Knight gets mark his way

As others debate his legacy, Bob Knight strode into history Monday, setting a record no one’s opinion of his behavior can erase.

The 880th victory of Knight’s 41-year career came after New Mexico missed a three-point shot at the buzzer to allow Texas Tech to escape with a 70-68 victory in a game it once led by 20 points. With that, Knight, 66, broke the record for victories by a Division I men’s basketball coach he had shared with former North Carolina coach Dean Smith.

Knight had downplayed the significance of the record, but as strains of “My Way” played over the public-address system in the Texas Tech arena in Lubbock, a stoic Knight blinked back tears.

“I’ve always thought if there’s ever an occasion where a song should be played on my behalf, I wanted it to be Frank Sinatra singing ‘My Way,’ ” he said later at a news conference.

“I’ve simply tried to do what I think is best, in the way I think you have to do it to do what’s best. I think I’ve put myself out on a limb, at times knowingly, simply because I thought what I was going to do or say was the best way to get this kid to be the best player or best student he can be.”

On the court, he poked fun at what he called “the hullabaloo” over his popping Texas Tech player Michael Prince under the chin earlier this season by walking over to Prince and lifting his chin more gently. Prince laughed.

When Knight spoke of regrets later, it seemed less an apology than a defense.

“Regrets, sure, just like the song, I have regrets,” he said. “I wish I could have, not necessarily done things different. I wish I could done things better at times.

“Just like he said, I did it my way. And when I look back on it, I don’t think my way was all that bad.”

The milestone is one that would have been more widely lauded had Knight accomplished it at Indiana, where his teams won three NCAA titles and reached five Final Fours. He was fired in 2000 after a confrontation with a student that was the final straw in what Myles Brand, the NCAA president who was then president of Indiana, called a pattern of “defiant and hostile” behavior.

That history, chronicled by a long litany of episodes that includes being convicted in absentia of assaulting a Puerto Rican policeman in 1979 and gripping Indiana player Neil Reed by the neck in a 1997 video, are why Knight is held in mixed regard despite his brilliance as a coach.

John Wooden, whose 10 NCAA titles make him one of only two coaches to win more than Knight -- Adolph Rupp, with four, was the other -- said recently he admired the fundamental soundness of Knight’s teams but questioned Knight’s style.

“Bob Knight unquestionably is one of the outstanding teachers of the game of basketball, in my opinion, that the sport has had,” Wooden said. “Unfortunately, some of his methods have brought him some bad publicity and a lot of people will talk about that more than what he has done.

“His methods, just as General Patton’s, were different. But wouldn’t you want General Patton on your side in a time of war? I have the utmost respect for Bobby Knight. I just differ and disagree with his methods.”

Iowa Coach Steve Alford, one of the stars of Knight’s 1987 NCAA title team, called Knight a figure of tremendous presence, recalling how he influenced a basketball-crazed state after becoming Indiana’s coach in 1972.

“All of a sudden, everyone in high school started wanting to play man-to-man defense and run a motion offense,” said Alford, who attended Texas Tech’s loss to Nevada Las Vegas on Thursday in hopes of being there for the record but did not return for Monday’s game.

Even before claiming the record, Knight had a remarkable list of accomplishments. When he was named coach at Army at the age of 24, he was the youngest coach in major college history. He was only 35 when he won his first NCAA title at Indiana, in 1976, with a team that remains the last undefeated national champion. He coached the U.S. to Olympic gold in 1984, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.

Smith, who did not attend the game, considers Knight a friend and called him “well-deserving” and “a tremendous coach.”

Indiana Coach Kelvin Sampson, who competed against Knight as coach at Oklahoma and this season took over Knight’s old stomping grounds in Bloomington, Ind., said recently that Knight “influenced a whole generation of coaches” because of the discipline of his teams.

After the record was his, Knight gave a long speech at his news conference expressing his regard for such mentors as Pete Newell, Joe Lapchick and Clair Bee.

But as the record approached, Knight had shown little interest in discussing it. Pressed during a teleconference about what impact his episodes of temper might have on his own legacy, Knight bristled.

Pressed further, he hung up, ending the interview.

Exactly how much distance Knight puts between himself and those behind him depends on how long he coaches.

His son, assistant coach Pat Knight, has been named to replace him when he retires. But Knight recently agreed to a contract that could keep him on the bench until 2011, when he would be 70.

The coach with the best chance to eclipse Knight’s record appears to be his own former protege, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who has matched Knight’s national titles with three and at 59, has 765 victories. And at Duke, Krzyzewski accrues them faster than Knight, averaging more than 30 a season the last 10 years.

In the end, most agree, numbers will not be Knight’s legacy.

Newell, the Hall of Fame coach Knight considers a second father, spoke of the coaching clinics Knight has conducted as far away as Europe, Asia and South America.

“The point is, he shared his knowledge of the game, which is second to none, really,” Newell said.

Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun counts himself among Knight’s admirers, but said he believes the coach and the image will always be intertwined.

“Bob, I think, will always be remembered as controversial,” he said.

*

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Norwood reported from Los Angeles.

robyn.norwood@latimes.com

*

Begin text of infobox

Knight’s day

700 VICTORIES

Coaches with 700 victories who have spent a minimum of 10 seasons in Division I with last school worked at listed (x-active, records through games of Jan. 1, 2007):

1. x-Bob Knight, Texas Tech ... 880

2. Dean Smith, North Carolina ... 879

3. Adolph Rupp, Kentucky ... 876

4. Jim Phelan, Mt. St. Mary’s, Md. ... 830

5. Eddie Sutton, Oklahoma State ... 798

6. Lefty Driesell, Georgia State ... 786

7. Lou Henson, New Mexico State ... 779

8. x-Lute Olson, Arizona ... 772

9. x-Mike Krzyzewski, Duke ... 765

10. Henry Iba, Oklahoma State ... 764

11. Ed Diddle, Western Kentucky ... 759

12. Phog Allen, Kansas ... 746

13. x-Jim Calhoun, Connecticut ... 744

14. John Chaney, Temple ... 741

15. x-Jim Boeheim, Syracuse ... 737

16. Jerry Tarkanian, Fresno State ... 729

17. Norm Stewart, Missouri ... 728

18. Ray Meyer, DePaul ... 724

19. Don Haskins, Texas El Paso ... 719

*

ROAD TO 880

Bob Knight’s milestone victories:

* 100 -- Army 64, Navy 50

Feb. 27, 1971

* 200 -- Indiana 93, Georgia 56

Dec. 19, 1975

* 300 -- Indiana 83, Northwestern 69

Feb. 7, 1980

* 400 -- Indiana 81, Kentucky 68

Dec. 8, 1984

* 500 -- Indiana 92, Northwestern 76

Jan. 14, 1989

* 600 -- Indiana 75, Iowa 67

Jan. 6, 1993

* 700 -- Indiana 70, Wisconsin 66

March 5, 1997

* 800 -- Texas Tech 75, Nebraska 49

Feb. 5, 2003

* 880 -- Texas Tech 70, New Mexico 68

Jan. 1, 2007, becomes the winningest men’s coach in NCAA Division I history.

*

VOICES

Reaction to Bob Knight’s 880th win:

“You are the best there’s ever been. I’m so glad you’ve been my mentor, you’ve been my coach and you’ve been my friend. On behalf of all the players and coaches who’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of your system, we want to congratulate you on this. It’s really not surprising to the guys who played for you or coached with you.”

-- Mike Krzyzewski, Duke head coach who was a captain under Knight at Army and an assistant for him at Indiana.

*

“A milestone such as this deserves to go to someone like Coach Knight. He’s a value-based coach who coaches more than the game, he coaches men to be men. He teaches you how to walk outside and present yourself, how to carry and conduct yourself. I love him. There is no way I would be president and head coach of the New York Knicks if I did not play for Bob Knight. It just would not have happened. If I had to do it all over again, I would never, ever want to play for another coach.”

-- Isiah Thomas, president and coach of the New York Knicks who played for Knight at Indiana from 1979 to ’81.

*

“Congratulations to Coach Knight, and especially to the many young men who played for him over the years.”

-- Myles Brand, NCAA president and the man who fired Knight at Indiana.

*

“I send along my sincere congratulations. This is an accomplishment that represents a career of dedication to young people, an appreciation for the game and a love of competition. I respect and admire Bob Knight tremendously as a professional, and I hold him in much higher regard as a person.”

-- Dallas Cowboys Coach Bill Parcells, who has been friends with Knight since both worked at Army in the 1960s.

*

“I heard you were great friends with Ted Williams, and I remember once reading a story where Ted Williams was asked, ‘When you walk down the street, what do you want people to say about you?’ Ted Williams said, ‘I want them to say there goes the greatest hitter who ever played the game.’ I think again the same thing could be said about you. If someone sees you walk down the street, they would say, ‘There goes the greatest basketball coach ever.’ ”

Texas Coach Rick Barnes.

*

Source: Associated Press