Michael David Smith: How big a deal is the all-time wins record that Bob Knight is about to break? Is it just a mark of longevity or something truly special? Charles Rich: Let's take this in reverse order. Well, of course it is something truly special. You look at the names he has passed to get there -- Smith and Rupp being the final two -- and you know it is an area for coaches who have been some of the best. The names Nantz likes to invoke before the Final Four games to present that ponderous drumbeat of history. It also means winning, at a minimum, a lot of conference championships and getting deep in the NCAA (whether it is the present version of 64/65 teams or even the smaller numbers from years past. You still had to be good enough to get there and make an impact.
That said, of course it has as much to do with longevity. You don't get to that number by being in places where you can and do win for years upon years. It also means not being lured to the pros by the money, the challenge and/or the chance not to have to suck-up to 17-year olds and their parents (sucking up to 22-33 year old multi-millionaires and their posse is a totally different thing).
How big a deal is it? I'm not sure, because the "flood the zone" approach of the Mouse Monopoly kind of makes me want to runaway from any and all coverage of the subject -- the brilliant and insightful discussion of FanHouse obviously excepted -- and treat it as a non-story.
Adam Rank: The all-time wins record is a nice testament to how well you can recruit top-notch talent. Winning national titles is the hallmark of a great coach. When was the last time that Bobby Knight was relevant in an NCAA tournament? Was it 1987? Now, most gamblers will bet against a Knight team in the NCAA tournament. So this record really means nothing.
Michael David Smith: I think Adam has it exactly right about national titles: The major accomplishment of Knight's career is what he did in the 1970s and 80s. Right now he's like the baseball player who sticks around past his prime just to get 3,000 hits.
Part 1: The record itself
Part 2: Where does Knight rank?
Part 3: How he'll be remembered
Part 4: Texas Tech, not Indiana
Part 5: His son and successor
Part 6: The media's focus
Part 7: The best thing about Knight
Part 8: The worst thing about Knight




















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
12-28-2006 @ 1:56PM
Awful Announcing said...
The thing you have to remember about Knight is that he has this many wins with only one player he's ever coached seeing actual NBA minutes.....Isiah Thomas.
He's a dick, but he gets the best out of his players. I think the 3,000 hits comparison is a little unfair.
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12-28-2006 @ 6:07PM
beanspants1 said...
you guys' conversation is about as deep as a glass of water and this is in print, where you have time to go back and look up statistics and other solid information. That is really not a knock, but rather par for the course of the ESPN world.
is it any wonder that knight is cold to people in the media who have nothing of value to say?
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12-31-2006 @ 9:09AM
JAB said...
Longivity does count for something. A lot. I think it shows that you have performed consistently well over a very long period of time and that is a noteworthy accomplishment.
FYI,..Isiah may have been the most famous NBA player from Indiana University, but he is not nearly the only former Hoosier to get "actual NBA minutes". There are several current NBA players that were Hoosiers. Probably of them, Jared Jeffries (of the Knicks, playing for Isiah) gets the most minutes. I am guessing he logs more than 30 minutes a game (is on the floor playing at least 75% of the time. I would count those as significant minutes.) 11 year vet Alan Henderson of the Sixers is also a former Hoosier. I am sure if one looked around they would find several more former Hoosiers.
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1-01-2007 @ 12:24PM
melvin hardy said...
Knight never coached Jefferiest Indiana...also.... that post is very close to true... Bob Knight ruined more talent at Indy than he ever developed... Dean Smith was just the opposit he made players great and won a heep of games but never could win with untalented teams...granted great players can make great coaches but if Dean was not expected to do anything,he didn't. Rarely did he ever pull a big upset. Knight could always win a game or 2 he shouldn't have been in. Oh for me to give credit to Knight isn't easy.....I am a University of Ky fan.
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1-01-2007 @ 5:39PM
Bedazzzled1 said...
Lost in all of this is the fact that Coach Knight reached that win record WITHOUT cheating to get players. Repeat, WITHOUT cheating. Try to find successful coaches who have not made some under the table deals to score highly recruited players. Ha. Hold out one hand folks, because you probably do not need more than five fingers to count them.
Also lost in this stupid win-at-all-costs mindset that fans and most coaches have is that Coach Knight has a player graduation rate of 80%. That is twice the national average for men's college basketball players. The man cares about seeing to it this his players have the ability to be successful in life...not just on the court.
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1-01-2007 @ 7:42PM
Gary Miller said...
When he won the national championships is not relevant. He has done it 3 times. There are a lot of great coaches that never win it at all. Nice guys do not finish first very often
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1-01-2007 @ 8:21PM
Pamela S said...
Being a retired teacher and a graduate of Texas Tech, I have feelings in both directions of Knight being a successful coach or not. Role models are extremely important for young kids today, and the temper tantrums that he has displayed are not helping the young people today who seem to be so full of anger. However, the much bigger picture is that he is such a wonderful successful coach in so many ways. His anger is diminished by the graduation statistics and his love for his players. A large majority of his players knows he cares for them and their success very much,...success that also includes their academics. He doesn't care to relate to the media because they have never been fair to him. The media controls about everything in this country including politics and most of the ignorant people in this country follow what they say!!! Accolades to Bobby Knight for not being a puppet of theirs!!! I have stayed in the background of opinions about him since he went to Tech, but now I am speaking. I consider him to be a great coach in so many ways, but for the most important, his graduation statistics! Education is so important today for young people to achieve, and the slums are full of those who played well and did not achieve in the arena of academics! My hat is off to Bobby Knight!
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1-01-2007 @ 8:31PM
Noel Baker,Sr. said...
How many years have ya all coached? I did for 32 years on the High School level and I have a great respect for Knight and what he has done in basketball. The only thing you hear is the bad! Knowing what it is to coach a team,play father to them and keep the parents happy has me wondering if the people who write about Knight really know what happens in a locker room or how intense it really is out there trying to get a team to act as a team and be young men at the same time. His temper is brought on by something that has happened. Does he cause this happening? He reacts just like any person who is intent on having the instructions followed or the rules being correct. Think on the good side!
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1-01-2007 @ 8:37PM
Mike Wolf said...
To bad the president of the NCAA was not able to find time to be in Lubbock to congratulate Knight. Oops, forgot that Miles Brand X managed to fire Knight at Indiana after breaking the open meetings law, by meeting with the board members under the cover of darkness. Brand X is one of the major reasons few sports fans have no respect for the NCAA.
Keep in mind that Brand got the job because he was part of cabal of university presidents that start each meeting with the singing of La Internationale.
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1-01-2007 @ 8:33PM
Joe Keenan said...
So Jim, what do you want to be when you graduate high school? Your article on Bob Knight was as ridiculous as you calling yourself a sports writer. Like it or not he is number one for a reason, he knows how to get it done. Show me a great coach that was a puss and I'll show you Vince Lombardis sister. PS I'm not a disgruntled Indiana fan, in fact I'm a Buckeye, his former arch rival.
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1-01-2007 @ 9:44PM
steve said...
for the idiot from ky, saying IN never upset many teams when he was at IN. Knights teams a tremendous team if you recall. The UNLV Rebels was unstoppable 1 year and he beat them at their own game. Run and gun. I know coach knight and alot of his players. If you are lucky enough to play for him, you will be able to face any life problems, he teachs respect and he teachs, when things are tough you dont put your head down! If only people knew how many great things he does for kids and the university. Riley Hospital was something coach made his players aware of. It is a hospital for small children who has cancer and numerous other serious illnesses. He has a strange but witty sense of humor. MYLES BRAND IS AN IDIOT!!!! COACH KNIGHT HAS MORE CLASS IN HIS PINKY THAN BRAND HAS ALL TOGETHER.
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1-01-2007 @ 9:01PM
Bonner Latham said...
I think your comments about Bobby Knight are right on target. He has never respected the game, or those that make up the game. In fact, I think he enjoys belittling those around him and that alone shows a lack of class. One day when someone from the media asks him a question, and he comes back with one of those smart ass comments to make them look bad that he's so famous for, I only hope he meets up with someone that we come back at him. That's what he needs more than anything-Someone to stand up to him. I don't have any sons, but if I did, I would never allow my kid to play under a coach like Bobby Knight. No class, no respect for the game, and complete lack of compassion for his fellow man. In my mind, Dean Smith is the type of coach that others should try and be.
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1-01-2007 @ 9:07PM
Jim Henshaw said...
Knight is a creep, and if he stays at it long enough he will eventually do a Woody Hayes and punch a player or an official or a fan on national TV and that will (finally) be the end of him. Not a minute too soon.
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1-01-2007 @ 9:11PM
randy g said...
aol and their shrill identified themselves as opposed to Coach with their opening lines and the pictures they chose for the intro:really objective!!
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1-01-2007 @ 9:11PM
E Jones said...
Knight does in deed have a way of teaching young men how to win in a sport and probably in life as well. It is a shame that people who certainly are not saints have so weak a consitution that the use of a cuss word incites such anger in them.
The small list of NBA players from Knights ranks is interesting. He has gotten huge wins, by numbers, from lessor talented kids...........Says a lot
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1-01-2007 @ 9:16PM
Margie said...
This is a great mile stone for Division I college basketball, however, the coach with the most wins in NCAA Division I Basketball is Pat Summitt of Tennessee with 925. So, coach Knight, you have a ways to go.
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1-01-2007 @ 9:25PM
Mike Wolf said...
Pat Summit's wins were in girls basketball from an era where most major colleges didn't have girls varstiy programs. Even today most good high school boys teams would blow out the best college girls teams.
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1-01-2007 @ 9:28PM
john cockreham said...
I get a laugh out of the Bobby haters, they love to run Bobby down but the truth of the matter is.
1. His players graduate.
2. His players go on and have sucessful careers.
How many NCAA coaches have Bobby;s Stats?.
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1-01-2007 @ 9:48PM
Don said...
I don't find Knight nearly as offensive as I find "pundits" who have never done anything but be paid for criticizing people who have. It's a lot easier to criticize than to do. This reminds me of a sad sickness in our society. You know, the one where no one seems to do anything but bitch and blog but do nothing themselves.
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1-01-2007 @ 9:46PM
pat reynolds said...
Few people know that Coach Knight created a family of players who know he is always for them. During the many years he has been coach, he has helped his previous players get jobs, helped them with their families, been a surrogate fathers for them. Yes he is tough but I would have given my right arm to have played for him because I would have been made a man. Im 61 years old and I know coaches like Coach Knight are far and few between. I have heard him off camera and he not only cares about his players he loves them and that is all that matters to him
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