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He won his 900th game as a head coach last month. From AP-
LUBBOCK, Texas - Bob Knight resigned Monday at Texas Tech, a stunning midseason move by the winningest men’s coach in major college basketball.
Known as much for his fiery temper as his basketball brilliance, Knight gave no hint a change was coming. He will be replaced by his son, Pat, a Red Raiders assistant.
Chris Cook, a spokesman for athletic director Gerald Myers, confirmed the resignation, which was first reported by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.
Related links
Bob Knight’s milestone wins
In September, Knight signed a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2011-12 season. In 2005, Pat Knight was appointed his father’s successor.
“Coach Knight has had a great career. His coaching record speaks for itself. His love for basketball is clear, but most importantly his love for teaching and the students has been a hallmark of his tenure here at Texas Tech,” said Sally Logue Post, a spokeswoman for Texas Tech.
Bob Knight has 902 career wins, more than any coach in the history of Division I men’s basketball. Win No. 900 came last month against Texas A&M. The Red Raiders are 12-8 this season.
Knight arrived at Texas Tech in March 2001, six months after being fired by Indiana for what school officials there called a “pattern of unacceptable behavior.”
I expect Knight is done with coaching. He certainly was a successful if controversial coach. Good luck in retirement Bobby.
A Texas Tech student designed a t-shirt using the Michael Vick controversy to make fun of the visiting Texas A&M Aggies. His school’s administration was not amused.
Texas Tech has banned the sale of a T-shirt bearing the likeness of Michael Vick hanging the dog mascot of rival Texas A&M. The red and black shirts, with text that says “VICK ‘EM” on the front in an apparent reference to the Aggies’ slogan “Gig ‘em,” was created by a Tech student who was trying to sell them before Saturday’s game in Lubbock. The back of the shirt shows a football player wearing the No. 7 Vick jersey holding a rope with an image of the mascot Reveille at the end of a noose. Vick, who faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a federal dogfighting charge, is suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
Tech officials late Tuesday announced the fraternity that sold the shirts was suspended temporarily and will face judicial review for allegedly violating the solicitation section of the students’ code of conduct. The school said it wouldn’t allow the sale on campus of items that are “derogatory, inflammatory, insensitive, or in such bad taste.” No more shirts are being produced, the school said in a release.
A&M officials, in a statement, thanked Tech administrators for “their response and action regarding this matter.”
Good for Texas Tech, which showed class and sensitivity here. Hopefully, they won’t overreact in their punishment of the student and/or fraternity; kids do dumb things. It’s the job of the adults running the place to help them grow up.
Nick Saban has added Rice offensive coordinator Major Applewhite to his staff at Alabama, according to numerous published reports. The Houston Chronicle says he will be the Tide’s quarterbacks coach but other sources, including the Thomas Murphy of the Mobile Register, say he is in line to be the offensive coordinator. (Update: An updated Chronicle report says, “Major Applewhite, will join the Alabama staff in the near future, serving as offensive coordinator or co-coordinator/quarterbacks coach.”)
Interestingly, LSU reportedly is interested in him for the coordinator job and there are even reports that he might be, at the age of 27, a leading candidate for the head coaching job at Rice with Todd Graham’s departure for Tulsa.
Murphy explains why Applewhite is such a hot prospect:
Rice offensive coordinator Applewhite, 28, helped lead the Owls to their first bowl berth in 45 years this season with an explosive offense. Rice averaged 27 points and 345 yards per game and produced a 1,000-yard quarterback, running back and receiver this season.
Applewhite was also 22-8 as the starting quarterback at Texas, and is the Longhorns’ all-time leader in passing yards (8,353), passing touchdowns (60), passing attempts (1,065) and total offense (8,059).
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Bob Knight is now the winningest coach in Division I college basketball history.
Bob Knight has been the game’s orneriest coach forever. Now he’s the winningest, too.
Knight earned career victory No. 880 the hard way when his Texas Tech Red Raiders blew a 20-point lead but withstood a 3-point miss at the buzzer to beat New Mexico 70-68 on Monday in a game lacking the fanfare of his first attempt.
None of Knight’s famous friends made it to West Texas to see him break the men’s Division I record he shared with former North Carolina coach Dean Smith. Steve Alford, John Havlicek and Fuzzy Zoeller were among about 30 buddies here when he tried Thursday night, but none of them stayed for a morning tipoff on New Year’s Day.
The Red Raiders (11-4) trailed 64-60 with 6:25 left, but went back ahead 70-68 on a 3-pointer by Jay Jackson with 2:04 left. Things were tense the rest of the way — including a controversial call that didn’t go in Knight’s favor — and it wasn’t until a long 3-pointer by J.R. Giddens bounced away at the buzzer that the celebration could begin.
Pat Knight, Bobby Knight’s son and successor-in-waiting, put an arm around his dad’s neck as they walked to shake hands with New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay. They looked as relieved to have won this game as to have the hoopla of the record behind them.
The crowd already was on its feet and the cheers turned louder. Knight did a television interview, then “My Way” by Frank Sinatra blared, a not-so-subtle reminder of Knight’s personal and professional credo.
Soon, red confetti fell and a ceremony began. Knight singled out Alan Voskuil, who made a key play down the stretch, then tapped the chin of forward Mike Prince, the player who Knight made contact with in a game earlier this season. He then motioned to his wife, Karen, to join him on the court.
“The first 15 minutes of the game was Karen’s game plan,” he said of his wife, a former high school coach. “The rest of it was mine, unfortunately. I just say thank you.”
[...]
Already a Hall of Famer, Knight’s overall record is 880-354 with three national championships, including a perfect season in 1976 that has yet to be duplicated. Of course, he’s just as well known for his run-ins with players, bosses, officials and others. He punched a policeman in Puerto Rico and sent a chair tumbling across a court in protest of a referee’s call.
[...]
Arizona’s Lute Olson is second among active coaches with 772 wins. But at 72, and also under contract through 2011, he is not likely to make up enough ground.
Krzyzewski has 765 wins and is 59. However, Coach K would be 64 in 2011 and might still be 100 wins behind.
Even if Knight only bumps the mark to 900, it would take 45 years of 20 wins per season to match that. At the unlikely rate of 25 wins per season, it would take 36 years.
Knight had the advantage of breaking into the business at Army when he was only 24. Hence his nickname, “The General.” While the mark is impressive, Knight admits it’s a byproduct of longevity. The ultimate standard of college basketball coaching excellence is the 10 national titles won by UCLA’s John Wooden, all in a 12-year span.
Also worth noting: Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summitt has won the most NCAA games, 925; and Harry Statham of NAIA McKendree College in Lebanon, Ill., has won the most men’s games at a four-year college, 925.
Summitt is an outstanding coach, but it’s an insult to Knight and the others to pretend that winning in the women’s game, which has until recently had zero competitive balance, is in any way comparable to what they have achieved.
I can’t imagine anyone will again be given a chance at coaching a Division I team at the age of 24, making Knight’s achievement almost impossible to equal. It’s not at all inconceivable that he will extend the record well past 900
Texas Tech coach Bob Knight has tied Adolph Rupp on the all-time wins list and needs just four more to pass Dean Smith for first place.
 Bob Knight shook hands with the opposing coach, put his head down and walked off the court. Victory No. 876, the one that tied him with legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp for second place on the career list and moved him within three of tying former North Carolina coach Dean Smith for the top spot, didn’t even get a mention from the public address announcer.
Texas Tech’s 66-59 victory at Louisiana Tech on Wednesday night wasn’t followed by a ceremony. The thing that made it like so many of the other wins in Knight’s 41-year career was his usual gruff demeanor when he asked to comment on catching the late Rupp.
Knight reflected back on his playing days as a reserve on Ohio State teams that reached three straight Final Fours in the 1960s. “The thing I remember about Adolph Rupp is that one time I scored seven points against the ornery son of a bitch to help beat him,” Knight said, referring to Ohio State’s 87-74 victory over the Wildcats in the 1961 NCAA tournament. “That’s a lot bigger in my memory than this.”
You just have to love Bob Knight. Apparently, ornery SOBs win a lot of basketball games.
OTB
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