Bob Knight, the fiery coach who needed to be buried the wrong way up, has died

Bob Knight, the Corridor of Fame basketball coach who was among the many sport’s winningest and most controversial figures, has died. He was 83 years outdated.

Knight’s household made the announcement Wednesday night. The coach was hospitalized as a result of an sickness in April and his well being had been deteriorating for a number of years.

The assertion learn: “It’s with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Coach Bob Knight at his dwelling in Bloomington surrounded by his household.” “We’re grateful for all of the ideas and prayers, and respect the continued respect for our privateness as Coach requested a non-public household gathering, which is being honored.”

Nicknamed “The Common” and recognized for his temperament and basketball prowess, Knight received 902 video games in 42 seasons at Military, Indiana and Texas Tech. However he achieved iconic standing throughout his 29 years main the Hoosiers, when he received a school-record 661 video games and three nationwide championships. The primary of these titles got here in 1976, when Indiana State went undefeated, a feat no males’s faculty basketball staff has completed since.

The Corridor of Famers, who cared little for criticism, celebrated with Frank Sinatra’s “My Manner” after profitable his 880th recreation in 2007, the report set by a Division I males’s basketball coach on the time.

However Knight has been much less refined in his messages earlier than, together with one speech earlier than an Indiana recreation in 1994.

“When my time on Earth has ended and my actions right here have ended,” Knight mentioned over the general public tackle system within the Indiana Meeting Corridor, a speech that has resurfaced extensively since his demise. “I need them to bury me the wrong way up, and my critics can kiss my ass.”

Robert Montgomery Knight, born October 25, 1940, in Orrville, Ohio, additionally coached the 1984 U.S. Olympic staff to the gold medal in Los Angeles, and is the final U.S. males’s beginner basketball staff to complete on the rostrum.

The coach, who had been a participant at Ohio State when it received the nationwide championship in 1960, took delight in his gamers’ commencement charges and was strongly in opposition to violating NCAA guidelines. Knight made certain that his base wage wouldn’t exceed that of different professors whereas at Indiana State, and he typically refunded his wage at Texas Tech when he didn’t consider he earned it.

Knight retired in 2008 after teaching everybody from Michael Jordan to Isiah Thomas. His teaching tree included Duke legend Mike Krzyzewski and present Indiana males’s basketball coach Mike Woodson.

“We misplaced one of many biggest coaches in basketball historical past as we speak. It’s clear that he was certainly one of a form,” Krzyzewski mentioned in a press release. “Coach Knight recruited and mentored me and had a profound influence on my profession and life. It is a large loss to our sport and our household is deeply saddened by his passing.”

“It is a very unhappy day for all of us who liked Coach Knight,” Woodson mentioned in a press release. “I’m so fortunate that he noticed one thing in me as a basketball participant. He touched my life in ways in which I may by no means repay.” “As he did with all of his gamers, he at all times challenged me to get probably the most out of myself as a participant and, extra importantly, as an individual.”

Magic Johnson, Dick Vitale, and Jay Bilas had been amongst others who praised Knight on X (previously Twitter).

Knight’s off-field antics are a part of his legacy as effectively.

“The Common” famously threw a crimson plastic chair throughout the sector throughout a 1985 recreation in opposition to Purdue. He later apologized, though his mood continued to get the perfect of him.

Knight, who received 11 Massive Ten titles at Indiana and rose to turn into one of many state’s strongest figures, was pressured out of the college in 2000 for violating its “zero-tolerance” conduct coverage. He grabbed the arm of one of many college students who greeted him with, “Hey, what’s up, Knight?” The trainer, who deemed the act disrespectful and grabbed the coed’s arm to lecture him, was fired a number of days later.

This got here after a protracted record of earlier transgressions. Probably the most notable, which was the topic of an ESPN documentary, concerned Knight placing his palms round participant Neil Reid’s neck throughout a 1997 follow.

For years, Knight saved his distance from the college the place he grew to become a training legend, typically skipping staff conferences and refusing to make peace.. However he lastly returned to Meeting Corridor in February 2020 for a recreation between Indiana and Purdue, the place he was met with cheers by a sold-out crowd. He embraced lots of the former gamers in attendance.

Within the hours after his demise, Indiana followers left flowers outdoors Meeting Corridor in Knight’s reminiscence. Considered one of them even left a chair behind.

Knight is survived by his spouse, Karen, and his sons, Tim and Pat.