Chants of ‘We want Bobby!’ flooded the air outside Assembly Hall Wednesday before IU took on North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The reason for this cheer?
The 1981 Hoosier basketball team that defeated the Tar Heels to win the National Championship was back at Assembly Hall. But the biggest mystery was whether or not their head coach, Bob Knight, would show up.
Students started to camp out across the street from Assembly Hall the night before — because security would not let them line up at the doors until 9 a.m. Wednesday morning — in order to get the best seat possible for the general admission student section.
None in line were even born before IU tallied its fourth national title against North Carolina, but they knew well of the program’s history.
“My stepdad saw Bobby Knight throw the chair,” sophomore Alec Pena said. “The ’81 team is back — Schwarber, Dick Vitale, the Blackhawks singer. Even without them, it would be awesome, but just on top of that, it just adds more, and if Bobby Knight were to come — I don’t think he will, but you never know.”
Knight did not end up make his first appearance back in Bloomington since being fired in September 2000, but his team did. Honorary captain, IU alumnus and Chicago Cubs catcher Kyle Schwarber and Chicago Blackhawks National Anthem singer Jim Cornelison were also in attendance.
Former Hoosier greats Isiah Thomas, Landon Turner, Ted Kitchel, Ray Tolbert and Randy Wittman headlined the ‘81 team in attendance, a team that rebounded to win 16 of their last 18 games to win the title after dropping to 7-5 early on.
They were all excited to be back.
“Thanks again to all of you guys for coming out and supporting us,” Tolbert said. “It’s been a pleasure to see these guys again, and this will be an event I’ll never forget.”
Thomas, a 1981 All-American and NBA Basketball Hall of Famer, said his IU career formed the foundation for everything in his life. Each time he has to make a major decision, he consults at least one of his teammates.
The fourth national championship team in IU history brought an additional hype to Assembly Hall against UNC Wednesday as the Hoosiers took down the Tar Heels, 76-67. Much like that set of Hoosiers did in 1981.
Since there was no head coach for Hoosier fans to cheer for Wednesday, former Hoosier forward Phil Isenbarger delivered some of the words Knight shared with him during an extensive phone call Tuesday.
“What he said and wanted me to convey to everyone up here is that he could not be more thankful for the opportunity to coach this group at Indiana University,” Isenbarger said. “He was most proud of this group, not because of the games we won, but how we won them. Playing as hard as we did and that was credit to everyone up here beside me.”
