New Scholarship Limit Angers Knight; He Says NCAA Should Be Abandoned

Indiana Coach Bob Knight believes that it’s impossible to operate a basketball program with the new NCAA limit of 13 scholarships, and that Division I participants need to form a new organization.

The scholarship limit was trimmed from 15 to 13 at the NCAA convention Thursday in San Diego.

“I’m so sick and tired of the things the NCAA comes up with,” Knight said Thursday night. “I used to be a big supporter of the NCAA, but I’ve drifted far away from it.”

Knight made his comments to the Indianapolis Star following the Hoosiers’ 79-60 Big Ten victory over Michigan State at East Lansing, Mich.

“They’re not cutting it like they did football; they already cut it from 24 to 15. You cannot operate a basketball program today with 13 scholarships. That’s impossible.

“That’s great (cutting football from 95 to 90 scholarships). With 90 scholarships, you’re playing with four full teams of 22 people (offense and defense.) You’re not even playing the game with three full teams in basketball. Anybody who would propose that or vote for it is an absolute idiot. They make it awful hard for you.

“The Division I people have to get the hell out of the NCAA and form an organization of people who want to play the game and play it right and schedule things themselves and forget that B.S.”