A Night with Knight

Bob Knight in Indianapolis

From IndyStar.com
September 11, 2008

Eight years later, eight years later to the very day Bob Knight was fired at Indiana University, the General was back on old turf Wednesday. He was a guest at the Arthur M. Glick Jewish Community Center, holding sway over a packed house and telling funny, interesting stories about the good, old days.

About Scott May and Steve Alford. About Bobby Wilkerson and Daryl Thomas. About all the good times, the national championships in 1976, 1981 and 1987.

At one point, he talked about Landon Turner, how there came a point when he told his then-underachieving player he wanted to bring his parents in, so they could draft a letter to the NBA telling the league he wanted to go pro.

"Because you sure as hell can't play for me,'' Knight remembered telling him.

Then, talking about Turner later, he got emotional, recalling how late Boston Celtics president Red Auerbach drafted Turner after a car accident left him paralyzed.

For a crowd that had come to have their memories stirred, and to be reminded why Knight remains such a fascinating and polarizing figure, the evening was a scented walk down memory lane.

If they wanted to hear any of the juicy stuff, well, it wasn't going to happen.

The host, Mickey Maurer, wasn't going to ask any of the tough questions. And that was fine, and expected, because this wasn't a media event. This was a friendly return home, and Knight was brought here as a guest and not as the subject of an inquisition.

Now, if it had been a media interview, if we had been allowed to ask the questions, the evening would have taken a slightly different turn.

So, Bob . . .

Have your feelings about Indiana University softened in recent years, or do you remain bitter about the way things came apart?

What are your observations of the path IU's basketball program has taken in the eight years since your departure?

Why did you remain so angry toward Mike Davis for taking the job?

And while we're on the subject . . . Kelvin Sampson? How did the same university that once hired you go out and hire Kelvin Sampson?

What are your thoughts about the current coach, Tom Crean, who has walked into a complete mess and somehow snared a top-10 or better recruiting class for 2009?

The juicy stuff.

The closest we got to juicy was when Maurer asked a general question -- not a Sampson-related question -- about cheating in recruiting. "If you get caught cheating, they should shoot you,'' Knight said. "Because you're too dumb to be alive.''

The closest we got to newsy, and this wasn't exactly hot-off-the-presses stuff, was when Knight said he would return to coaching if the right opportunity came along.

If I had just one question to ask, though -- and possibly get answered -- it would be this: If IU reached out and said, "We sincerely want you to come back to Bloomington for a night to honor all the great things you did for this university,'' would you accept that invitation?

Honestly, I don't know how he might answer that. One thing is, he didn't take shots at IU as he has in the past. He mentioned "Indiana.'' He talked glowingly of his great teams and his great players.

Does that mean he's softened in his feelings about the place? Does it change now that Myles Brand and Clarence Doninger and virtually all the trustees involved in his firing are gone from the scene?

At some point, sooner rather than later, the question should be asked by the leadership at IU: Would you come back for a night, or a weekend, in your honor? And, at least for a while, let bygones be bygones?

Earlier Wednesday, The Star's Terry Hutchens asked Crean if there might come a time in the near future when Knight could be involved with the IU program again.

"I would certainly hope so,'' Crean said. "As far as I'm concerned, there are three things in place here.

"Number one, he knows how much I respect him. Number two, I hope he's seeing how much I respect his former players. And number three, no matter what anybody feels, he's one of the greatest that has ever done it at any level, in any sport, at any time. With that being said, I'm a huge fan.''

Eight years later, some of us still think the decision to fire Knight was the right one at the time. Even with all the program's struggles and the ugliness that have marked the time since he left, it was still the appropriate thing to do given the deteriorating circumstances. It was right for the university and, in a way, it might have been good for Knight, who seemed to find some measure of happiness in Lubbock for a time.

Now, though, it's time to move on. For both sides, for IU and for Knight. Somebody needs to ask the question: Would he come back to be celebrated and honored?

And who knows: The answer might surprise all of us.