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| | Tuesday, May 16 Knight should stay ... for now | |||||
| By Jay Bilas Special to ESPN.com Indiana University would be justified in immediately firing Bob Knight. However, if the allegations against Knight warrant dismissal, he should have been fired long ago. In my judgment, Knight should not be dismissed as the head basketball coach at Indiana -- at least, not yet. He should receive a specific and severe reprimand. Strict and narrowly tailored guidelines should be imposed for his behavior which, if violated, should result in Knight's immediate dismissal. And his Indiana University superiors should finally show principled leadership in future dealings with their talented and volatile coach. Here's why I believe Knight should stay, for now: While Knight is one of the greatest coaches in the game's history, he is also one of its most explosive. On the national stage, Knight's inappropriate behavior has swamped the good deeds he has done on and off the court, and has overshadowed the commendable qualities he possesses as a person. Those who know him say that Knight is capable of uncommon acts of goodness, and he is capable of uncommon acts of meanness. He is intelligent enough to know the difference, and behaves too often in a manner he would not tolerate from his own subordinates. However, Knight's abilities as a coach and his qualities as a person are irrelevant to the issue of whether his specific actions warrant dismissal. A great coach should not be allowed greater latitude with regard to issues of behavior simply because he or she wins games and graduates players. While the allegations against Knight are dated and somewhat remote, Knight's behavior, in general, over the past two decades has been indefensible. All of the allegations before the board of trustees were known to Knight's superiors at or around the time each incident occurred, yet Indiana University sat by idly and did nothing. Indiana's weakness in standing up to Knight regarding his behavior served in large measure to create the crisis it now faces. By failing to say "no" to Knight along the way, and by failing to uphold the university's standards when it came to Knight's behavior, Indiana was complicit in allowing Knight to evolve into an untouchable icon. Until very recently, Knight's reprehensible behavior was never seriously challenged or addressed by the university. While there might not be any sacred cows at Indiana, Knight was a sacred cow until recently. Bob Knight has conducted himself appallingly in incident after incident, based upon a misguided belief that thinking he is right entitles him to do so -- and that there are no serious consequences for his misbehavior. While Knight is certainly not justified in such a belief, it is not difficult to understand how a powerful coach, unchallenged in anything he does and living in an environment in which he is almost worshipped, could develop a warped sense of the way things are or should be. For that, Knight is to blame, but so are the superiors who allowed Knight to act inappropriately while they watched silently. Indiana has not sent mixed signals to Knight regarding his behavior. Instead, it has sent a very clear signal by its own inaction: Knight can do or say anything without fear of discipline. The fact that Knight's bosses at Indiana knew about the alleged acts of misconduct at or about the time each incident occurred -- yet took no significant action -- represents a serious moral and ethical breakdown on the part of the university, and Knight's superiors are indirectly responsible for each misdeed that followed. Because each specific transgression of Knight's has been followed by a specific failure of the Indiana administration to take swift disciplinary action, Knight's superiors have been derelict in their duties to monitor and control him, and each should be held accountable for their failures in leadership. Now is not the time for situational ethics on the part of Indiana University. If Indiana determines that it is appropriate for Knight to resign or be dismissed, then Knight's direct superiors should be held to the same standard and follow him out the door. However, now that Indiana has finally taken a principled stand, both Knight and his bosses should start anew with a clear understanding of what is expected of each. If those expectations are not met, immediate sanctions should be imposed. While Indiana would be justified in firing Knight right now, Knight and Indiana should each be provided another opportunity to perform their jobs in the right manner. This situation should serve as a reminder to every university community that, while its successful coaches should be valued for their contributions, each is only a part of the more important whole. A coach is just an employee and representative of the university community, and to allow any coach to operate outside of the recognized standards of that community should not be tolerated. ESPN's Jay Bilas is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. | ALSO SEE Knight to remain as Indiana's coach Katz: Trustees change tune Kreidler: Promises of another dark Knight Katz: All eyes on Knight starting now Stats Class: Knight in the NCAA Tournament User comments on Bob Knight's punishment Bob Knight career timeline  | |||||