KNIGHT TIME — The Weekly Opine

Finally returning to Indiana, Bob Knight received a warm embrace. (Photo credit ESPN screenshot)

The General returns

Over the years, rumors persisted that former Indiana coach Bob Knight would return to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. When Knight failed to materialize, a disappointed sigh was audible in Southern Indiana. Time was running short, with Knight’s health failing and his residence reportedly split between faraway Texas and Montana.

But then Knight showed up at an IU baseball game last spring. Wrong sport but, hey, Hoosier Nation took what it could get. Last summer, The General bought a house in Bloomington and moved back to Indiana. Could it be?

Yes, it could, finally happening last Saturday. For a moment at Assembly Hall, Bob Knight and Indiana turned back the hands of time.

It was like one of those Fashion Week pop-up stores. Knight appearing briefly at halftime, sparing himself having to witness what’s become of Indiana basketball. Then he was gone. Upon seeing Knight, the crowd gave the legendary coach a nice ovation, worthy of the man responsible for the last three national championship banners hanging in basketball’s “Carnegie Hall.”

Mixed feelings about Knight gave way to soaking it in. This was the day Hoosier Nation anticipated when Knight was (rightfully) fired 20 years ago. It was bittersweet, Knight having waited too long to come back. He was feeble. The distinctive, purposeful stride was gone, victimized by age and mental decline.

Knight’s influence on basketball is unmatched. His motion offense (copied by NBA, college and high school coaches) laid the foundation for a 20-year national powerhouse. His coaching “tree” includes the current top coach in the college game, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.

Ironically, the Hoosiers team that played arch-rival Purdue last Saturday is comparable to Knight’s final years coaching IU. Not even a remote threat to win the national title or Big Ten championship. Just a barely average team, capable of parlaying Assembly Hall’s tremendous home court advantage into occasional surprise victories.

Despite the amped up atmosphere Saturday, IU was listless, losing 74-62 to the Boilermakers. Not a blowout but the outcome was never in doubt. And now Indiana flirts with missing March Madness a fourth consecutive season. Twenty-five years removed from being a blue-blood program, Indiana has not made it out of the Sweet Sixteen since 2002.

(Knight’s last game as Indiana coach ended in a first-round NCAA exit, a 77-57 beatdown administered by the juggernaut Pepperdine.)

Bob Knight’s return to Assembly Hall awakened memories of a glorious, complicated era. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

However, thanks to witnessing the undefeated 32-0 national champions as an IU freshman, I was a devoted Knight supporter. That is, until the late-1980’s. The bloom began to fade when Bobby pounded a scorer’s table phone during an NCAA regional finals game. It was 1987. Soon after, Indiana won its last national title.

By the time Knight left Indiana, he’d embarrassed himself and the university on multiple occasions. Yes, nearly all of his players graduated, but that did not excuse off-putting behavior. The great UCLA coach John Wooden graduated his players, as did a young coach named Krzyzewski, starting to work wonders in Durham, North Carolina.

Knight’s habit of turning against former players (Krzyzewski and Steve Alford), when they became head coaches and beat his IU teams revealed a sore loser. Possibly signaling cognitive decline, Knight introduced the racist, misogynist Trump during a couple of 2016 campaign stops in the Hoosier State. Unforgiveable.

Basketball’s capital

Dr. James Naismith invented the game of basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts. Yet, Indiana is the capital of basketball. No place in America is as fervent and knowledgeable about hoops as the Hoosier State.

Hoosier fans owe Bob Knight a large debt of gratitude. A bunch of championship basketball took place at Assembly Hall under Knight’s tutelage.

From 1973 to 1993, Knight’s teams won 11 Big Ten titles. His 1974-75 and 1975-76 teams both finished 18-0 in conference play. If not for star player Scott May’s broken arm, Indiana undoubtedly would have gone undefeated in 1974-75 with another national championship banner in Assembly Hall.

Knight also coached the United States basketball team, featuring college players led by Michael Jordan, to a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics.

Nice to have five of these but in the “What have you done lately?” category IU comes up woefully short. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Memorable moments of the Knight-era

Having attended IU during the glory days, I have many great memories. Here are a few:

After Indiana completed their undefeated season, spanking Michigan 86-68 to win the national championship, students descended on Showalter Fountain in the center of IU’s campus. It was a blustery late-March night. Like other students, I was tossed into the fountain.

When I was a senior, IU was playing uninspired ball against Big Ten doormat Northwestern with fans yawning during the first half. As the boys walked off the court at halftime, Knight grabbed the public address mic and chastised fans for not showing better support. A mix of polite cheering and mild booing ensued as Knight strode off the court.

From my court-level seat, I saw Knight’s wife, Nancy, walk down from her seat and grab the mic. She began lecturing that fans “don’t know how hard the team works” and BAM! She was showered with arena-shaking boos. Mrs. Knight stalked back to her seat, grabbed her coat and marched out, literally booed out of Assembly Hall. It was derisively delicious.

In 1985 versus Purdue, after several questionable calls against IU, Knight exploded, grabbed a red plastic chair and flung it across the court. Surreal. WTTV showed the replay over and over. Watching on TV it was hilarious seeing that red chair skipping across the court!

All IU fans remember where they were in 1987, watching the NCAA championship game wind down as CBS announcer Brent Musburger made his plaintive call, “Indiana can win.” Moments later, Keith Smart made the biggest shot in the history of Indiana basketball. Indeed, the halcyon days.

Knight and his teams brought unprecedented joy to Indiana fans. The quality of ball hasn’t been the same since. What Knight accomplished will likely never be duplicated at Indiana. He did it his way. Sometimes a bully but also the greatest mind the game has seen.

And the good outweighed the bad. An avid reader, Knight raised a phenomenal $5 million for IU’s library. When Landon Turner, a star on his 1981 national title team, was paralyzed in an auto accident Bob Knight raised money to pay Turner’s medical bills.

Hoosier Nation got the return of Coach Knight they longed for. Will they move on? (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

The day Knight came back

It was more complicated than necessary. Previously, many former coaches returned to the arena of their glory days. John Wooden, Jud Heathcote, Gene Keady and even Lou Henson. Sans drama, those coaches showed up, took a bow and supported programs they built. But with Knight, drama is like the soup of the day.

When Knight’s greatest team, college basketball’s greatest team according to voting by NCAA.com, the United States Basketball Writers Association and sports information directors, was honored in 2016 at Assembly Hall, Knight was a no-show. Couldn’t be bothered to be with his players as they celebrated the 40th anniversary of their undefeated season. Knight remained stubbornly mad at Indiana University for dismissing him (with cause) in 2000.

During the past few months, there were reports of IU Athletics negotiating details of Knight’s return. Negotiate? If Knight wanted to attend a game, fine. Before that, former IU coach Tom Crean graciously invited Knight to return. But true to his self, Knight needed extra accommodating.

Saturday’s game honored IU’s 1980 Big Ten Champions. In classic Bob Knight pettiness, the captain of that team, Butch Carter, was not invited. Carter, you see, does not kneel in Knight’s presence.

A tough-minded player, Carter made two free throws, with no time on the clock, forcing the 1980 Big Ten title game into overtime. In 1979, he sank a late-game shot to beat Purdue in the NIT championship game. When he played for Knight, Carter was quoted that he was “not afraid of Coach Knight.”

Reportedly, the two men do not get along so, according to reports, Indiana Athletics declined to invite Carter to Saturday’s celebration. Carter had to personally contact IU Athletic Director Fred Glass to be included. Knight and drama, like a hand and glove.

Bob Knight finally did show up, fittingly with IU playing in-state rival Purdue, 35 years after he tossed the red chair across the court.

The love shared among Knight, his former players and fans was emotional and genuinely moving. Former Purdue coach Gene Keady, Knight’s one-time adversary and now friend, was also in attendance. Keady, sporting a 21-20 record against Knight, must’ve been onto something because he watched the whole game, as Purdue beat IU for the sixth consecutive time.

Now, instead of wondering whether Knight will return to Assembly Hall, Indiana faithful should move forward. Currently, the basketball program suffers from delusion and irrelevance, in dire need of Knight-style tough love.

Surely, The General would enjoy living in B-town even more if IU develops a team worthy of his time.

Indiana on the brink. theweeklyopine.com/sports/2019/5/16/on-the-brink-again

High school to NBA. theweeklyopine.com/sports/2019/2/28/done-with-one-and-done

Kobe Bryant death. theweeklyopine.com/sports/2020/1/30/tragedy-strikes