Red Alert: Knight Back in the Game

Viewed in the pioneer tradition, Bob Knight landing at Texas Tech is not so perplexing. In fact, it is as fundamentally American as cavalry and the Indian wars.

A highly decorated, aging officer becomes so impossibly cantankerous there is no choice but to ship him to a remote, wind-swept outpost where his bluster is lost in a swirl of dust and irrelevance.

The difference this time is that the General’s fate is of his own choosing.

And it could be a brilliant alliance.

Knight, 60, became the Red Raider basketball coach Friday night, barely six months after Indiana fired him for the final incident in a three-decade string of verbal and physical altercations with players, students, administrators, secretaries, reporters, foreign policemen and assorted men on the street.

He was introduced by Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers, a longtime friend, to a boisterous, overwhelmingly supportive crowd of about 7,500 at the United Spirit Arena on campus. A sign held by a student read, “Put the women and children to bed, it’s Knight time.”

As Knight spoke in bold tones about bringing an exciting team to West Texas, his wife, Karen, an Oklahoma native, quietly shed tears of joy at the dais.

“At Texas Tech, I have found a place every bit the equal of Indiana,” he said.

The litmus test, apparently, is unquestioned adulation. Texas Tech accepts Knight’s flaws as necessary to the equation that brought him to Lubbock, a dreary whistle-stop best known as the birthplace of Buddy Holly.

Without the chinks in his armor, Knight’s attitude would be no different than it was after Indiana defeated the Red Raiders in a 1999 opener. Asked if he would return to Lubbock, his response can be paraphrased by the title of a Holly favorite: “That’ll Be the Day.”

The locals in this Last-Chance Saloon of a town have forgiven the slight, or at least set it aside in the spirit of fresh starts, rebirths and whatever else draws people to “the hub of the South Plains,” where there isn’t a trace of civilization more than 100 miles in any direction.

Knight’s reported base salary of about $300,000, supplemented by income from camps, radio-television and other endorsements, will go a long way in a place where the cost of living is one of the lowest in America.

Bright and analytical, Knight knows he needs the elbow room. He can coach, hunt, fish and probably even blow his fuse on occasion without anyone the wiser. His multitude of critics can just stay away.

As for Texas Tech, the French Foreign Legion had similar priorities.

No expense is spared on the troops--the two-year-old, $60-million arena is one of the nation’s finest on-campus facilities. And a depressing void of culture and sophistication is replaced by rabid allegiance to the Red Raiders.

A news conference was to wait until the crowd cleared out, but few left because Knight announced: “I invite you all to stay. You can all judge the questions and answers. That’d be great.”

The crowd cheered. Then every time a reporter asked about incidents that led to his firing, the crowd booed and Knight turned his answer into a personal attack on the questioner.

His eyes twinkled. These are his kind of people. Karen’s too. Knight introduced his wife and she spoke briefly.

“I want everyone to understand the first thing I felt from people here--they are genuine,” Karen told the crowd. “And that describes him too. That’s why it’s a perfect match.”

Already, the heavily Baptist Lubbock populace gives up traditional Wednesday night worship and congregates at the 15,050-seat arena to sing the praises of the Texas Tech women’s team, a longtime national power.

Knight recognizes the potential.

“If [players] will pay attention to me, we can put a basketball team out here you’ll enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed watching the women Red Raiders last week,” he said.

He looked to the crowd and saw red. And he wasn’t furious.

In 29 seasons at Indiana, Knight became synonymous with the color associated with anger and shame. The red sweaters he wore while winning three national championships and 11 Big Ten Conference titles fit right in on Indiana Avenue, where, in a touch of irony, the arena is located.

David Schmidly, the Texas Tech president, gave Knight a red sweater adorned with the school’s double-T logo. Schmidly and Myers, whose idea it was to hire Knight, beamed as the fans went wild again.

The administrators, tired of watching Tech stock plummet and aware of Knight’s distinguished record as a fund-raising cash cow at Indiana, are feeling bullish. Nearly 200 personal-seat licenses were sold this week and season tickets, which normally go on sale in the fall, will be sold for two weeks beginning Monday.

A financial turnaround is crucial. Texas Tech was last in the Big 12 Conference in athletic fund-raising with $1.4 million last year, about a tenth the amount raised by archrival Texas. The Red Raider athletic budget deficit of $1.5 million in fiscal 2000 was its third year in a row in the red.

Then there’s basketball. Texas Tech was last in the Big 12, going 9-19 under James Dickey, whose zenith was a 30-2 mark and No. 8 ranking in 1995-96.

The spiral began in 1997 when nearly every program in the athletic department was hit with NCAA sanctions, primarily because players who did not qualify academically were granted eligibility. The basketball team pulled out of the conference tournament, forfeited 10 victories and lost nine scholarships in four years.

And the graduation rate among basketball players is woeful: only 33% for the 1993-94 freshman class.

Indiana, by contrast, was never investigated by the NCAA under Knight and boasted one of the highest graduation rates of any program.

So Texas Texas has plenty to gain. Until the first time Knight lays a hand on a player.

At a more sober gathering Wednesday--a meeting of the faculty senate--Schmidly addressed Knight’s record of tantrums and violent acts.

“I want to make this crystal clear--any repetition of that kind of behavior will not be tolerated, not even once,” Schmidly said.

That sounds good to the Red Raider players, who presumably have seen the infamous video of Knight with his hand around the neck of former Hoosier Neil Reed.

“I know he’s a winning coach, a legendary coach, he’s a Hall of Fame coach,” said Jamal Brown, a junior guard. “By having his presence on the floor, everyone will feed off of it. I’m going to try my best to see what it’s like playing for him and to give my all.”

However, the students wearing “General’s Army” T-shirts adhere to the grade-school notion that hanging out with a bully will make them popular.

“I don’t care if he chokes players, if he wins games it’s good for me,” said Kevin Maher, a second-year law student. “When you’re at Texas Tech, you are stranded in the middle of nowhere. Anything that gives us name recognition is fine with me.”

Placards being waved in front of the university center addressed not the arrival of a coach but upcoming student elections.

Heath Cheek, a junior from Chillicothe, is running for vice president against a woman with the slogan, “Don’t Be a Dumbo, Vote for Kelli Stumbo.” His endorsement of Knight sounded like a campaign promise.

“With Bob Knight here, I have no doubt we will be back in the NCAA tournament next year,” Cheek said.

The student senate passed a resolution Thursday in support of Knight. Sean McMullen, a senior senator from Dallas, believes Schmidly’s assurance that boorish behavior will not be tolerated.

“This hire is going to put butts in the seats,” McMullen said. “If he snaps, he’s gone. We are in the buckle of the Bible Belt. People won’t tolerate it.”

Senior Brad Parsons grew up in Lubbock and his parents are Texas Tech graduates. He believes Knight will cause the biggest stir since a tornado destroyed 15 square miles of the city in 1970.

“We have nothing to lose,” Parsons said. “Tech has had an identity crisis for a long time. It’s been stale for years. This is a chance to get us on the national map.”

It’s assumed Knight will bring the energy and expertise of his glory years. Behind the head of white hair and ample belly, how much is left of the coach who went 63-1 in 1974-76?

He needs 117 victories to break Dean Smith’s all-time record, but his final years at Indiana produced a succession of early exits from the NCAA tournament.

“I would like to coach as long as I enjoy it,” Knight said. “I don’t know where I stand on any list, but [not coaching for a year] heightened my enthusiasm.”

In Lubbock, Knight fever is gathering force. Professors who had circulated a petition protesting the hiring realized as much and in Schmidly’s presence were as docile as milk cows. Only five offered even mild objections and the most memorable comments were made by music professor Bill Hartwell, a Knight supporter.

Faculty senate bylaws allowed only 25 minutes for professors to question Schmidly, and Hartwell ate up 10 minutes in a filibuster that touched on Jackie Robinson, Jerry Lucas and his own high school track coach, who had implored him to “Let the blood flow.”

Finally asked to close his remarks, Hartwell implored his colleagues to accept Knight: “The question is, do you want to feel the blood flow! If you really want to hear and feel the blood flow, the quickest way to do it is to get more tremendous national exposure.”

Therein lies the contradiction that might cause this union to backfire. Texas Tech will use Knight to gain respect and attention. Knight will use Texas Tech to hole up and rack up victories away from the spotlight.

As with the pioneers, however, he won’t be left alone forever by meddlesome city folk. The glare will grind at Knight. And, despite their current insistence to the contrary, Texas Tech might not enjoy it much either.

Westward, ho.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Bob Knight as a Coach

SEASON BY SEASON

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Season School W L Pct. 1965-66 Army 18 8 .692 1966-67 Army 13 8 .619 1967-68 Army 20 5 .800 1968-69 Army 18 10 .643 1969-70 Army 22 6 .786 1970-71 Army 11 13 .458 1971-72 Indiana 17 8 .680 1972-73 Indiana 22 6 .786 1973-74 Indiana 23 5 .822 1974-75 Indiana 31 1 .966 1975-76 Indiana* 32 0 1.000 1976-77 Indiana 16 11 .593 1977-78 Indiana 21 8 .724 1978-79 Indiana** 22 12 .647 1979-80 Indiana 21 8 .724 1980-81 Indiana* 26 9 .743 1981-82 Indiana 19 10 .655 1982-83 Indiana 24 6 .800 1983-84 Indiana 22 9 .710 1984-85 Indiana 19 14 .576 1985-86 Indiana 21 8 .724 1986-87 Indiana* 30 4 .882 1987-88 Indiana 19 10 .655 1988-89 Indiana 27 8 .771 1988-90 Indiana 18 11 .621 1990-91 Indiana 29 5 .853 1991-92 Indiana 27 7 .794 1992-93 Indiana 31 4 .886 1993-94 Indiana 21 9 .700 1994-95 Indiana 19 12 .613 1995-96 Indiana 19 12 .613 1996-97 Indiana 22 11 .667 1997-98 Indiana 20 12 .625 1998-99 Indiana 23 11 .676 1999-00 Indiana 20 8 .714 Army Total 102 50 .671 Indiana Total 661 239 .734 Overall 763 289 .705

*--*

* NCAA champion

** NIT ch ampion

HIGHLIGHTS

* 1971: Became head coach at Indiana after compiling a 102-50 record at Army in six years, including four NIT appearances.

* 1975: Was a unanimous selection as Coach of the Year.

* 1976: Won 200th game with a 93-56 win over Georgia. Won NCAA championship with an 86-68 win over Michigan. Named Coach of the Year by the Associated Press and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

* 1979: Won NIT championship with a 53-52 win over Purdue. Coached the United States to a gold medal in the Pan American Games.

* 1980: Won 300th game with an 83-69 win over Northwestern.

* 1981: Won NCAA championship with an 63-50 win over North Carolina.

* 1984: Won 400th game with an 81-68 win over Kentucky. Coached the United States to a gold medal in the Summer Olympics.

* 1987: Won NCAA championship with a 74-73 win over Syracuse.

* 1988: Became the winningest coach in Big Ten history with his 214th win, a 74-73 win over Purdue.

* 1989: Won 500th game with a 92-67 win over Northwestern, at age 48, to become the second-youngest coach to win 500 games. Named Coach of the Year by the Associated Press and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

* 1991: Selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Won 10th Big Ten title.

* 1992: Made 16th NCAA appearance and fifth in the Final Four with Indiana. Has a postseason tournament record of 46-15.

* 1993: Won 600th game with a 75-67 win over Iowa, at age 52, to become youngest coach to win 600 games, just a few months ahead of the late Henry Iba. Won 11th Big Ten title.

* 1995: Selected as conference’s all-time coach at Big Ten Centennial celebration and 1976 team selected as best in league history.

* 1997: Won 700th game with a 70-66 victory over Wisconsin, one of 13 coaches in college basketball history to reach that plateau.

* Career: His 763 victories are fifth among Divison I coaches all-time, trailing Dean Smith (879), Adolph Rupp (876), Jim Phelan (816) and Henry Iba (767).