Izuchukwu OkosiOnly few basketball coaches in the history of the game in the United States have the charisma which Robert Montgomery Knight is known for.
The world woke up early Friday morning to the news that the coach who was in charge of the Indiana Hoosiers and Texas Tech Red Raiders had died.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelHis demise sent shock waves around the United States and it is being discussed with mooted disbelief.
Prime Business Africa presents four things you need to know about the man who the New York Times described as a tempestuous college basketball coach.
1. Military Service
Knight was enlisted in the United States army in June 1963 after he graduate from the Ohio State University the preceding year and coaching at the junior Varsity basketball at Cuyahoga Falls High School in Ohio.
Knight was notorious for his ill and explosive temper whilst he served in the Army, an example being his fiery reaction to the Army losing a game 66-60 to BYU coached by Hall of Fame coach Stan Watts in the semifinals of the 1966 NIT.
He kicked lockers and let out vicious verbal attacks on the match officials for supposedly being biased in the game.
Knight was in US Army for two years and later served in the Army Reserves for four years extending to May 1969.
2. Coaching Stint
Knight became an assistant coach with the Army Black Knights in 1963 in the United states and was named head coach at the end of his contract. He was just 24 years old.
This was his first stint in his coaching career.
On February 4, 2008, Knight announced his retirement.His son Pat Knight, the head coach designate since 2005, was immediately named as his successor at Texas Tech.
In the 1979 Pan American Games, Knight guided the United States team to a gold medal in Puerto Rico.
In the 1984 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Knight led the U.S. national team to a gold medal as coach of the 1984 basketball team (coaches do not receive medals in the Olympics).
Players on the team included Michael Jordan and Knight’s Indiana player and protégé Steve Alford.
3. Murder Case
Knight vehemently denied accusations of attempting to choke a player of the Indiana while he was coach at the basketball team.
A report ran by Cable News Network (CNN) on 14 May 2000 to that effect was met with resistance from Knight and those loyal to him.
However, in order to prove their report was true, CNN aired a tape a month later where Knight appeared to place his hand on the neck of Reed. The incident purportedly took place in 1997.
Knight’s situation was not helped by actions that preceded him.
He once threw a chair across the court during a game and was ejected, was once arrested following a physical confrontation with a police officer and had several spats with sports journalists.
The choking incident led to his sack eventually.
4. The Students’ Protest
Students of the Indiana University staged a protest in response to the ‘Zero tolerance’ policy enforced by the institution’s President, Myles Brand.
This was aimed at Knight who was involved in a physical altercation with a certain Kent Harvey (not a basketball player) who drew the ire of Knight by saying: “Hey, Knight, what’s up?”
The young man was greeting the celebrated coach but did not bargain for what he got from the disciplinarian.
Knight grabbed him by the arm and expressed disgust as the young lad failed to add a respectable prefix before his name.
The school’s President demanded that Knight resigned but he flatly refused.
Knight was however relieved of his duty but the decision was met with outrage from the students who marched in their thousands from Indiana Un iversity’s Assembly Hall to Brand’s home, burning Brand in effigy.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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