Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
Few people in sports have had more books written about them. This is the first by Bob Knight—-one of the most literate, candid, quoted, and outspoken men in American public life telling in this first-person account of his full, rich life. Much of that life has been in basketball, most of it because of basketball, but it also has brought him forward as a coach, who has proved academic responsibility and production of championship college athletic teams not only can coexist but should. His excitement as things start anew for him at Texas Tech is matched here by his characteristic frankness and remarkable recollection of a life he clearly has enjoyed.
His Indiana teams also won NCAA titles in 1980—81 and 1986—87. The 1975—76 Indiana team was the last unbeaten team in college men's basketball. Knight's career includes six seasons as head coach at Army, where his teams won 102 games and lost 50. He is the only coach whose teams won championships in the NCAA tournament, the National Invitation Tournament, the Olympic Games, and the Pan American Games. During all that he has been at the heart of more controversies while running a winning and squeaky-clean program than any coach of any sport anytime or anywhere.
His excitement as things start anew for him is matched here by his candor and remarkable recollection of a life he clearly has enjoyed. You'll see why, with story after story—-some delightful, some hilarious, some poignant, none of them dull: the story of Bob Knight's life.
Synopsis
Bob Knight was a head coach in college basketball at twenty-four, coach of an unbeaten NCAA champion at thirty-five, coach of the last amateur team to win the Olympic men's basketball gold medal at forty-three, and out of a job at not quite sixty.
His shock, disappointment and anger over Indiana University's manner of firing a twenty-nine-year employee comes through clearly in his account of his last turbulent year there.
And it is his account. Few people in sports have had more books written about them. This is the first by Bob Knight - one of the most literate, candid, quoted and outspoken men in American public life telling in this first-person account of his full, rich life.
Much of that life has been in basketball, most of it because of basketball, but it also has brought him forward as a coach who has proved academic responsibility and production of championship college athletic teams not only can co-exist but should.
His excitement as things start anew for him at Texas Tech is matched here by his characteristic frankness and remarkable recollection of a life he clearly has enjoyed. You'll see why, as he tells story after story - some delightful, some hilarious, some poignant, none of them dull.
Knight, as a sophomore front-line reserve on the Ohio State team that won the NCAA championship, became the first man to play on and coach a championship team when he led his 1975-76 Indiana team to a 32-0 season that was capped by an 86-68 victory over Michigan in the NCAA championship game at Philadelphia.
His Indiana teams in 1980-81 and 1986-87 also won NCAA titles, making him one of just four coaches in history to win as many as three championships. Twenty-six years later, the 1975-76 Indiana team still stands as the last unbeaten team in major- college men's basketball. Knight's coaching career includes six seasons at Army, where his teams - during the years when the Vietnam War made recruiting for West Point difficult - won 102 games and lost 50. He is one of five coaches who have won seven hundred games, and the only coach whose teams have won championships in the NCAA tournament, the National Invitation Tournament, the Olympic Games and the Pan American Games.
During all that he has been at the heart of more controversies while running a winning and squeaky-clean program than any coach of any sport any time or anywhere.
His excitement as things start anew for him is matched here by his candor and remarkable recollection of a life he clearly has enjoyed. You'll see why, with story after story - some delightful, some hilarious, some poignant, none of them dull: the story of Bob Knight's life.
Publishers Weekly
Knight was the basketball coach of Indiana University for 29 years before being fired in September 2000. Because of his fiery some would say uncontrollable temper, Knight has acquired many critics over the years, but he was a hero in Indiana, where his teams had many winning years, including an undefeated season in 1975-1976. With Knight's colorful background, it's surprising that the coach has delivered a mostly colorless autobiography. After excruciating detail about his days as a high school and college basketball player, Knight bogs downs his story with dry recitations of the highlights of virtually every team he coached. And to demonstrate that he is not some rogue figure, Knight goes to great lengths to describe the many friendships he has developed over the years. The combative Knight does not emerge until he begins discussing his firing. In Knight's view, his termination was the result of the personal agenda of Indiana University president Myles Brand. Brand's determination to remove Knight was hardened by the national media, which Knight is convinced was out to destroy him. Knight, in turn, loathed most people in the media (among the exceptions is sportswriter and coauthor Hammel). As an autobiography, Knight's book is disappointing; however, college hoops fans can learn more about the game from this book than from most instructional guides. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewIn Knight, Bob Knight recounts his basketball days as a player at Ohio State and a coach at Indiana with enough detail to satisfy even the most hard-core basketball junkies. The fiery coaching icon, known in part for his acrimonious relationship with the press, spices the text with his side of the story on the numerous controversies surrounding him.
With three championships and impeccable graduation rates, Knight proved with the Indiana Hoosiers that a coach could win and still obey the rules. Gold medals at the Pan-American Games in 1979 and the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 only solidified Knight's basketball-coaching props. Clearly, Knight cares for and is even protective of his student-athletes. He writes, "Our big problem in college basketball is not with the kids we lose to the pros but the ones we pervert the process to admit…".
On the flip side, Knight's temper, hostility to the press, and player confrontations brought about serious ethical questions, ultimately leading to his dismissal from Indiana. Knight admits in the book that he's had a temper problem, and that has not always been right, but such admissions are sparse relative to the blizzard of denials and counteraccusations levied herewith. Typical of his sheer arrogance: "Being right and being quiet never has been a combination I was very good at." Certainly being right is a better strategy than being wrong -- there's no reason to yell about it.
Overall, though, he keeps Knight positive. An astounding number of personal testimonials -- prominent among them fishing buddy Ted Williams and former president and fellow pheasant hunter George H. W. Bush -- are evidence that Knight is indeed a people-person. He's defiant to the end, and readers on either side of the fence will find plenty of ammunition for or against the General. (Brenn Jones)