2008 Woodie Awards
Knight's legacy should be viewed as positive
Alex Voigt
Issue date: 2/11/08 Section: Opinions
It seems like everyone has an opinion about Bobby Knight.
The controversial Texas Tech coach announced his resignation last week, effectively ending a career spanning more than 40 years. Knight's reasoning behind retiring at midseason was that he was simply tired of coaching.
Of course, news stations across the country had a field day over this. Knight has long been reveled for his contentious behavior toward the press and his antics on and off the court. The fact that he resigned in the middle of season only fueled the media's wrath against him.
Truth be told, the venom spewed toward Knight is not without merit.
In his career, Knight has thrown a chair across the court, been arrested for assault, was shown head-butting one of his players during a game and has enough colorful quotes to fill a YouTube highlight video.
The picture of Knight on the front cover of Sports Illustrated in 2000 is still a fresh image in my mind. That was when Knight was fired from Indiana University for berating a player he felt didn't show him the proper respect.
Writers sensationalized Knight's fall from grace and raved about how much better the program would be without him.
There always seems to be a lot of negativity surrounding Knight's legacy. However, to borrow a saying from journalism, there are two sides to every story.
In Knight's case, there's the side of a man who won more games than any other coach in Division I basketball history.
Love him or hate him, Knight has certainly ran some successful programs in his career. He went 902-371 over his career, won three national championships, one NIT title and coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in 1984.
Knight also has the distinction of coaching the last undefeated team in Division I basketball, pulling off a 32-0 season with Indiana in 1976.
Of course, Knight's contributions went well beyond what he did on the hardwood. Knight was notorious for running a clean program, as none of his teams ever broke NCAA rules for recruitment (take that, Clem Haskins) and many of his former players beam about how Knight encouraged their education almost as much as their basketball ability.
The controversial Texas Tech coach announced his resignation last week, effectively ending a career spanning more than 40 years. Knight's reasoning behind retiring at midseason was that he was simply tired of coaching.
Of course, news stations across the country had a field day over this. Knight has long been reveled for his contentious behavior toward the press and his antics on and off the court. The fact that he resigned in the middle of season only fueled the media's wrath against him.
Truth be told, the venom spewed toward Knight is not without merit.
In his career, Knight has thrown a chair across the court, been arrested for assault, was shown head-butting one of his players during a game and has enough colorful quotes to fill a YouTube highlight video.
The picture of Knight on the front cover of Sports Illustrated in 2000 is still a fresh image in my mind. That was when Knight was fired from Indiana University for berating a player he felt didn't show him the proper respect.
Writers sensationalized Knight's fall from grace and raved about how much better the program would be without him.
There always seems to be a lot of negativity surrounding Knight's legacy. However, to borrow a saying from journalism, there are two sides to every story.
In Knight's case, there's the side of a man who won more games than any other coach in Division I basketball history.
Love him or hate him, Knight has certainly ran some successful programs in his career. He went 902-371 over his career, won three national championships, one NIT title and coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in 1984.
Knight also has the distinction of coaching the last undefeated team in Division I basketball, pulling off a 32-0 season with Indiana in 1976.
Of course, Knight's contributions went well beyond what he did on the hardwood. Knight was notorious for running a clean program, as none of his teams ever broke NCAA rules for recruitment (take that, Clem Haskins) and many of his former players beam about how Knight encouraged their education almost as much as their basketball ability.