Coach watch: Could UVA become Knight school?
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Could the next sweater Bob Knight dons be orange and blue? That’s what veteran Newport News Daily Press reporter David Teel suggests in an article the newspaper’s website. “Knight has always preached and practiced the academic integrity Virginia values,” writes Teel of the former Indiana and Texas Tech coach. “Plus, he wins games, fills seats, and knows Cavaliers football coach Al Groh— Knight coached at Army during the late 1960s when Groh was an assistant there.” Knight holds the record for most wins for a men’s college coach with 902, and won three national championships at Indiana. However, Knight was as controversial as he was successful, earning a reputation for unleashing expletive-laden tirades on the media, throwing a chair onto the court at a 1985 game, and getting fired from Indiana in 2000 after having allegedly choked a player in practice. The 68-year-old Knight abruptly retired from his Texas Tech job in the middle of the 2007-08 season and is now a commentator for ESPN.
–photo by Steven Wilke/Flickr
–updated March 30, 2:52pm
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No. won’t happen
We should be so lucky! Knight did a great job at Texas Tech - a program with no basketball tradition and a tough recruiting challenge. Hiring him would put UVA basketball on the map immediately, and the program would be part of the general college basketball conversation. With Tubby the conversation would be short-lived (how often do you hear him talked about as Minnesota’s coach? Mostly it’s just speculation on where he’s going next).
FYI - the record for most wins by a college coach is Pat Summit, with 1005. Knight has the men’s record, though.
[...] fans may be riveted as UVA ponders a replacement coach for the men’s basketball team, but a different kind of Coach may already be [...]
Dear Music Lover,
Right you are about Pat Summit. I wouldn’t want to slight her, so see the correction above.
Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Lindsay Barnes
I say bring him in. Iknow, I know…it probably won’t happen. But he’d be a fantastic fit. And I don’t buy into the “too old” line of thinking. If you get 6 to 8 years out of him, that’s probably more than you’ll get from some young up-and-comer, who will either flame out or leave for a higher-profile gig.
Virginia would win a NCAA Championship with Coach Bob Knight at the helm. ACC caliber players + Coach Bob Knight = National Championship.