Bob Knight - Indiana Hoosiers - Greatest Coaches

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Greatest NCAA College Basketball Coaches of All Time: Bob Knight

With his coaching success sometimes overshadowed by his hot temper, Bob Knight was born in 1940 in Ohio. A reserve on the 1960 NCAA National Champion Ohio state Buckeyes, Knight would graduate in 1962, and shortly after at the young age of 24 accept the head coaching position at the United States Military Academy.

In his six years at Army, Knight would coach future NCAA hall of fame coach Mike Krzyzewski and lead the team to a 102 win and 50 loss record.

After being noticed as a rising star in the coaching ranks, Knight would begin his storied Indiana University career in 1971. Throughout the next 30 years, Knight’s Hoosier squad would thrive as one of the top programs in the country. Indiana would win three national titles – in 1976, 1981, and 1987 respectively. The 1976 squad went undefeated for the season, and are, in fact, the last Division I team to achieve this, as of 2007.

As successful as coach Knight’s tenure was at Indiana, his explosive temper led to his dismissal during the 2000 season, after allegations of player abuse surfaced. However, Knight would not be unemployed for long. In 2001, Texas Tech hired Knight as their head coach. Knight quickly improved the Texas squad, leading them in his first year to their first NCAA tournament since 1996.

It was during his tenure at Texas Tech that Bob Knight would achieve one of his biggest individual accomplishments. On January 1, 2007, Knight won his 880th career game, surpassing Dean Smith’s record for the most wins by an NCAA coach. Knight would retire from coaching in 2008 with a career record of 902 wins and 371 losses.

While never accepting a professional gig in his career, Knight did coach the 1984 men’s Olympic team to gold in Los Angeles – a team that featured a young Michael Jordan fresh out of the University of North Carolina.

Scripted by Derek Allen