Bobby Knight returned to Indiana on Wednesday night to give an enthusiastic, heartfelt speech of support for Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump.
Full video of Knight's speech is below. It was quite a scene. The throng chanted "Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!" after Trump introduced him, and in the early moments of his speech you can hear fans of Knight happily hooting his name. Knight won 902 games in his 42 years as a college basketball coach. He spent 29 of those years with Indiana, taking the Hoosiers to three national titles and winning 11 regular-season Big Ten championships.
"I want to say to you Indiana people that I owe you a big, big debt of gratitude, because nowhere in the world is a sporting group followed better than this state follows basketball," Knight said. "I just want to thank you for the opportunity that I had to coach in this state. It will always be something that I will cherish."
Knight did not specifically mention Indiana University, which he's had a fractured relationship with ever since being fired from the school in 2000.
Knight, who began his head-coaching career at Army, also got in a dig at rival Navy, saying, "We beat your a-- every time we played you."
As for the reason he showed up, Knight proclaimed Trump to be "the most prepared man in history to step in as President of the United States." Yes -- in history!
Trump returned the favor in platitudes, referring to Knight's endorsement as the best one he could possibly get in the state of Indiana. We also found out, per Trump's speech, that Knight in fact pushed Trump to consider running for President long before he actually made his announcement.
Knight also referred to Harry Truman as "one of the three best presidents in United States history," then said Trump would follow in Truman's steps. Something of a surreal evening, but it reinforced just how beloved Knight is in that state, even more so perhaps, because of how he's framed his exit.
