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Saturday, March 24, 2001
Texas Tech makes it official with Knight



LUBBOCK, Texas – Bob Knight's six-month exile from college basketball ended Friday with Texas Tech taking a chance on the volatile but successful coach.

Knight was introduced to a raucous crowd of about 7,500 during a rally at United Spirit Arena on Friday evening. The fans, who shouted "Bobby, Bobby," outnumbered most of the crowds that attended Red Raider home games this season.

Bob Knight
Bob Knight makes a "Guns Up" sign as Texas Tech's newest basketball coach.

Athletic director Gerald Myers presented Knight with a red sweater vest. He said he expected that the coach would don his trademark red sweater when the weather turned colder.

"This is without a doubt the most comfortable red sweater I've had in six years," said Knight, who was known for wearing sweaters while stalking the Indiana sideline during the last 29 seasons.

Indiana University spokeswoman Susan Dillman said the school's president and athletic director wish him well. "We wish him luck in that red sweater," Dillman said.

Knight appeared to stumble over the words "Red Raiders" a few times while referring to his new team. He also mispronounced school president David Schmidly's name several times.

In a flash of his traditional self-confidence, Knight said, "I'm not right all of the time, but when it comes to this game, I'm right most of the time."

All-time Div. I victories
Name Yrs. Won Lost Pct.
1. Dean Smith 36 879 254 .776
2. Adolph Rupp 41 876 190 .822
3. Jim Phelan* 47 816 484 .628
4. Henry Iba 41 767 338 .694
5. Bob Knight* 35 763 290 .725
6. Lefty Drisell* 40 762 377 .669
7. Jerry Tarkanian* 30 759 187 .802
7. Ed Diddle 42 759 302 .715
9. Phog Allen 48 746 281 .726
10. Norm Stewart 38 731 375 .661
*-denotes active coach

After the brief rally, the fiery coach asked the crowd to stay for a news conference and encouraged them to react to reporters' questions. At one point, when a newspaper reporter asked for a follow-up question, Knight declined. When the reporter insisted, Knight asked the audience, "How many of you want to hear a follow-up from this guy?"

The crowd booed loudly.

Knight's temper led to his firing from Indiana in September. He had coached the Hoosiers to three national titles.

After missing his first college season since 1963-64, Knight signed a five-year, $1.25 million deal with Tech. Myers told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that Knight's annual compensation will include $250,000 in base salary, $150,000 in deferred income and a minimum of $500,000 in guaranteed outside income, including speaking engagements and shoe and radio deals.

Knight exhorted Tech fans to buy season tickets and "to raise a lot of hell" at games next year.

"What you folks have here, you've got a great university," Knight said. "I'm really happy to be a small part of this university."

He said he is giving $10,000 to the school's library because it "is the heart and soul of the university."

Knight also said he was intent on delivering a team that the fans would enjoy watching. Tech already has a successful women's basketball program.

Schmidly said he was looking for immediate improvement with the men.

"A year from now, when they start talking about Texas Tech, I think they're going to say we're the school where both the women and the men are champions," Schmidly said.

There are no behavior-related clauses in the contract, other than the standard requirements of all Tech employees, Myers said. Tech policy states that "cause for termination includes failure to perform duties, actions that are detrimental to the university, and any violation of university, Big 12 or NCAA rules."

Knight's wife, Karen, told the fans they will find a friend in Knight.

Knight already naming assistants
Even before being officially announced as the head coach, Bob Knight has selected two assistants for his program at Texas Tech – son Pat Knight, and Bob Beyer, the former Siena coach and Northwestern assistant.

Pat Knight currently is an assistant at Akron.

Others being considered for assistants sports include Les Fertig, an assistant at Indiana, and Dennis Harp, former head coach at Hardin Simmons.
– ESPN.com

"Some people have often referred to him as having a temper, and I just see everyday what I call a huge passion for living, he has a passion for everything he does," she said. "I just ask to do just one thing: Please don't pass judgment until you've had a chance to know him. That's the only thing I ask . . . If he's a friend he'll be your friend for life."

The salary puts him a little behind other coaches in the Big 12 Conference, where the average package is $500,000. Some of the higher-profile programs pay much more: Larry Eustachy at Iowa State makes at least $900,000 in total compensation.

Myers said the hiring would give the Red Raiders instant national credibility.

"I think this is the beginning of something special," Myers said. "We've got the opportunity to make this program competitive at the highest level of college basketball."

Knight, 60, was the only serious candidate to replace James Dickey, even though about 100 of the university's 900 faculty members signed a petition advising against the move.

Indiana axed Knight for breaking a no-tolerance behavior policy imposed after a series of behavior problems. His list of outbursts is almost as long as his list of coaching accomplishments.

Knight's most infamous flare-up in a game was tossing a chair across a court. Years earlier, he was convicted for hitting a Puerto Rican policeman before a practice at the Pan American Games.

Other transgressions include kicking his son's leg during a game and allegedly choking a player in a practice. The final straw was when he grabbed the arm of a student who referred to the coach by his last name.

"The General" did not seriously consider any coaching jobs until this one. Tech officials first met with him early this month in Florida, four days before Dickey was fired.

With Myers pushing for the hiring of his longtime friend, the biggest hurdle was a school rule that prevented it from being completed until 10 business days after Dickey was dismissed.

Tech is counting on Knight to improve a program stuck in reverse since reaching the Sweet 16 five years ago. NCAA sanctions that cost nine scholarships over the last four years were part of the problem.

Knight – whose programs have always followed NCAA rules and had high graduation rates – should help the Red Raiders become more of a factor in the competitive Big 12, which sent five teams to the NCAA Tournament.

"We've had a problem with NCAA penalties and that's set this institution back," Schmidly said. "We don't ever want to be on the wrong side of the NCAA rules again."

Lagging ticket sales has been another problem at the 2-year-old, $68 million United Spirit Arena. Tech's high-profile women's program consistently outdrew the men's team and has been far more popular. While that may change soon, Lady Raiders coach Marsha Sharp has endorsed the hiring of Knight.

Talk about Knight's hiring has led to a surge in interest for season tickets. And local clothing stores that carry Tech paraphernalia also have enjoyed a boost.

"It's been nuts," said Red Raider Outfitter vice president Stephen Spiegelberg.

The store was planning to sell $12 red-and-black camouflage T-shirts at the arena Friday that read: "The General's Army: Serving to Protect the U-Knighted Spirit Arena."

Protecting their home court wasn't something the Red Raiders did particularly well this season. The team was 7-8 at home and finished 9-19 overall.

The season before Knight was hired by Indiana, the Hoosiers went 7-17, 3-11 in Big Ten. They were 17-7, 9-5 in his first season and went on to win four consecutive Big Ten titles from 1973 to 1976.

Overall, Knight has amassed a 763-289 career record while coaching at Army for six years and Indiana for 29. Besides three national championships, his record includes 11 Big Ten championships and an Olympic gold medal in 1984.

Knight is 117 victories behind former North Carolina coach Dean Smith, who leads the NCAA Division I all-time coaching victories list.

Tech administrators would like to see Knight surpass Smith while at Tech. The new Red Raiders coach already has begun recruiting.

He was in Hutchinson, Kan., Tuesday for the national junior college tournament, where two Tech signees were playing. And he called a Houston-area high school coach on Wednesday to let him know he wanted one of his players to visit Tech and hopes to sign him.

"We're getting one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, and he is getting the opportunity to finish up what has already been a great career," Myers said. "Texas Tech will be a better place for hiring Bob Knight."

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AUDIO VIDEO
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 Bobby Knight news conference
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 ESPN's Ed Werder examines whether there will be a new Bob Knight in Texas.
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 Bobby Knight tells Texas Tech fans what they can expect with him at the helm of the basketball program.
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 Professor Ed George says Bob Knight has reassured the faculty and staff at Texas Tech that he has changed.
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 Texas Tech president David Schmidly says Bob Knight has learned a lot over the past year.
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 Dick Vitale on Bob Knight being named the new coach at Texas Tech.
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