BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WDRB) -- Current and former Hoosiers are remembering legendary Indiana University men's basketball coach Bob Knight.
Knight died at the age of 83 at his home in Bloomington on Wednesday. Tributes kept pouring in on Thursday for the legendary coach, from former players to current IU men's basketball coach Mike Woodson.
"This is Bob Knight's house...Make no mistake about it," Woodson said during a news conference on Thursday.
Sitting steps away from the court he shared with his former coach, Knight, in Assembly Hall, Woodson reflected on the moments he made with Knight, and the relationship the pair built, that went well beyond coach and player.
"He'd make that call for me," Woodson said. "He never would have told me 'no.' That's just the respect factor, the friendship, the brotherhood we had after all those years."
It's a similar sentiment former IU men's basketball player Calbert Cheaney shared. Cheaney is IU's all-time leading scorer who played under Knight and is now director of operations for IU Basketball.
"He's going to be tough on you, he's going to push you, he's going to make you not like him sometimes," Cheaney said. "When you graduate and go off and do your own thing, he'll do anything for you."
Many will remember Knight as IU's greatest coach with a temper, and the time he threw the chair across the court.
"Yeah, he lost some players along the way that couldn’t take it or struggled," Woodson said.
But these former players remember a coach who wanted his team to win, on and off the court. Something they hope to instill in future players, all to honor Bob Knight.
"I'm going to continue to push guys and make sure they do all things necessary on the court as well as off the court, that's how I learned," Woodson said. "And I think I turned out just fine in that regard."
The current IU basketball coach also reflected on the recent memories he has with Knight at Assembly Hall.
Twenty years after his exit from the university, Knight made a triumphant return on the court in 2020 to a crowd welcoming him back with a standing ovation. It's a moment Woodson looks back on fondly.
"That was like a reunion, bringing him back, and we needed to bring him back," he said. "He needed to be back here, man."
Since then, Knight had attended some IU basketball practices. Current players Trey Galloway and Xavier Jonson said when Knight was there, it meant business, but they also noticed the smile it brought to their coach.
"What better person to sit next to and chop it up and talk basketball than Bob Knight," he said. "I'm new to this college game. Boy, if he was right, man. It would have been unbelievable to sit next to him and he help me navigate through the waters of college basketball."
The Hoosiers will tip off in an exhibition game Friday night, and there will be a moment of silence for Knight. Both the women's and men's teams will continue honoring Knight throughout the season, wearing RMK patches, for Robert Montgomery Knight, on their uniforms.
Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
