Knight rejects IU’s ceremony invitation
By
Justin Albers |
IDS
POSTED AT
12:24 AM ON Oct. 29, 2009
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Bob Knight makes his final wave goodbye after asking the student body to bow their heads and wish the best for him and his family. The address was made to over six thousand students in Dunn Meadow September 13, 2000.
IU Athletics Director Fred Glass’ attempt to reach out to former IU men’s basketball coach Bob Knight appears to have been unsuccessful.
Knight will not attend the Nov. 6 IU Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony, according to a Twitter post by his ESPN colleague Dick Vitale.
“Just found out bob knight will not be going to Hoosier HoF,” Vitale wrote Wednesday.
Glass sent Knight two
handwritten letters, including one last week in which he told him that he didn’t need to make a quick decision because the University could accommodate him up until the day before the event.
Knight is scheduled to be inducted in a class that includes one of his former players, Steve Downing, along with Jerry Yeagley, Alan Somers, Mike Rabold, Joe Norman and Katrin Koch.
Bob Hammel, a former sports editor at the Bloomington Herald-Times and a close friend of Knight’s, said the class played a part in the former coach’s decision not to come.
“It was kind of what I expected all along,” Hammel said. “I didn’t think he’d want to come in because he has a lot of respect for the rest of the people that are going in (the Hall of Fame).”
Glass learned of the Twitter post Wednesday afternoon during an interview with John Michael Vincent of 1260 WNDE. He reiterated that he had not been in contact with Knight.
“I have not yet heard anything from coach Knight, but I have been told that I will soon,” Glass told the radio station. “I am really good either way. I think it would be great if he came, but if he decided not to, I don’t think that would diminish his accomplishments.”
Knight led the Hoosiers to three NCAA championships during his 30-year tenure with the University. While at IU, Knight won the National Coach of the Year award four times and was named Big Ten Coach of the Year six times.
While it appears Knight still has bitter feelings toward the University, Hammel doesn’t believe Glass’ efforts were for naught.
“I think, actually, there was some pretty good progress made here,” Hammel said.