After notching 902 wins, Bobby Knight has decided to throw in the towel & call it a day as coach for good.
Loved as much as he is hated, Knight changed the way we looked at how basketball should not only be played but also how it should be coached. At the same time, he added a key word in hoops vocabulary which transcended his own tantrums & outbursts on the sidelines: discipline.
Without Knight, college basketball would be a pure bunch of monotone, a load of crud not worth watching. If that's not enough, if it wasn't for Knight, hoops history would be missing a complete chapter (or book if you like) of notable accomplishments during his career.
For some folks, Knight was the worst of the worst coaches in existence, an irascible, hot-headed man whose temper kept getting in the way. For some folks, Bobby K was just an egotistic sonofabuck who positively couldn't & wouldn't be bothered by AD, by fans, etc. Others still felt that he wasn't on the same page as his players at times & didn't deserve to be a head coach. So everyone is entitled to voice their opinions about the man, some good, some bad, others meeting halfway.
Thing is, Bob Knight was one of the best coaches to roam the face of the earth not only during his time in the Hoosier State but one of the best coaches around in college basketball, period. Even former colleagues & rival coaches have had nothing but good lines about the man, for crying out loud. They wouldn't be where they are now if it weren't for Bob Knight, much less learn anything of monumental importance from one of their more revered mentors.
Hearing of his resignation comes as a shock, an announcement articulated much too soon. He could have waited until Texas Tech's season ended & keep climbing up the ladder for most wins as an active coach. But no: Bob Knight being Bob Knight, he chose to call it a day now instead of later, much to the awe of not only Red Raiders fans, not just Hoosiers fans, but to the awe of all.
And college basketball from this point forward just won't be the same again.
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