Bob Knight places a very special phone call

This seemed a bit of a formality, given the fact that Bob Knight told IU to take that lawsuit-settling alumni money and shove it, but I suppose formalities have to be handled formally. And so it is that Bob Knight officially called
IU athletic director Fred Glass yesterday and told him he would not be
attending an IU Hall of Fame induction ceremony in his honor in November. Ouch:

Glass
said Knight said he was concerned the media interest in his attendance
would take away from others being inducted. Along with Knight, Steve
Downing, Katrin Koch, Joe Norman, Mike Rabold, Alan Somers and Jerry
Yeagley are also entering the Hall of Fame.

"I absolutely
respect his feelings on that and very much appreciate his response,
which in no way suggested he opposed being inducted," Glass said.

In
a statement released by the university, Glass also added, "Coach Knight
expressed his tremendous appreciation for the support his teams were
given by the IU student body and fans all over the state of Indiana and
the contribution that support made to the success of his teams. Coach
Knight also noted that there is no one he appreciates more than his
players, who he said were the most responsible for the success the
program had during his tenure."

That’s a very nice, political response from Knight, but come on now.
Really? That’s the reason? If there’s anything we know about Bob
Knight, it’s that he doesn’t mind the occasional camera in his face.
Were media attention something he were trying to defray, he wouldn’t
carry these things out to their furthest possible endpoint. He wouldn’t
keep people on their edge of their seats for months after the initial
invitation. And he certainly wouldn’t have taken a gig with ESPN, which
as a member of the media, tends to involve a fair amount of media face-time.

No, of course not. The reason is obvious: Knight still doesn’t want all
that much to do with Indiana. Or, if he does, he wants his return to
the school to be on his terms. This is how Knight operates. Which is
fine for him, I suppose; it’s not his fault so many IU fans still want
some sort of symbolic return to happen now that the ebullient Tom Crean
is the program’s figurehead. It’s those fans’ faults for keeping this
thing up for so long when it should have been let go years ago. But
more than anything, the way this has been handled is on Knight. IU
couldn’t have been more conciliatory to the man. If he doesn’t
appreciate that, he’s never going back.

Bob Knight places a very special phone call

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