Bob Knight : biography

• It was alleged that Knight attacked assistant coach Ron Felling, throwing him out of a chair after overhearing him criticizing the basketball program in a phone conversation.

• On September 8, 2000, 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. The coach was fired from IU two days later.

• Two days after Knight was fired from Indiana University, Jeremy Schaap of ESPN interviewed him and discussed his time at Indiana. Towards the end of the interview, Knight talked about his son, Patrick, who had also been dismissed by the university, wanting an opportunity to be a head coach. Schaap, thinking that Knight was finished, attempted to move on to another subject, but Knight insisted on continuing about his son. Schaap repeatedly tried to ask another question when Knight shifted the conversation to Schaap’s style of interviewing, notably chastising him about interruptions. Knight then commented (referring to Schaap’s father, Dick Schaap), "You’ve got a long way to go to be as good as your dad!"
• In March 2006, a student’s heckling at Baylor University resulted in Knight having to be restrained by a police officer. The incident was not severe enough to warrant any action from the Big 12 Conference.
• On November 13, 2006, Knight was shown allegedly hitting player Michael Prince under the chin to get him to make eye contact. Although Knight didn’t comment on the incident afterwards and has not yet done so, Prince, his parents, and Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers insisted that Knight did nothing wrong and that he merely lifted Prince’s chin and told him, "Hold your head up and don’t worry about mistakes. Just play the game." Prince commented, "He was trying to teach me and I had my head down so he raised my chin up. He was telling me to go out there and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. He said I was being too hard on myself."
• On October 21, 2007, James Simpson of Lubbock, Texas, accused Knight of firing a shotgun in his direction after he yelled at Knight and another man for hunting too close to his home. Knight denied the allegations. An argument between the two men was recorded via camera phone and aired later on television.
• On December 17, 2009, Knight insulted longtime rival Kentucky and its coach John Calipari, saying, "We’ve gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that’s why I’m glad I’m not coaching. You see we’ve got a coach at Kentucky, who put two schools UMass and Memphis] on probation and he’s still coaching. I really don’t understand that."

2010s

• On April 18, 2011, video surfaced showing Knight responding to a question concerning John Calipari and the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team by stating that in the previous season, Kentucky made an Elite Eight appearance with "five players who had not attended a single class that semester." These claims were later disproven by the University and the players in question, including Patrick Patterson, who graduated in three years, and John Wall, who finished the semester in question with a 3.5 GPA. Knight later apologized for his comments stating, "My overall point is that ‘one-and-dones’ are not healthy for college basketball. I should not have made it personal to Kentucky and its players and I apologize."

Coaching philosophy

Bob Knight was an innovator of the motion offense, which he perfected and popularized. The system emphasizes post players setting screens and perimeter players passing the ball until a teammate becomes open for an uncontested jump shot or lay-up. This required players to be unselfish, disciplined, and effective in setting and using screens to get open. Knight’s Army background and his focus on fundamentals, strict discipline, and precision earned him the nickname "General".