Columnist Bob Kravitz voices opinion on coach Knight’s decision to stay away

Bob Kravitz, a columnist for the Indianapolis Star, answered questions about former IU men’s basketball coach Bob Knight’s decision to decline IU’s invitation for the IU Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame reception on Nov. 6. Here’s what Kravitz had to say:

IDS: What is your reaction to the Dick Vitale Twitter post saying Bob Knight will not return to the Hall of Fame induction next week?

BK: I think it’s a shame. I thought that this may have been the beginning of a thawing between IU and Knight, but I understand his motivation. I really hope the book isn’t closed, but I have every reason to believe that it is at this point.

IDS: Do you see him ever returning to the IU campus or making any kind of contact with the Athletics Department?

BK: I thought heading into this week that there was still a good chance that he might come back, but I think he started to feel like he was being pressured – which he wasn’t, by the way. I don’t think that they were pressuring him. I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was this issue regarding the money he received with the settlement. I think that closed the door right there.

IDS: Do you feel like he should have at least reached out to Fred Glass and said one way or another so that it didn’t come out this way?

BK: Yes, absolutely. The way I was raised, when somebody is kind enough to extend an invitation, and an olive branch in this case, the kind thing to do is to send an RSVP. He could have written, ‘Thank you for the invitation, but I respectfully decline.’ I think that would have been the way to do it, but you could also make the case that while IU’s heart was in the right place, maybe it wasn’t handled perfectly on IU’s end. Not from Fred Glass, but in terms of how this whole thing got handled with his settlement check.  

IDS: Where do you think IU goes from here?

BK: I think they just move on with the Tom Crean era. I think Tom Crean will continue to bring in players from the past, including those from the Knight era. I don’t think this in any way changes Crean’s view of Bob Knight, and I don’t think it changes Fred Glass’ view of Bob Knight. I don’t think that you move forward and say ‘to hell with Bob Knight.’ I don’t think this closes the book completely. I think IU needs to keep that door open even if Bob Knight decides to close the door. IU needs to try to remain above the fray as much as possible. They’ve made their stance. They offered the olive branch, and I think not only was it not accepted, Bob Knight said, ‘You know what you can do with your olive branch ...’