two years' probation from the Big Ten Conference.
Women's groups nationwide were outraged by Knight's comments during an April 1988 interview with Connie Chung in which he said, "I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it."[36] Knight's comment was in reference to an Indiana basketball game in which he felt the referees were making poor calls against the Hoosiers.
1990s
In March 1992 prior to the NCAA regional finals, controversy erupted after Knight playfully mock whipped Indiana players Calbert Cheaney and Pat Graham during practice. The bullwhip had been given to Knight as a gift from his team. Several black leaders complained at the racial connotations of the act (Cheaney is black.) [37]
Knight was shown berating an NCAA volunteer at a March 1995 post-game press conference following a 65–60 loss to Missouri in the first round of the NCAA tournament held in Boise, Idaho. The volunteer, Rance Pugmire, informed the press that Knight would not be attending the press conference, when in reality, Knight was running a few minutes late and had planned on attending per NCAA rules. Knight was shown saying: "You've only got two people that are going to tell you I'm not going to be here. One is our SID [Sports Information Director], and the other is me. Who the hell told you I wasn't going to be here? I'd like to know. Do you have any idea who it was?...Who?...They were from Indiana, right?...No, they weren't from Indiana, and you didn't get it from anybody from Indiana, did you?...No, I—I'll handle this the way I want to handle it now that I'm here. You (EXPLETIVE) it up to begin with. Now just sit there or leave. I don't give (EXPLETIVE) what you do. Now back to the game."[38]
Former IU player Neil Reed alleged that Knight had grabbed him by the neck in a choking manner during a 1997 practice. A videotape of the incident was shown on CNN.[6]
2000s
On February 19, 2000, Clarence Doninger, Knight's boss, alleged to have been physically threatened by the coach during a confrontation after a game.[6]
An IU investigation inquired about an allegation in which Knight berated and physically intimidated a university secretary, once throwing a potted plant in anger, showering her with glass and debris. The University later asked the coach to issue an apology to the secretary.[6]
It was alleged that Knight attacked assistant coach Ron Felling, throwing him out of a chair after overhearing him criticizing the basketball program in a phone conversation.[6]
On September 8, 2000, IU freshman Kent Harvey told campus police Knight grabbed him roughly by the arm and berated him for speaking to the coach disrespectfully. Knight admitted putting his hand on the student's arm and lecturing him on civility, but denied that he was rough or raised his voice. The coach was fired from IU two days later.[6]
Two days after Knight was fired from Indiana University, Jeremy Schaap of ESPN interviewed him and discussed his time at Indiana. Towards the end of the interview, Knight talked about his son, Patrick, who had also been dismissed by the university, wanting an opportunity to be a head coach. Schaap, thinking that Knight was finished, attempted to move on to another subject, but Knight insisted on continuing about his son. Schaap repeatedly tried to ask another question when Knight shifted the conversation to Schaap's style of interviewing, notably chastising him about interruptions. Knight then commented (referring to Schaap's father, Dick Schaap), "You've got a long way to go to be as good as your dad!"[39]
In March 2006, a student's heckling at Baylor University resulted in Knight having to be restrained by a police officer. The incident was not severe enough to warrant any action from the Big 12 Conference.[40]
On November 13, 2006, Knight was shown allegedly hitting player Michael Prince under the chin to get him to make eye contact. Although Knight didn't comment on the incident afterwards and as of yet hasn't done so, Prince, his parents, and Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers insisted that Knight did nothing wrong and that he merely lifted Prince's chin and told him "Hold your head up and don't worry about mistakes. Just play the game." Prince commented, "He was trying to teach me and I had my head down so he raised my chin up. He was telling me to go out there and don't be afraid to make mistakes. He said I was being too hard on myself."[41]
On October 21, 2007, James Simpson of Lubbock, Texas, accused Knight of firing a shotgun in his direction after he yelled at Knight and another man for hunting too close to his home.[42] Knight denied the allegations. An argument between the two men was recorded via camera phone and aired later on television.[43]
On December 17, 2009, Knight insulted longtime rival Kentucky and its basketball coach John Calipari, saying "We've gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that's why I'm glad I'm not coaching," he said. "You see we've got a coach at Kentucky, who put two schools [UMass and Memphis on probation and he's still coaching. I really don't understand that."
On April 18, 2011, video surfaced showing Knight responding to a question concerning John Calipari and the University of Kentucky men's basketball team by stating that in the previous season, Kentucky made an Elite Eight appearance the year before with "5 players who had not attended a single class that semester." These claims were later disproved by the University and the five players in question, including Patrick Patterson, who graduated in three years, and John Wall, who finished the semester in question with a 3.5 GPA.[44] Knight later apologized for his comments stating that "My overall point is that 'one-and-dones' are not healthy for college basketball. I should not have made it personal to Kentucky and its players and I apologize."[45]
Books about Bob Knight
Books about Knight include A Season on the Brink (ISBN 0-02-537230-0), by John Feinstein; Bob Knight: His Own Man, by Joan Mellen (ISBN 0-380-70809-4); and Playing for Knight: My Six Seasons with Bobby Knight, (ISBN 0-671-72441-X), by former player and current New Mexico head basketball coach Steve Alford.
In Bob Knight, His Own Man, Mellen characterized Feinstein's book as being banal (21).
In 2002, Knight and longtime friend and sports journalist Bob Hammel wrote his biography, Knight: My Story (ISBN 0-312-31117-6.)
In 2006, Bob Knight: An Unauthorized Biography, written by Steve Delsohn and Mark Heisler, was released. (ISBN 0-7432-4348-X)
Film and television
Blue Chips is a 1994 feature film about Pete Bell, a volatile but honest college basketball coach under pressure to win who decides to blatantly violate NCAA rules to field a competitive team after a sub-par season. It starred Nick Nolte as Bell and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal as Neon Bodeaux, a once-in-a-lifetime player Bell woos to his school with gifts and other perks. The coach's temper and wardrobe seem to be modeled after Knight's,[citation needed] but at no time has Knight been known to illegally recruit. Knight himself coaches against Nolte in the film's climactic game.
In 2002, veteran character actor Brian Dennehy portrayed Knight in A Season on the Brink, a TV film adapted from John Feinstein's book. It was ESPN's first feature-length film.
Knight made a cameo appearance as himself in the 2003 film Anger Management.
In 2008, Knight appeared in a commercial as part of Volkswagen's Das Auto series where Max, a 1964 black Beetle interviews famous people. When Knight talked about Volkswagen winning the best resale value award in 2008, Max replied, "At least one of us is winning a title this year." This prompted Knight to throw his chair off the stage and walk out saying, "I may not be retired."[46]
In 2009, Knight produced 3 instructional coaching DVD libraries—on motion offense, man-to-man defense, and instilling mental toughness—with Championship Productions.
Knight was the central character in a reality show for ESPN. The show, titled Knight School, followed a handful of Texas Tech students as they competed for the right to join the Red Raiders as a non-scholarship player.
