Legendary men's basketball coach Bob Knight died on Wednesday at the age of 83. His death came just six days after Knight had celebrated his 83rd birthday.
After starting his collegiate head coaching career at Army, Knight spent 29 seasons as the head coach at the University of Indiana from 1971 until 2000. During his time in Bloomington, Knight transformed the school's basketball program into one of the top powerhouses in the Big Ten and the entire country.
During his time with the Hoosiers, Knight went together a 662-239 record that featured three national titles and reached the Final Four on five occasions. He also won an additional 138 games during his time at Texas Tech from 2001-2008 before retiring. Knight's 902 career wins ranked as the most in the history of men's college basketball when he retired from the game. He now sits in sixth place on the all-time wins list in Division I history.
With the passing of Knight, many members of the basketball community took the opportunity to pay their respects to the legendary head coach. Former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson and several others paid tribute to the Hall of Fame head coach.
Mike Krzyzewski on the passing of Bob Knight, his former coach and mentor: pic.twitter.com/oLKGSyL9MX
— Brendan Marks (@BrendanRMarks) November 2, 2023
Former #UNC Coach Roy Williams on the passing of Bob Knight... pic.twitter.com/s6B7olu4WW
— Tar Heel Illustrated (@HeelIllustrated) November 2, 2023
Rest in peace to Hall of Fame basketball coach Bobby Knight! I remember when he came to recruit me at Everett High School right after they went 32-0 and won the National Championship in 1976. All 1200 students skipped class that day because they wanted to catch a glimpse of the…
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) November 2, 2023
RIP Coach Bobby Knight! Brilliant basketball coach! It was an honor to play for him in Blue Chips! 🙏
— Bobby Hurley (@BobbyHurley11) November 2, 2023
"I'll forever remember that because of the respect I have for him."@MSU_Basketball's Tom Izzo recalls his first game and B1G win as head coach against Bob Knight and @IndianaMBB. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/yPRubaVBD6
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 2, 2023
Be Thou At Peace, Bob Knight.
— Army Men's Basketball (@ArmyWP_MBB) November 1, 2023
Army MBB Head Coach 1963-1971. pic.twitter.com/Bn02S5cqOF
USA Basketball celebrates the life & legacy of coaching legend Bob Knight.
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) November 2, 2023
Coach Knight led U.S. teams to gold medals at the 1979 Pan American Games & the 1984 Olympics.
We remember Coach Knight's contributions to the game & send our condolences to his loved ones. pic.twitter.com/7x4LBBmZF3
Jeff Capel on the passing of Bob Knight:
— Amanda Godsey (@AmandaFGodsey) November 2, 2023
“We lost a giant of the game of basketball today. So my heart’s a little heavy. I coached in a league with Coach Knight when I was at Oklahoma and he was at Texas Tech for a couple of years. I enjoyed my time with him. So, thinking about… pic.twitter.com/Vxik5udLtx
Always a favorite picture of Bob Knight. Although we never got him back to @IndianaMBB to be honored on our watch, I was so thankful when he finally did return. We were always going to REVERE what he accomplished and who he accomplished it with. Our deepest condolences. pic.twitter.com/sGCKnHvOO9
— Tom Crean (@TomCrean) November 1, 2023
Our thoughts are with the Knight family after the passing of legendary Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight. pic.twitter.com/Eg0ilqv40h
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) November 2, 2023
