Bob Seggerson
The passing of Bob Knight has produced a flood of articles and testimonials recounting his legendary basketball coaching career. His success was undeniable. He was the architect of three basketball national championships at Indiana University, an Olympic gold medal (the last US team to win it with only collegiate players on the roster) and was the first NCAA basketball coach to reach 900 career wins. He was a brilliant strategist who had a profound effect on the way the game was played.
Bob Knight was also an enigma and many of those who praise his success and contributions to the game of basketball often add a caveat that there was a side of him that was not admirable, and the two sides of his personality were often at war with one another. And Bob Knight would be the first one to tell you that he really didn’t care what people felt about his ambiguous behavior.
Ted Hillary, a National Naismith Award winning official, was a 30-year veteran official in the Big Ten who refereed countless numbers of Knight’s games during his career.
“Knight was the most brilliant basketball coach I ever ran into,” Hillary said. “He never asked a question that he didn’t already know the answer to,” he added. In his first five years in the Big Ten, Knight never said one word to Hillary, but he felt his presence. “I was never afraid or intimidated by Knight, but I knew I had to be at my best in every game I worked for him. He had a way of demanding more from his players then they thought they could give, and I believe he had that same kind of effect on officials that worked his games.”
Hillary said that Knight had his own way of letting officials know beforehand when he was not happy with those who wore the whistle around their necks. “I could tell when Knight was not happy with officials in general because occasionally, when we showed up for a game, he would have us dress in the wrestling locker room with its dank smell, instead of our regular dressing room,” Hillary remembered. “He was kind of a master-mind control freak, but I loved him and was saddened when I learned he passed.”
Knight had a major impact on my own coaching career as I’m sure he did with many other high school coaches as well. When Knight was named the head coach at Army in 1965, he was only 25 years old, but he was immediately successful. Knight established his calling card, which was pushing his athletes to over-achieve and erecting a physical defensive wall that could choke the life out of even the most prolific offenses. I believe his emphasis and focus on detailed scouting and analysis of an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses along with his physical approach to the game, changed the way basketball was played. As a young coach, I watched a tape on his defensive philosophy and quickly became one of his coaching disciples.
I should add here that I was not a fan of Knight’s bullish behavior which is well-documented. I embraced his philosophy and strategy but was often turned off by stories of his outbursts, grudges and temper tantrums. Near the peak of his career, Indiana University had enough and discarded Knight. Unfortunately, his behavior flaws became the larger part of his story, and his many acts of goodwill were lost in the telling.
I only had one personal dealing with Knight, but it changed my impression of him. In the 1988-89 season, our best player, Eric Volbert, was badly injured on the last play in a preseason scrimmage. It was a devastating blow to our team and to Volbert. I knew that Eric was a big fan of Indiana and Bob Knight. I wrote a letter to Knight and explained the situation and asked him if he would consider writing a note of encouragement to Eric. It was a lot to ask because Knight was busy coaching his own team. A week later I received a package from Knight that contained a couple of Indiana basketball T-shirts and a personal note for Volbert. It was a beautifully written and heartfelt letter. He appealed to Volbert to remain a leader while rehabbing and to “confound your doctors” by returning to action faster than expected. Incidentally, Volbert was back playing with the team by Christmas and he led LCC to Columbus to compete for a state championship, our first trip to state.
Many fans of basketball will remember Robert Montgomery Knight as the greatest coach of his generation while others will recall his brash behavior that deflected attention away from his career achievements. For me, I choose to remember a man who had a profound impact on how I coached the game and for the kindness he demonstrated in taking the time to touch the life of one my players when he needed it the most.
RIP Coach Knight.
Bob Seggerson wrote this column for LimaScores.com and can be reached at [email protected].
