It's time for Knight to forgive IU

One of two things has happened during the last three or four years. Either someone forgot to send the memo to Bob Knight that it was time to get back to reality, or the three-time national champion and all-time Division I wins leader decided long ago he’d let his arrogance take center stage.

On June 18, IU saw one of its glory boys return to his alma mater. IU announced Calbert Cheaney would assume the role of Director of Basketball Operations.
He will take Drew Adams’ spot, as Adams now holds the same position under Steve Alford at New Mexico.

IU coach Tom Crean has been saying it since he was hired: that he wanted those who made the program great to become regulars around Assembly Hall.

Since then, we’ve seen or heard the likes of the Tom and Dick Van Arsdale, Ted Kitchel, Damon Bailey and Cheaney, either being honorary captains or spending time around the basketball program.

But still, after three years, there is one name in particular that glares in its overdue absence from that list.

After sincere, and probably undue, attempts at reaching out to Knight on the part of Crean and Athletics Director Fred Glass, Knight basically told IU fans, alumni and students, to shove it.

Now, what would happen if someone told Bob Knight to shove it?

We all know Knight to be everything, including a disciplinarian, an insolent baby, a proponent of academia, a winner and a generous person.

There is the Bob Knight who allegedly kicked late President Myles Brand out of practice, and there is the Bob Knight who paid for Landon Turner’s medical bills after a car accident that left him paralyzed.

But now, we know Knight to be two things: self-centered and childish, nothing short.
Here’s the reality of the situation: the IU Board of Trustees, University President and Athletics Director from the year Knight was fired are no longer in Bloomington.

Yeah, the administration that fired Knight was questionable. It also made the controversial decision to fire Bill Mallory, and the University took far too long to enlist Knight in its Athletics Hall of Fame.

IU could have easily pulled the plug on Knight at least a decade before it actually did. But it didn’t. It allowed Knight to stick around in a time when the IU job was more appealing than ever.

The Hoosiers would have had no trouble landing a coach that would have come in and win games, but they stuck with their guy.

Whether or not IU made a mistake, they stuck with their coach for years longer than they had to, as did the majority of its fans.

It’s time for Knight to follow suit with his former players and make amends. It’s time for Knight to repay IU for serving as the program that made him what he is today.

Until then, the joke’s on the General.