Knight's Old-Fashioned Approach Works

Commentary: Despite critics, numbers bear out that Bobby Knight's old-fashioned approach works

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

By Ray McNulty
Scripps Howard News Services

Some time soon, possibly before the end of the year, Bob Knight will win his 880th game as a college basketball coach.

That's one more than the great Dean Smith. Four more than the legendary Adolph Rupp. Dozens more than the incomparable John Wooden (664) and Hank Iba (764) and everyone else who walked the sideline on the major-college level.

And for some -- his legion of critics, mostly, including too many of my media brethren -- that's a bad thing.

Because to them, Knight, despite his 877 victories, is a dinosaur whose demanding, no-nonsense, old-school ways belong in the past.

They say he's a bully because he refuses to settle for good enough from anyone, not just on the basketball court, not only from his players. They say he's a hypocrite because he preaches pride and discipline but, across the years, has embarrassed himself and his schools by failing to control his own temper. They say he's a jerk because he doesn't abide by the laws of political correctness, which have lowered our standards and expectations, bred a culture of intolerance and entitlement, and undermined the integrity of a once-great nation.

It's what they don't say about Knight, however, that is most telling.

They say nothing about his wonderful work with charities. They say nothing about his program, which has never run afoul of NCAA rules and has been successful far beyond the court. They say nothing about his players, who go to class and graduate, who learn to play the game better than they knew they could while also learning life lessons that make them better people, who never show up on the police blotter.

And, really, aren't those the characteristics that matter most?

Not only does Knight win -- 27 NCAA tournament appearances, five Final Fours, three national championships and one Olympic gold medal in a Hall of Fame career that began at Army, blossomed at Indiana and continues at Texas Tech -- but he wins the right way.

Yet, the media remains eager to pounce on every misstep, sometimes manufacturing controversy where none exists. Just last month, Knight was dragged through the media mud again, despite the young man involved saying it was nothing and his parents having no problem with the coach's actions.

That didn't stop the media from putting Knight back in the headlines -- for all the wrong reasons.

Determined to get a sulking player's attention during a late-game timeout, Knight reached out with his right hand and flipped up the sophomore's chin, ordering him to lift his head and look him in the eye. And this non-incident was deemed to be the news of the day by ESPN, which seized the opportunity to pull out those old video clips and dredge up Knight's tumultuous past.

Why? Because it was Knight, a polarizing sports figure whose get-tough tactics are now considered Neanderthal, even barbaric, in a soft society too concerned with self-esteem.

Which makes him an easy target.

Truth is, the fact that Knight is considered by many to be unfit to coach says more about us than it does about him.

Sure, Knight yells and cusses, pushes and pulls, occasionally allowing his temper to flare. He does whatever it takes to get your attention and get you to play better.

And so do many football coaches.

It's no surprise, then, that Knight counts George Patton and Vince Lombardi among the leaders he admires.

They were giants in their time, Patton on the battlefield, Lombardi on the football field. But they, too, would be considered dinosaurs if judged by current standards.

Patton probably couldn't survive in today's Army. Lombardi probably couldn't survive in today's NFL.

That's hard to accept.

Knight doesn't.

He still does things his way, the old-fashioned way, the only way he knows. He values hard work. He expects commitment. He builds character.

He still does what he thinks is right.

Not everyone can play for Knight, who coddles no one. He's too strict, too demanding, too harsh for too many of today's young athletes.

But not everyone has to: Knight doesn't draft you; his program is a volunteer army.

Nobody forces you to join the Marine Corps -- and Knight is the Marines of college basketball.
Besides, the players who choose to play for him know what they're getting into. In most cases, Knight's reputation is the reason they chose to play there. Those who aren't tough enough wash out. Those who make it are better men because of him.

It's no coincidence that so many of Knight's alumni rush to his defense, remaining as loyal to the man as he is to them.

Still, the critics are there, waiting for Knight to grab another player or throw another chair, saying his way doesn't work anymore. They say kids are different now, as if that's a good thing. They say the world has changed -- and that Knight must change with it.

But they know that's not going to happen.

And it shouldn't.

Yes, Knight is a flawed man. He has, at times, behaved boorishly. But the same raging fire that has gotten him in trouble also has put him on the verge of becoming the winningest coach in the long and storied history of big-time college basketball.

So I guess it comes down to this: Does the good outweigh the bad?

That's for each player and his parents to decide.

But if I had a son good enough to play Division I basketball, I'd have no problem with him wanting to play for Knight.

Then again, my father served under Patton in World War II.