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Point-counterpoint: Knight, genius or jerk?
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Related Stories:
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- Knight continues to breed success (January 31, 2002)
- Knight, Indiana still at odds (November 13, 2002)
- Knight time in Indiana again? (February 21, 2006)
by Mike Ackerstein and Tyler Mason
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Mason:
On Monday, the legendary Bobby Knight resigned as head coach of the Texas Tech basketball team, leaving behind quite an impressive legacy. Although some may remember Knight for his short temper and violent outbursts on the court, he will go down as one of the greatest — if not the greatest — coaches in college basketball history.
Knight has won more games than any other coach in history, 902, topping Dean Smith’s mark of 879. He also built Indiana into one of the most prestigious programs of the last three decades.
Knight started his head coaching career at the young age of 24, when he took the top job at Army. Although the Black Knights never made the NCAA Tournament in his six seasons, they won more than 20 games twice and 18 games in two other seasons. Plus, one of his former players, Mike Krzyzewski, turned out to be a pretty good coach himself.
Knight went on to take the coaching job at Indiana in 1971, where he served as the main man until 2000. In his time there, the Hoosiers won three National Championships and 11 Big Ten conference championships. Clearly nothing to bat an eye at.
Oh, and we can add an Olympic gold medal to his resume, as he coached the U.S. basketball team in 1984.
If the wins and championships don’t speak enough of his genius, his retirement Monday is actually a pretty smart move in and of itself. The timing may seem poor to some, but it makes sense when you think about it. The Red Raiders are 12-8 overall and just 3-3 in the Big 12. Clearly, they’re not in contention for a title. Why not hand the reins to his son, Pat, to give the new coach some experience heading into next year.
Three national titles, a gold medal and the most career wins. The guy’s a basketball genius.
Ackerstein:
There’s no arguing with Bobby Knight’s career numbers. With more wins than any other coach, a few national championship rings and an undefeated season, he’s got a Hall of Fame résumé. The mere fact that even with those achievements his legacy is being questioned, however, proves one thing: Knight was more a bully than a coach.
The Nelson Muntz of college basketball, it would be impossible to run down the highlights of his career without mentioning his angrily throwing a chair across the court, posing on the cover of Sports Illustrated with a whip ready to be cracked over one of his players or his alleged assault of a student at Indiana. The man he passed on the all-time win list, Dean Smith, got his school’s arena named after him; Knight would be lucky if the school he’s most famous for coaching at, Indiana, named a sandwich after him.
Sure, he brought America an Olympic gold medal, but the rest of his international coaching résumé includes hitting a police officer in Puerto Rico and forfeiting an exhibition game against the Soviet Union because he refused to leave the court after being ejected.
To top it all off, by retiring in the middle of the season, Knight quit on his team. And even though he left his son Pat in charge, he’s still abandoning Texas Tech when, with a 12-8 record, they still have a shot at a postseason berth.
By throwing chairs, hurling obscenities and abusing and abandoning players, Bob Knight took the positive and wholesome image Mr. Rogers had given to sweaters and permanently tarnished it.
“Generally” speaking, Knight’s a jerk.
Anonymous (February 8, 2008 @ 12:29am):
Sure, Knight has made big FAT mistakes. This cannot be denied or pushed under the rug. This is what the media love to emphasize, as certainly they should. However, there is more to Knight than his dark side. He has an old-school attitude toward teaching-yes, teaching--that involves teaching kids discipline and to respect their elders. (I am about the age of his son Pat.) Why doesn't anyone talk about the justice Knight upholds among his players or how he insists upon them staying in the academic game, or else sitting on the bench, no matter how many points they score per game? No one mentions Knight's tender side either. When I was in first grade, out on the court after a game, my parents snapped a shot of Knight holding me, quite affectionately, on his lap. When will the media, and the country, learn to see all the dimensions of this complex man? And by the way, as an alum of IU, Myles Brand was a terrible president in many respects. Now it is up to me to research his good side. I may have to burn the midnight oil many a night to do this...
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