NCAA: Bob Knight: Did It His Way

By Clayton A. - A. Ruley

As I look at the recent firing of Bob Knight, I think how easy it is to justify when you are on top, how hard it is to defame when your at or on the way to the bottom. Bob Knight was fired as head coach from Indiana University on Sunday, September 10, 2000 for violating the "no tolerance" policy handed down in May, less than 20 weeks ago.

The policy was handed down after a tape showed Coach Knight apparently grabbing player Neil Reed by the throat.

The apparent last straw occurred last Thursday in Assembly Hall, where Coach Knight grabbed and told student Kent Harvey, who called him ‘Knight’, that he was not to call an adult by their last name, that he was to call him either Mr. Knight or Coach Knight.

Indiana University President Miles Brand, who took earlier flack for not firing Knight in the first place, adhered to his warning and ended Knight’s 29-year run, which included three national championships and Olympic gold.

The question is not if he grabbed Harvey but whether he bruised him and about his language, which the student said was vulgar. These questions have not been officially answered, but Indiana fired Knight less than a week after the incident anyway.

There have been mixed views of the man as well as the method of his termination from students, staff, fans, and friends.

I for one am amazed by Knight’s termination and the double standard given to sports and life. I realize that Bob Knight is no angel. He has made some mistakes, but I realize that as a teacher and a coach he is a genius.

It amazes me that when he was doing the same thing and winning national championships, he was never seriously criticized. Now he is a monster, a savage on a warpath who needs to be stopped. Let’s get real; Bob Knight has always been and always will be a tough-nosed coach, a coach about discipline. This is why he has won and why student-athletes across the country come to play for him. They love him, respect him, will protest for him and have threatened to transfer for him.

Bob Knight is an Army guy and it shows in his demeanor. He can get testy and do some crazy things on and off the court. Of course if Knight gets stern with you you’ll feel he is demeaning you. People these days are afraid of confrontation and of the truth. Bob Knight was doing what teachers, until recently, had done forever: he cared enough to stop a kid and teach him a lesson in manners.

It seems people don’t care anymore to teach discipline, and that is why you have kids cursing out their mother and disrespecting teachers. The simple fact is that Bob Knight outgrew Indiana because a new administration came in and changed their whole policy.

Ask yourself how easy it is for you to break a habit after a long period of time. That is what they asked Knight to do with their "no tolerance" policy, but it was unrealistic. They might as well have fired him in May because they wanted him gone, he didn’t fit their portfolio.

Bob Knight deserves to coach again, and he will, but he knows he will need to control his attitude. Don’t think that Indiana University fired him for that reason only. Bob Knight was also fired for not kissing their butts for letting him stay.