Bobby Knight Breaks Record

He graduates his players. He's never been involved in even the mention of a recruitng scandle. He does more with less than any coach in college basketball. You can't ignore his sins, but you can't ignore his positives, either.

 

Congratulations to Mr. Knight. I wish he conducted himself differently but he is and always has been a great coach.

 

He finally threw the most chairs?

:saint:

Welllllll, it is about time that he would set a record. But, he could still calm down a little.

 

I'd add David Thompson, wouldn't you?

Still, I wanted to add more about Dean Smith. Dean Smith has had more talent come through his program than any coach on the planet, yet I think my week-old niece could win two national titles with the talent he had. I think Dean Smith is a good coach, but someone could've done more with what he had, IMHO.

 

Let's see if I got this right. And 'school' is for any college or university, here.

Most wins by a basketball coach at a Div.I school or schools- Pat Head Summit- 925 wins

Most wins by a Men's basketball coach at a Div. I schoolor schools - Bobby Knight- 880 wins

Most wins by a Men's basketball coach at a four year school or school- Harry Statham - 925 wins

Most wins by a Men's basketball coach at any school or schools - Dick Baldwin - 961 wins

And at least five men's coaches at some level, including high school and pros have over 1000 wins.

Hmmm! Maybe there are a few more hills, even in the college ranks, to climb, yet??

I give credit where it is due. Bobby Knight is a great coach, and one who has probably done more with less, than about anyone in the game, at the level at which he is coaching. Bobby Knight has always had a clean program, with one of the best graduation rates ever, and has made far less money than some of his contemporaries, at his craft. In this, if not in temperment and personality, he is and should be considered a great individual, coach, and teacher.

I'll leave the rest to the detractors, as I don't see any need for me to pile on.

Ed

 

Didn't David Thompson play for N. C. State? I thought they were referring to Knight's players, here. Or is there another David Thompson that I've forgotten about?

Ed

 

Yep, David Thompson played at NC State, not Indiana. I'm not going to take the time to look it up, but I think he led the Wolfpack to a national championship in 1974. Despite his egregious behavior at times, I became a fan of Bob Knight after reading "Season on the Brink." Knight was the only reason I followed Indiana basketball and didn't bother one bit about the Fighting Illini.

Here's an oldie, but a goodie. I heard that a local furniture store is going to honor Bob Knight by offering a special. You buy a couch and they throw in a chair for free. :smilewinkgrin:

 

Quinn Buckner maybe?

 

Yep. That was the last undefeated Division I college basketball team. I can't imagine that we'll ever see another one, not with the rules that are in place today.

 

I don't remember if I said this before, so if I did, sorry for repeating. They say the memory is the 2nd thing to go. :smilewinkgrin:

Anyway, I became a Bob Knight fan after reading Season on the Brink. In that book, Feinstein wrote about one of Knight's IU friends who was with him after they won the 76 championship. As they were walking off the court, the friends says, "Isn't this amazing? You just won the national championship." Knight turns to him and says, "Shoulda won 2."

Feinstein wrote that Knight brooded about that 75 loss for years. Wouldn't surprise me if he still does.

 

This is probably true, or at least was up until Scott May was injured. The KY team that beat them 92-90 wasn't exactly any slouch, with such starters as Kevin Grevey, Bob Guyette, Mike Flynn, and Jimmy Dan Conner as seniors, and the twin frosh tandem of Rick Robey, and Mike Phillips at center, and such as freshmen Jack "Goose" Givens and James Lee off the bench, and KY only managed to win by two, with Indiana missing the best player on Knight's squad, namely Scott May. (I would say that that is the greatest college basketball game ever, even ahead of KY-Duke 15 years later.) I heard it somewhere that the only times any had ever seen Bobby Knight shed a tear were two times, after that loss, and when talking about his player that had been paralyzed, Landon Turner.

Indiana was basically a seven-man squad, as to overwhelming ability in 1976, with a starting five of Quinn Buckner at the point, and Tom Abernathy and Bobby Wilkinson at the two and three, Scott May at the four and Kent Benson at center. Sr. John Laskowski was the sixth man and Sr. Steve Green was the seventh man in, usually. (All of the seven would go on to play at least some in the NBA.) After the injury to May, I believe Indiana mostly lost one key depth player, with the loss of May's 28-30 minutes or so, and the twenty+ points. An interesting sidenote to this is that there was a reserve guard on the team, Jim Crews, who would later become the coach at Evansville, where he built back a decimated program due to tragedy, to respectability.

Ed