Mike Imrem (Daily Herald) has an article about the departure of Bobby Knight from Texas Tech. You can read it for yourself, but it pretty much encompasses every negative aspect of Knight and goes a step further to include his friendship with Bill Belichick.

I don’t think its necessary to re-hash all the negatives and pull out every stat that Knight encompassed during his tenure as a head coach. It’s pretty evident that he was a controversial coach/man and when he had his time in front of the media, he often came across as obnoxious and beligerent. With that being said, I think everyone should try to focus on what Knight accomplished off the court with his players. Sure there were incidents with Neil Reed and the eventual cause for his termination from IU involving Kent Harvey.

Knight may have been black and white in terms of public appearances, but he didn’t use that format when dealing with his players in terms of culture. They came to him raw and undeveloped, and left his program as better athletes and better men. Look at people like Steve Alford, Mike Krzyzeweski, and Isiah Thomas. Even ask his own son who was berated on live TV on the bench. Ask any of them, and they’ll tell you their future careers as players and coaches were formed under the tenure of Bob Knight.

As crazy as Knight seemed publicly, he always ran a clean program and weighted on court performance with off court responsiblity equally. He always made sure that players with scholarships due to their athletic ability rewarded themselves with a good education. It was rare to ever hear any of his players involved in off court shenanigans including alcohol, drugs, or gambling. He had many chances to upgrade to the pros, but never lost his focus and committment to his players at Indiana or Texas Tech. He was devoted and promised he’d be there when his recruits signed a letter of intent. If Bob Knight spoke it, it was law.

If nothing else, his players learned one key item: respect. Unfortunately, that sometimes ended up with physical intervention, but nonetheless it reinforced that he was in charge above all else. Maybe that’s what sports needs today? With the lessons learned from past players who entered college and pro’s still as children and acted like children. Knight wouldn’t be applicable for youth or high school sports, but he’s a perfect fit for the college and pro level. He taught his players the game and also taught them how to be men off the court.

With his departure, most will focus on his negative approach to coaching and conducting himself publicly. I say ask his former players what they thought about him.

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