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3/23/2004 That is… until Bobby Knight showed up. If you can get past the temper, the chair throwing, and the outbursts against the media, you uncover the consummate coach that has done great things to develop student-athletes over the last 35 years. That has become such a lost art, particularly on the high school level, I’m afraid the people have forgotten about the basic foundation necessary to truly build consistently successful programs. All too often, Coaches are simply blessed with better athletes than their opponents, and as such, when they win, they falsely believe it was because of their coaching genius. But, what the heck did Texas Tech ever do until Knight showed up? Now they are back in the big dance on a regular basis, they are a winning team in a tough conference, and they are playing to sold-out arenas. And oh by the way, he has the same talent pool in West Texas they’ve had over the last 35 years, so what changed? Just the Coach, that’s all. Coach Knight develops individual talent, and that leads to overall team success. Did you know that during his 28 years at Indiana Bobby Knight implemented 3 key strategies that are now today commonplace? First, he assigned tutors to his players. He knew that intelligent athletes were more successful than unintelligent ones, and this exercise developed their analytical capacities while graduating 95% of his players! He also raised millions of dollars and made the library at Indiana University the premier institution for resources among all college libraries across the nation. Naturally, his players spent a lot of time in the library. He also instituted specific diet and training table regimens so that his athletes could think clearly on the court and in the classroom, and that their bodies could withstand the physical rigors of a long season. Add it up and you have 3 National Championships, numerous Big-Ten titles, and an .800 winning percentage. By the way you’ll notice the over the years, the Indiana Hoosiers attracted very few “NBA type” players that figured all they had to do was show up and the coach would bow at their feet. Knight attracted kids that had a ceiling, that may have been overlooked, but that had the potential to be developed far beyond a level that the average coach could never see. Bobby Knight routinely fields calls to this day from players that were on his roster from the ‘70’s and most of them say “thanks coach, for believing in me, and for developing me.” How many of you have fielded such gratifying calls? I guess everything really is big in Texas, especially if you’re a Knight…
(c) 2004 Novi
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