Bob Knight, the fiery college basketball coach who won three national championships as coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, died on Wednesday, his family announced.
The Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, Knight, 83, died at his home in Bloomington, Ind., after a lengthy illness.
“It is with heavy hearts that we share that Coach Bob Knight passed away at his home in Bloomington surrounded by his family,” the Knight Family said in a statement. “We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy as Coach requested a private family gathering, which is being honored. We will continue to celebrate his life and remember him, today and forever as a beloved Husband, Father, Coach, and Friend.”
Knight was the sixth-winningest coach in Division I men’s college basketball history, posting 902 victories at Army (1965-1971), Indiana (1971-2000) and Texas Tech (2001-08), but he was also well known throughout the college basketball world and beyond for short fuse and outbursts.
In 2000, Knight violated a “zero tolerance” behavior policy and was forced out at Indiana. Knight, who had thrown a chair on the court earlier in his career and also choked Indiana player Neil Reed in 1997, grabbed the arm of a freshman student who Knight said had greeted him by saying, “What’s up Knight?”
Six months later, Knight was hired as head coach at Texas Tech. He won 20-plus games five times in six seasons and, in 2007 passed former North Carolina coach Dean Smith for first all-time on the wins list with victory 880.
Knight played basketball at Ohio State and first became a college basketball coach at Army in 1965 as a 24-year-old.
He moved on to Indiana where the Hoosiers were 11-time Big Ten champions and made the NCAA Tournament 24 times.
Knight holds the IU record for wins — 661 — and coached the Hoosiers for 29 seasons. His teams won 20 or more games 29 times.
–Field Level Media