Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight won three national championships, 11 Big Ten titles and 902 career games. He led the last undefeated Division I men’s basketball champion. He won an Olympic gold medal in 1984 and a national title as an Ohio State player in 1960.
Knight's family announced his death Wednesday at 83. To help remember the tempestuous giant of the sport, here's a sampling of some of Knight’s most memorable quotes:
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“If you want to be a real winner, you have to consider a place like Indiana. (Long Island coach) Clair Bee has been like a father to me ever since I’ve been in the East. He told me I had no choice; I had to go to Indiana. And I felt the same way,” — Knight, after becoming Hoosiers coach in 1971.
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“Defense is the key to winning in any sport and that’s what I believe in." — Knight, at his introductory news conference in 1971.
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“My little talk to them went like this: Winning the Big Ten didn’t make any difference and winning the national championship didn’t make any difference. If you will continue to work and follow what we want done, you have the ability to go undefeated and anything less than that would not be the equivalent of what your capabilities were." — Knight on his opening message to the 1975-76 team in the movie “Perfect in ’76.”
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“I think it’s the goal of any coach to reach the NCAA Tournament. It’s almost beyond the realm of comprehension to think you can win it.” — Knight after the Hoosiers completed their undefeated season for the first of his three national titles.
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“I’ve always said, all along, that if I ever get to a point where I can’t control myself, I’ll quit.” — Knight to Sports Illustrated in 1981.
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“I should have gone to his home and talked to him. I’m sure I could have brought him back to IU.” — Knight to The Bloomington Herald-Times in 1985, reflecting on Larry Bird’s departure. ___
“I hear somebody across the floor keep hollering, ‘Coach! Coach! Coach Knight!’ I get all kinds of suggestions. I try not to pay any attention to it. Here’s a little old lady across the floor, reminded me of my grandmother. I said, ‘Did you want me for something?’ She said, ‘If you’re not going to sit down any more today than you have so far, could I have your chair?’” — Knight's joking explanation of why he threw a chair across the court during a game in 1985.
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“It didn’t look good. In fact, my assistants had just about given up, and so had I. Then I looked down toward the other bench, and I saw (coach) Dale Brown standing there. I knew then that we had a chance. ... To paraphrase Churchill, probably never has so little been done with so much.” — Knight, referencing the Hoosiers' NCAA Tournament game comeback against LSU en route to his final national championship in 1987.
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“I think if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it." — Knight, to Connie Chung of NBC News in 1988. Knight contended the quote was taken out of context, later saying: “The word rape can be used in several ways. One is in something that has gone out of control or over which you have no control. It obviously was in that context that I was using the word.”
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“Probably no motivational device I’ve come across is as good as this.” — Knight, while snapping a bullwhip during an NCAA Tournament news conference in 1992.
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“When my time on Earth is gone and my activities here are past, I want they bury me upside down and my critics can kiss my ass.” — Knight, on Indiana's Senior Day 1994.
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“I think there are circumstances that could develop surrounding any human being that would set that human being off in an abnormal way. I think that we all hope that when such a situation would arise that we can control our emotions, or we can react to the circumstances in such a way that doesn’t put either that person or people surrounding them in any kind of a highly embarrassing or difficult situation. But I don’t think that we ever really know.” — Knight, responding to a question from ESPN's Digger Phelps in 1998 who asked his former coaching rival if he was a potential time bomb in the manner of Woody Hayes.
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“'Son, my name isn’t Knight to you, it’s coach Knight or it’s Mr. Knight. I don’t call people by their last name and neither should you.'” — Knight, explaining what he told IU student Kent Harvey during the incident that led to his firing in September 2000.
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“I hope they’re all dead." — Knight, on Dan Patrick’s radio show in 2017 while discussing the Indiana decision-makers who fired him. When Patrick noted some of the people had died, Knight responded: ”Well, I hope the rest of them go.”
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“Early failure is usually better than early success, because the lesson in humility lasts a long time and makes you more effective over the long term.” — Knight, in his book "The Power of Negative Thinking: An Unconventional Approach To Achieving Positive Results."
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“I’ll remember that until I’m gone. You are the best fans in the history of college basketball.” — Knight, after receiving a standing ovation at Bloomington North High School during a 2017 speech.
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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
The Associated Press
