“Legendary Coach Bob Knight: A Trailblazing Career in Basketball”
Story by Mitchell Smith
Hello everybody. Today we take a look back at Legendary coach Bob Knight. Born in 1940 in Ohio Knight was a Star player in high school. Although he was a great player at Ohio State his talents were stifled as the coaches did not play him enough to get the recognition. Knight would be a part of 3 championship games winning 1 championship in 1960. Knight would coach high school basketball for a year before entering the Army. During his time there he would become assistant coach, then head coach. Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski played for Knight and was an assistant coach at Army under Coach Knight.
Eventually Knight would take the head coach position at Indiana University where he gained most of his fame from. While at Indiana, Knight gained the rep of a hard nosed coach who prepared is teams as hard as any coach could. He was a pioneer in the motion offense and a major contributor to improving the speed and excitement of the game. In 1976 the Hoosiers would have a perfect 32-0 season and won his first championship as a coach. In 1981 Knight did not repeat his perfect season but he did repeat winning a championship with star player Isaiah Thomas who would go on to be one of the top all time stars in the NBA.
Knight would get his 3rd championship in 1987 in a tight game against Syracuse and hall of fame coach Jim Boeheim. Knight would finish his career at Texas Tech with an overall career record of 902-371. Although there was some controversy over Knight’s temper over the years he is one of the greatest coaches ever. Knight did do analyzing and commentating and we got a glimpse of how brilliant Knight really was. He was an intense and interesting man with a hunger to succeed. Dan Patrick described him perfectly as a complex man. He will be missed in the sports world but his legacy will forever be etched into that world. RIP Coach Knight.
