Bob Knight

Bob Knight

Robert Montgomery (Bob or Bobby) Knight (born October 25, 1940, in Massillon, Ohio, U.S.), also known as The General, is the head men's basketball coach at Texas Tech. He was previously head coach at Indiana and at Army.

Knight has won more NCAA Division I men's basketball games than any other head coach. As of the 2007 NCAA tournament (3/27/07), that number stood at 890.

Knight has won three NCAA championships (1976, 1981, 1987), one National Invitation Tournament championship (1979), and led the U.S. Olympic basketball team to a gold medal (1984). This is considered collegiate basketball's Triple Crown . Knight also led Indiana to 11 Big Ten Conference championships, and is a 4-time National Coach of the Year (1975, 1976, 1987, 1989).

Knight is one of NCAA Division I college basketball's most controversial coaches because of his behavior. He has thrown a chair across the court during a game, been arrested for physical assault, and has repeatedly displayed a combative nature during his encounters with members of the press. However, he is simultaneously commended for running clean programs (no Knight program has ever been sanctioned by the NCAA for recruiting violations) and his high percentage of graduating players.

Playing career

Bob Knight began his career as a player at Orrville High School where he played football and basketball. He continued under Hall of Fame coach Fred Taylor at Ohio State University in 1958. He was a reserve on the Buckeyes' 1960 NCAA Division I national championship team, which featured future Hall of Fame players John Havlicek and Jerry Lucas. In addition to lettering in basketball at Ohio State, Knight also lettered in football and baseball. Knight graduated with a degree in history and government in 1962.

Coaching career

Army

After graduation in 1962, Bob Knight coached junior varsity basketball at Cuyahoga Falls High School in Ohio. After that, he 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 coach Mike Krzyzewski.

While at Army, Knight knew Bill Parcells, the future coach of the Dallas Cowboys, the New York Giants, the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. Knight is regularly seen wearing Cowboys apparel at Texas Tech.

Indiana

Knight was noticed as a rising star, and when Indiana University was seeking a new coach in 1971, they turned to Knight. Knight immediately endeared himself to the basketball-mad state of Indiana with his disciplined approach to the game . Educated in military history, Knight was given the nickname "The General" by former University of Detroit and Detroit Pistons coach-turned-broadcaster Dick Vitale.

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 broke his arm in a win over arch-rival Purdue. Indiana subsequently lost 92-90 to Kentucky in the regional finals of the NCAA tournament, May playing with a heavily-braced arm.

In 1976, the Hoosiers were undefeated at 32-0 and won the championship, beating conference rivals Michigan 86-68. Immediately after the game, Knight lamented that "it should have been two." No Division I men's team has had an undefeated season since.

Knight's Hoosiers also won championships in 1981, with future NBA and Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas, beating North Carolina 63-50; and in 1987 with guard Steve Alford, beating Syracuse 74-73 on a last-second shot by Keith Smart.

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 eleven Big Ten Conference titles. Knight is one of only four coaches to win NCAA, NIT, and Olympic championships, joining Dean Smith of North Carolina, Adolph Rupp of Kentucky, 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).

Knight failed to convince future NBA legend Larry Bird to stay at Indiana University. Bird, who was raised in the small southern Indiana town of French Lick, did not like the massive IU campus. He left Indiana University never having attended a single practice and returned home before later enrolling at the far smaller Indiana State University, where he would lead the Sycamores to the national championship game in the 1979 NCAA tournament, losing to Magic Johnson's Michigan State team.

In 1991, Bob Knight was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in his second year of eligibility. After Knight 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. Knight has consistently had among the highest graduation rates among college coaches.

"Zero Tolerance"

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. Knight denied the claims in the story.

On April 11, CNN/SI aired a tape of an IU practice from 1997 that showed Knight with his hand around the neck of Neil Reed.[1]

In May of that year, Indiana University president Myles Brand (currently executive director of the NCAA) announced that he had adopted a "zero tolerance" policy with regard to Bob Knight's behavior.

Termination from Indiana

File:Knight on SI.jpg

Knight's dismissal led to a media storm of publicity including the cover of Sports Illustrated.

In September 2000, an IU freshman named Kent Harvey reportedly said, "Hey, Knight, what's up?" to Bob Knight. According to Harvey, Knight grabbed him by the arm and berated him for not showing him proper respect. According to Knight, Harvey was exaggerating the incident; he only grabbed his arm and lectured him about manners and respect. Assistant coach Mike Davis supported Knight's statement. The Indianapolis Star published photos of Harvey with marks on his arm. No charges were filed against Knight for the incident.

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, he then relieved Knight of his duties immediately. That evening, a crowd of thousands of students swarmed Bloomington in protest.

Harvey was supported by some and vilified by many who claim he intentionally set up Knight. Knight's supporters contend he was the victim of a media smear campaign orchestrated by enemies in the IU administration and that the majority of Brand's reasons for firing Knight were not credible. However, Knight said he didn't think he was set up.

The following day, September 11, Knight said goodbye to a crowd of some 6,000 supporters 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. 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.

Two years later, Knight sued Indiana University, claiming the university violated his employment contract. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed.

Bob Knight Career
Season	Team	Wins	Losses	Postseason
1965-1966	Army	18	8
1966-1967	Army	13	8
1967-1968	Army	20	5
1968-1969	Army	18	10
1969-1970	Army	22	6
1970-1971	Army	11	13
1971-1972	Indiana	17	8
1972-1973	Indiana	22	6	Final Four - Third Place
1973-1974	Indiana	23	5
1974-1975	Indiana	31	1	Elite Eight
1975-1976	Indiana	32	0	NCAA Champs
1976-1977	Indiana	16	11
1977-1978	Indiana	21	8	Sweet Sixteen
1978-1979	Indiana	22	12	NIT Champs
1979-1980	Indiana	21	8	Sweet Sixteen
1980-1981	Indiana	26	9	NCAA Champs
1981-1982	Indiana	19	10	NCAA 2nd Rnd
1982-1983	Indiana	24	6	Sweet Sixteen
1983-1984	Indiana	22	9	Elite Eight
1984-1985	Indiana	19	14
1985-1986	Indiana	21	8	NCAA 1st Rnd
1986-1987	Indiana	30	4	NCAA Champs
1987-1988	Indiana	19	10	NCAA 1st Rnd
1988-1989	Indiana	27	8	Sweet Sixteen
1989-1990	Indiana	18	11	NCAA 1st Rnd
1990-1991	Indiana	29	5	Sweet Sixteen
1991-1992	Indiana	27	7	Final Four
1992-1993	Indiana	31	4	Elite Eight
1993-1994	Indiana	21	9	Sweet Sixteen
1994-1995	Indiana	19	12	NCAA 1st Rnd
1995-1996	Indiana	20	11	NCAA 1st Rnd
1996-1997	Indiana	22	11	NCAA 1st Rnd
1997-1998	Indiana	20	12	NCAA 2nd Rnd
1998-1999	Indiana	23	11	NCAA 2nd Rnd
1999-2000	Indiana	20	9	NCAA 1st Rnd
2001-2002	Texas Tech	23	9	NCAA 1st Rnd
2002-2003	Texas Tech	22	13	NIT 3rd Place
2003-2004	Texas Tech	23	11	NCAA 2nd Rnd
2004-2005	Texas Tech	22	11	Sweet Sixteen
2005-2006	Texas Tech	15	17
2006-2007	Texas Tech	21	13	NCAA 1st Rnd
Overall		890	363	.710

Texas Tech

After taking the next season off, all the while on the lookout for vacancies, Knight accepted the head coaching job at Texas Tech. At the press conference introducing him, Knight quipped, "This is the most comfortable red sweater I've had on in six years."

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 have won 126 games, an average of 21 wins per season.

Knight's basketball philosophy

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 playing a zone for the first two decades of his coaching career. When the three-point line was instituted in 1986-87, Knight indicated "There are only three players in the Big Ten who can hit it, and I have two of them."

Knight's coaching influences include John Wooden, Pete Newell, Hank Iba, and Adolph Rupp.

Coaching victories and awards

On January 1, 2007, at Texas Tech, Knight achieved his 880th career win, 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 is also the only coach to win the NCAA, the NIT, the Olympic Gold, and the Pan-Am Gold.

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. 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. Knight was nominated to receive a 2007 ESPY Award in the category of Best Record Breaking Performance but was not chosen as the winner.

Knight students

A number of assistant coaches, players, and managers of Knight have gone on to be successful coaches. One of these is current Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Main article: Coaching legacy of Bob Knight

Controversies

• In 1979, Knight was arrested for assaulting a police officer during the Pan American Games in Puerto Rico. Knight was angry that a practice gymnasium was not opened to his team, which went on to a 9-0 record in the tournament. Knight was later convicted in absentia in a Puerto Rican court. However, the charges were later dropped when Indiana Governor Otis R. Bowen refused to cooperate in extraditing Knight to the island commonwealth.

• In 1985, Knight threw a chair across the court to protest a referee's call during a game against the rival Purdue Boilermakers. 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." Knight's comment was in reference to an Indiana basketball game in which he felt the referees were making poor calls against the Hoosiers.

• In a 1991 practice at Indiana, Knight lashed out at his team with the following tirade: "You don't wanna play, then I'm getting the fuck out of here. I mean, if you're not gonna cover Greg Graham; if you're just gonna let him drive by you; if the rest of you are gonna let him catch the ball outside the three second lane and drive all the way in here without one guy challenging him, then I'm leaving and you fucking guys will run 'til you can't eat supper. Now I'm tired of this shit! I'm sick and fucking tired of an 8-10 record! I'm fucking tired of losing to Purdue! I'm not here to fuck around this week! Now you may be, but I'm not! Now I'm gonna fucking guarantee ya, that if we don't play up there Monday night, you aren't gonna believe the next four fucking days! Now I am not here to get my ass beat on Monday. Now you better fuckin' understand that right now. This is absolute fucking bullshit! Now I'll fucking run your ass right into the ground! I mean I'll fucking run you, you'll think last night was a fucking picnic! I had to sit around for a fucking year with an 8-10 record in this fucking league! And I mean you will not put me in that fucking position again, or you will goddamn pay for it like you can't fucking believe! Now you better get your head out of your ass!"

• Knight allegedly kicked his own son, Patrick Knight, during a 1993 game (Knight claims he actually kicked a chair).

• Knight was shown berating an NCAA university volunteer at a 1998 news conference. The volunteer informed the press that Knight would not be attending the press conference, when he was actually only 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, 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."

• In February 2004, Knight again made national headlines for a "verbal dustup" with then Texas Tech University Chancellor David Smith at a Lubbock supermarket.

• 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.

• 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."

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.

"A season on the Brink" Author John Feinstein (recommended to Knight by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski) was granted full access to the program and Knight's personal life for an entire season. The book was later made into a television movie by ESPN, with Brian Dennehy portraying Knight.

In 2002, Knight and longtime friend and sports journalist Bob Hammel wrote his biography, "Knight: My Story" (ISBN 0-312-31117-6.)

In Bob Knight, His Own Man, Mellen characterized Feinstein's book as being banal (21).

In 2006, an "unauthorized" biography on Knight, 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 several sub-par seasons. It starred Nick Nolte as Bell and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal as Neon Bordeaux, a dominating once-in-a-lifetime player Bell woos to his school with gifts and other perks. Several incidents in the film are clearly inspired by Knight's history. Current NBA guard Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway co-stars as another "blue chipper" recruited by Bell. NBA legend Bob Cousy plays the school's president. Knight himself has a cameo alongside other collegiate and NBA legends such as Larry Bird and Rick Pitino. ESPN writer Bill Simmons once wrote about the film, and stated that while the Bell character cheated, Knight would never have done so.

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.

Knight School

Main article: Knight School (TV series)

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.

References

• "The Archives". 2004-05 Army Men's Basketball Media Guide. Retrieved Dec. 23, 2005.
• "History". 2005-06 Indiana Men's Basketball Media Guide. Retrieved Dec. 23, 2005.
• "Texas Tech Record Book". 2005-06 Red Raider Media Guide. Retrieved Dec. 23, 2005.

External links

• Bob Knight's Profile from Texas Tech Athletics
• Bob Knight's page at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal website