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Feb. 15, 2008 \ The Clarion SPORTS Page 5 The Stats Page; End of an era by Johnny Lange Sports editor This week I would like to take a serious note if you all don’t mind and pay tribute to a great coach who just recently stepped down in his 43'“* season as a NCAA Division 1 head coach. The subject of this article is the sometimes controversial Bob Knight. Coach Knight began his head coaching career at Army in 1965 at the age of 24. During his time at the United States Military Academy he compiled a record of 102-50 and during this time he coached a young man who would go on to be a famous coach in his own right. That young man was Mike Krzyzewski, who as we all know has gone on to be the coach at Duke, following his success at Army. Following his years at Army, Bob Knight was hired at the University of Indiana, which is where he achieved his greatest success. 3 National Championships and 5 Final Fours were the highlights of Coach Knight’s career It was also during this time that Coach Knight also committed some of his most famous acts of “disobedience.” Everybody has seen the famous scene, that one where Coach Knight throws the chair across the court. After being fired from Indiana, Coach Knight moved on to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. While at TTU, Coach Knight never was quite able to regain the magic that he had at Indiana, and retired on February 4* 2008. The reason wasn’t because of any scandal, or any wrong doing. He resigned to allow his son Pat to take over as head coach and get the team ready for next year At his retirement Coach Knight had a career record of 902-371 which gives him the most wins by an NCAA Men’s Head Coach. Coach temper, and at times has lashed out in anger at his own players. Why would a rational person like me want to honor such a controversial figure? Well it’s quite simple actually. Coach Knight first of all was quite possibly the greatest basketball coach of all-time. He SPECIAL SUPER BDWL PREVIEW Knight is the only head coach to win an NCAA Championship, an NIT Championship, a Pan-Am Games Gold Medal and an Olympic Gold Medal. Over the years. Coach Knight has been known as a disciplinarian who has a short was the last head coach to lead a team to an undefeated season in the NCAA Division I. But it’s the parts of his mentality that bring up the most criticism that make him such a legend. While he gotten physical with his players, there is one fact that Coach Knight’s detractors fail to recognize. Through numerous interviews given over the years, all of his players admit that he was right and that they were wrong in these situations. To a man they say that he was completely justified in his actions. There is something to be said for this, as with age comes maturity and wisdom, and while these young men didn’t realize the point of his actions at the age of 20, they understand it now at the ages of 30.. Coach Knight also has one more amazing stat which has nothing to do with on-the- court performance but it is the most important thing of them all. He graduated over the years over 90% of his players!!! This isn’t just his numbers from Army, but from all his schools. While he didn’t produce the shear number of NBA stars that some programs have, very few players from Army, Indiana or TTU fell through the cracks while Coach Knight was in charge. And, while the sports are quite important on college campuses, the most important number of them all is graduation rates. Was Coach Knight controversial? Of course he was! Would I defend all of his actions over the years? I can’t say that and be honest with you. But I can say that I admire old school toughness. Discipline is sorely lacking in many programs around the nation, but it was never missing from Coach Knight and the teams he coached. Thanks a lot Coach Knight!!! “So long for just a little while” and remember that “I am your champion!!!”
Brevard College Student Newspaper
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Feb. 15, 2008, edition 1
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