Knight wins record 880, but remains denied of IU fame

Jilted former IU men's basketball coach Bob Knight won his historic 880th game Monday, but he remains an outsider at the IU Athletics Hall of Fame.\nThe University's hall includes some of the country's best former college basketball players like Kent Benson and Calbert Cheaney and IU's original championship-winning coach Branch McCracken, among many others. \nThree decades after a perfect season -- the last of its kind in men's college basketball -- Knight may not have even been nominated for induction. \nCoaches are eligible five years after leaving, IU assistant athletics director Kit Klingelhoffer said. Knight, fired in 2000, was eligible for the 2005 and 2006 classes. Knight is the winningest men's basketball coach in IU history with 662 of his 880 wins coming with the Hoosiers. Knight's resume includes three national championships, an NIT crown and an Olympic gold medal. \nBut ever since Knight's firing in 2000 after allegedly grabbing an IU student by the arm, the coach and the University have been wary of each other's mention.\nIU Director of Athletics Rick Greenspan said he expects Knight to be inducted into IU's hall, but he did not know if Knight had ever been nominated.\n"I would be shocked if, at some point in time, he was not a member," Greenspan said. "I think he'd have to be nominated just because of the sheer magnitude of what he's done."\nCurrent NCAA and former IU President Myles Brand, who fired Knight, issued a one-sentence statement after Knight passed former North Carolina coach Dean Smith on the all-time men's Div. I basketball wins list. \n"Congratulations to coach Knight, and especially to the many young men who played for him over the years," Brand said.\nIU President Adam Herbert recognized Knight's contributions to IU in a prepared statement after Knight beat New Mexico 70-68 for the historic benchmark.\n"This is truly a remarkable feat," he said. "Indiana University fans have always been proud of the record of team success that Coach Knight achieved here in Bloomington.\n"I wish Coach Knight continued success," he added.\nKnight's Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-4) open Big 12 conference play against Oklahoma on Saturday at home in Lubbock, Texas. \nIU men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson, an Oklahoma Sooner himself less than a year ago, said Knight was a presence that coaches could simply feel on the court when playing against him. \n"Coach Knight will win as many as he wants to win," he said. "He's got it going at Texas Tech now, and I don't know how much longer he wants to coach, but he'll put that mark to wherever he wants it. It was an honor to coach against him. \n"The fact you get to live in this era to see a living legend do his business … We're all fortunate to be able to see it."\n-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.