{"id":143595,"date":"2022-11-30T04:55:11","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T04:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/former-indiana-basketball-coach-bob-knight-returns-to-iu-practice-talks-to-the-team-ahead-of-the-unc-game\/"},"modified":"2022-11-30T04:55:11","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T04:55:11","slug":"former-indiana-basketball-coach-bob-knight-returns-to-iu-practice-talks-to-the-team-ahead-of-the-unc-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/former-indiana-basketball-coach-bob-knight-returns-to-iu-practice-talks-to-the-team-ahead-of-the-unc-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight returns to IU practice, talks to the team ahead of the UNC game"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Legendary former Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight returned to practice today, the day before No. 10 IU’s showdown with No. 18 North Carolina in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Knight spoke to the IU basketball team today.<\/span><\/p>\n


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“You all didn’t come here to play, you came here to win,” Knight told the players according to walk-on Nathan Childress.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Knight has been to IU practices here and there, but it’s been fairly rare due to his declining health.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Current IU coach Mike Woodson played for Bob Knight, and Woodson mentions Knight’s name frequently when discussing Indiana basketball with the public or in media Q&A sessions.<\/span><\/p>\n


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The Hoosiers (6-0) host the Tar Heels (5-2) on Wednesday (9:15 pm, ESPN) in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.<\/p>\n


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Former IU standouts Randy Wittman, a consultant to Woodson, Ted Kitchel and Christian Watford also were at practice. watford Finished his career ranked ninth on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,730 points, and his 776 career rebounds put him in ninth place on the career rebounds list at IU. Watford was a starter on IU’s 2012-13 team that spent most of the season ranked No. 1 in the country. Watford was a teammate of Jordan Hulls, who now is IU’s director of recruiting.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


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Knight’s Hoosiers beat North Carolina for the national title in 1981 and also ended Michael Jordan’s college career in the 1984 Sweet Sixteen.<\/span><\/p>\n


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That 1984 game is one of many Knight masterpieces. North Carolina was No. 1 and had a 28-2 record with two losses by a combined five points. The Tar Heels had five future NBA players in Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Brad Daugherty, Kenny Smith and Joe Wolf; a group that scored nearly 70,000 points in the NBA.<\/span><\/p>\n


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The Hoosiers were unranked, had a record of 21-8, but upset North Carolina 72-68 as Jordan fouled out with only 13 points. That Indiana had team had only two players who even made an NBA roster, and Steve Alford and Uwe Blab scored a combined 1,249 points in the league.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Former IU coach Bob Knight is joined by, from left to right, IU trainer Tim Garl, former IU player Ted Kitchel former IU player and current consultant Randy Wittman. (Photo: Indiana University athletics)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Bob Knight greets current IU basketball coach Mike Woodson. Woodson played for Knight at IU. (Photo: Indiana University athletics)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Christian Watford with Jordan Hulls. Watford is visiting, Hulls is IU’s director of recruiting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Knight’s first public appearance at IU since his firing in 2000 was on Feb. 8, 2020. Joined by a number of former players, Knight came out of the tunnel to an ovation, signaled to the crowd \u2014 even started a chant of \u201cdefense, defense.\u201d It was the highlight of a day that followed with Archie Miller’s Hoosiers suffering another in a string of losses to Purdue, 74-62.
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Knight has been to back to practices here and there under Woodson, and Knight has been to some other things at IU \u2014 some that have been kept private \u2014 from time to time.
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Knight won three national championships at Indiana and retired with the most all-time wins in Division I men’s basketball.
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Knight won three national titles, 11 Big Ten titles and his 1976 Indiana team remains the last unbeaten NCAA champion.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Knight, 82, has greatly reduced his public profile since moving back to Bloomington.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Knight led Indiana to Final Fours in 1973, 1976, 1981, 1987 and 1992. His Hoosier teams won NCAA championships in 1976, 1981 and 1987. His Big Ten titles also spanned 20 years, the first coming in 1973 and his last in 1993.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Knight coached Indiana from 1971-2000. In 29 years in Bloomington, he led Indiana to 662 wins, 24 NCAA Tournaments, five Final fours and three national titles. He had a .735 winning percentage. He had 22 seasons of 20 or more wins.<\/span><\/p>\n


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His teams once went 37-0 in Big Ten play. His 1975 team \u2014 which likely would have won the national title that year if not for Scott May’s broken arm \u2014 went unbeaten in the Big Ten, winning by an average of 22.8 points per game.<\/span><\/p>\n


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\u201cYou all didn’t come here to play, you came here to win.\u201d – Bob Knight at practice today https:\/\/t.co\/zuebYqvVZV<\/p>\n

\u2014 Nathan Childress (@nchildress13) November 30, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


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Woodson played for Knight and was named the Big Ten Player of the Year in 1980, when he returned from back surgery to lead the Hoosiers to the Big Ten title. A 1976 Broad Ripple High School graduate, Woodson is IU’s fifth all-time leading scorer with 2,061 points and his 19.8 points per game average is tied with Calbert Cheaney for the second highest by a Hoosier who played four seasons in college.
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