Read about it here:
http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/...146&CID=770106
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...TER03/80204060
News Alert: Bobby Knight resigns from Texas Tech
LUBBOCK, Texas — Bob Knight has resigned as Texas Tech men’s basketball coach, The Associated Press has reported.
As men's basketball coach at Indiana University from 1971 to September 2000, Bob Knight led the Hoosiers to three NCAA titles (1976, 1981 and 1987) and 11 Big Ten championships. He also coached U.S. teams to gold medals in the 1979 Pan American Games and the 1984 Olympics.
But his quick temper and aggressive behavior toward players and others finally cost the legendary coach his job. On Sept. 10, 2000, IU President Myles Brand announced he had fired Knight for a continuing pattern of “defiant and hostile” behavior.
Born Oct. 25, 1940, in Massillon, Ohio, Robert Montgomery Knight grew up in nearby Orrville, where he played basketball, football and baseball for the Orrville Red Riders. He went on to play college basketball for three seasons (1960-62) at Ohio State University but was a starter in only two games. A bench player, Knight was the “sixth man” on OSU's national championship team.
After college, Knight became a high school coach in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and then joined the Army to coach the U.S. Military Academy team at West Point.
Knight’s first day on the job as IU coach was April 1, 1971, and he quickly earned national attention for building winning teams. In his first four seasons in Bloomington, IU won the Big Ten championship three times and took the national title in 1976. Two more national championships followed (1981 and 1987), and he accumulated a conference record 11 Big Ten titles (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993). Knight won numerous Big Ten and national Coach of the Year awards and was inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.
But Knight also gained notoriety. In 1976, he pulled guard Jim Wisman off the court by his jersey during a nationally televised game. In 1979, while in Puerto Rico as the U.S. team coach at the Pan American Games, Knight was arrested on charges of assaulting a police officer during a dispute over the use of a practice gym. He left Puerto Rico and was convicted in absentia. Efforts to extradite him to serve his sentence were eventually dropped.
Accounts of Knight’s sometimes temperamental behavior inevitably mention “chair-throwing.” That incident occurred during a Feb. 23, 1985 game against Purdue. IU was losing and Knight received a technical foul for protesting an official's call. He reacted by picking up a chair from the IU bench and tossing it on to the playing floor. He received a second technical for that move, and when he continued to protest he was ejected from the game.
In 1993, fans booed Knight for apparently kicking at his son Patrick, who was then a player. In 1995, IU was fined a record $30,000 after Knight berated an NCAA volunteer at a news conference. In 1998, the school was fined again after he made derogatory remarks about a referee. Knight paid the $10,000 fine himself rather than be suspended for an NCAA tournament game.
Knight's defenders — who are both numerous and passionate — point out that his offenses are flashes of temper and not issues of ethics or integrity. His recruiting methods at IU were never tainted by ethical violations, and he would not tolerate off-the-court misbehavior by his players. He insisted athletes attend class and pursue degrees, and the graduation rate of his players was always high. Knight was also been a quiet benefactor to various causes.
But in March 2000, a series of allegations about Knight's behavior prompted a university investigation and new calls for his removal.
The chain of events began when former IU player Neil Reed alleged,in a televised CNN/Sports Illustrated report, that Knight grabbed him by the neck in a choking manner during a 1997 practice. A videotape of the incident was leaked to CNN. And, at about the same time, The Star reported that Knight's boss, Clarence Doninger, felt physically threatened by Knight in a Feb.19, 2000, confrontation after a game.
Then came allegations that Knight:
• Berated and physically intimidated a university secretary - once throwing a potted plant in anger, showering her with glass and debris;
• Attacked assistant coach Ron Felling, throwing him out of a chair after overhearing him criticizing the basketball program in a phone conversation;
• Choked and punched IU's longtime sports information director, Kit Klingelhofer, in the 1970s, over a news release that upset the coach.
In March 2000, President Brand and the board of trustees launched a university investigation into the Neil Reed allegation. The board later expanded the inquiry to include the other charges.
After concluding its investigation, the IU board of trustees arranged to meet in executive session on Sunday, May 14, 2000, with one item on the agenda — should coach Knight be fired? On the eve of the scheduled meeting, Knight issued an apology and promised to mend his ways. Knight also met with Brand, who later said he was convinced of Knight's sincerity and recommended that the board not dismiss him.
In the end, the board voted to give Bob Knight one last chance. He was fined $30,000, suspended for three games of the 2000-01 regular season and ordered to make a general apology for his actions and a specific apology to the secretary. Most importantly, the board issued a "zero tolerance" policy, under which any new incident of inappropriate behavior would result in immediate termination.
On Sept. 8, 2000, that policy was put to the test. IU freshman Kent Harvey told campus police Knight grabbed him roughly by the arm and berated him for speaking to the coach disrespectfully. Knight admitted putting his hand on the student's arm and lecturing him on civility, but denied that he was rough or raised his voice.
Two days later, at a Sept. 10 news conference, Brand announced that he had fired Knight after Knight refused to resign. Brand said the incident with Harvey was only one of several instances in which Knight's behavior had violated the policy - including one in which he allegedly ordered university counsel Dorothy Frapwell out of his office.
Brand said he believed he did the right thing in May when he gave the coach another chance, but that he began hearing new complaints about Knight within weeks of that decision. Brand said he spoke with Knight on the telephone the evening of Sept. 9 and asked him to delay a planned fishing trip to Canada that weekend because of the latest controversy. Knight refused and left town for his trip, which Brand saw as another act of defiance.
After Knight was fired, about 3,000 protesters marched to Brand's house on campus and then downtown Bloomington. Small fires were set, including an effigy that might have represented Brand or Harvey. Ten students were arrested, most on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct. Late that night Knight returned to Bloomington, and spoke to the crowd saying he would tell his side of the story within a few days.
On Sept. 12 he did. Appearing in a live interview televised on ESPN, Knight accused IU officials of distorting the truth.He accused ex-player Neil Reed and secretary Jeanette Hartgraves of lying in their accounts of confrontations with him. He also said he intended to keep coaching and was looking for a new job. During the interview Knight scolded interviewer Jeremy Schaap for interrupting him.
The next day he bid farewell at a rally of 8,000 supporters.
On March 23, 2001, Knight signed a five-year deal, reportedly worth $1.25 million to become head coach at Texas Tech. There were no behavior-related clauses in his contract, other than what is standard with all university employees.
On Jan. 1, 2007, Knight won his 880th game, passing Dean Smith to become the winningest basketball coach in NCAA men's Division 1 history.
NOT my brother.
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