Everyone loses in Knight’s absence

This was the chance to make everything right.

The chance for Bob Knight and IU to finally put an end to nine years of bitter posturing. The chance to put pettiness aside and forgive and forget one another.  
The chance for Bob Knight to be a Hoosier again.

Instead, Texas Tech’s former coach – a title he likely prefers – declined IU’s olive branch last week, choosing to skip his own IU Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame induction in fear of causing a media commotion and stealing the spotlight from this year’s other inductees.

What a gesture. How considerate. 

Could Knight possibly think that Hoosier fans – mind you, the same Hoosier fans he won three national championships and 661 games for – would prefer to sit through a halftime ceremony in which Joe Schmoe gets his 15 seconds instead of finally making amends with the winningest coach in Division I history who left nine years ago and hasn’t uttered IU’s name since? 

Really?

Call him stubborn, call him petty, call him whatever you want (I hear he likes “Coach Knight” and “Mr. Knight”). The sad reality, as an IU administrator or two could tell you, is that Knight is going to get what he wants. The man gave his retirement speech with Sinatra’s “My Way” playing in the background. Do you think he is going to come back to the University that wronged him on someone else’s terms?

Unlikely. The recent passing of Knight’s most despised rival – the one who exiled him to Lubbock – could not even bring The General back to his old company. IU Athletics Director Fred Glass’ efforts were valiant, but in vain. 

Unfortunately, most deep-seeded disputes such as this one typically are not resolved until all parties are set to be buried six-feet under. Why humans choose to hold grudges for so long is beside my minimal wisdom, but if there was one I could ever end, it would be this one.

It is a shame Bob Knight is not coming back to Bloomington, and not just because IU Athletics would love to sell some tickets to Saturday’s game.

Indiana needs Knight. We can no longer compete in this never-ending staring contest. Imagine John Wooden disowning UCLA or Joe Paterno turning his back to Penn State.

It would be devastating, as was Knight’s departure. While IU Basketball is back on track aboard the Tom Crean Machine, it will never be whole without the man who invented it. The court is named after Branch McCracken, but everything from the popcorn to the banners in Assembly Hall should be named after Knight.

Indiana will forever be synonymous with Bob Knight, but if the coach has his way, they will likely also remain anonymous for the foreseeable future. His $75,000 no-thank-you last week is plenty indication his anger toward the University is still as red as the sweater he once coached in. 

But there isn’t much more IU can do. Myles Brand is no longer on campus, nor are Ron Felling, Murray Sperber, Mike Davis, Kelvin Sampson or a handful of other people he wished abroad. The University messed up when it made details of his settlement with the school public, but that’s a fairly minor misstep in the spectrum of his wrongdoings.

There’s a difference between no one winning and everyone losing, and this one is clearly the latter.

This Saturday, IU is set to induct Knight into its Hall of Fame without him present. To borrow the coach’s favorite word, it is a “travesty” that the chance to make everything right once again eludes Knight and the University.

What a shame.