One of the greatest basketball coaches in history has died. Bob Knight, the coaching baron who lifted the Indiana Hoosiers to immortality on his way to becoming one of the most famous — and controversial — coaches in American sports across the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, is gone. His death was announced by his family’s organization on Wednesday, six days after Knight turned 83.
Knight died where he lived out his final years, the place his legacy will forever loom largest: Bloomington, Indiana. The Hoosiers were under Knight’s command for 29 seasons from 1971 to 2000. He elevated Indiana to blue blood status in men’s college basketball with the Hoosiers becoming the most consistently successful program in the Big Ten.
Knight retired from coaching in 2008. When he stepped away, his 902 wins were most all-time in men’s college basketball. He now sits sixth all time in men’s Division I history. Knight coached IU to national championships in 1976, 1981 and 1987. Nearly 50 years later, his 1975-76 Indiana team is still the last Division I men’s team to go undefeated. The season before that, Indiana finished 31-1 and lost in the Elite Eight to Kentucky. Knight said it was that team, not the undefeated one, that he thought was his best overall. He also guided IU to Final Fours in 1973 and 1992.
Knight won national coach of the year awards in 1975, 1976, 1987 and 1989; he was an eight-time Big Ten Coach of the Year. In 1991, Knight was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame. The following season, Indiana took its last Final Four trip under Knight.
Knight’s motion offense was a revolutionary concept when he brought it to Indiana in the 1970s. It influenced a generation of coaches who followed in his footsteps. Though not nearly as popular as it was in in the 1980s and 1990s, it is still used by some coaches today.
He developed the nickname “The General” both due to his time at Army and because of his no-nonsense, authoritative…
..
