Bob Knight, Legendary Hall of Fame Indiana Basketball Coach, Dies at 83

Bob Knight, the legendary Hall of Fame college basketball coach who led Indiana University to three national championships, has died. He was 83.

Knight’s family announced his death on Wednesday in a statement shared on his website.

“It is with heavy hearts that we share that Coach Bob Knight passed away at his home in Bloomington surrounded by his family. We are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers, and appreciate the continued respect for our privacy as Coach requested a private family gathering, which is being honored,” the statement read. “We will continue to celebrate his life and remember him, today and forever as a beloved Husband, Father, Coach, and Friend.”

Those wishing to honor Knight were asked to give a memorial contribution to the Alzheimer’s Association or Marian University.

The Orrville, Ohio, native began his career in basketball as a player for Ohio State’s college basketball team. In 1960, he helped secure the program’s only national championship alongside fellow sports legends, Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek.

After starting his basketball career as an assistant at Cuyahoga Falls High School in Ohio, he became a coach at West Point at age 24. During his six seasons in the position, his record was 102-50.

As a coach at Indiana University, he led his team to three national titles. He was the program’s head coach for 29 years, during which his team also secured 11 Big Ten Regular Season Championships and five Final Fours appearances.

Before heading to Texas Tech to coach from 2001 to 2008, he coached the 1984 U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal and guided the U.S. team to the 1979 Pan American Games gold. He had many notable moments in his coaching career, including throwing a chair across the basketball court in 1985, which caused him to be ejected from the game.

In 1991, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and was part of the first College Basketball Hall of Fame class in 2006.

According to CBS Sports, at the time of his retirement from coaching in 2008, his 902 wins were the most all-time in men’s college basketball. The accomplishment made him the sixth-winningest coach in Division I men’s college basketball history.

The Basketball Hall of Fame describes Knight as a ” legend among coaches.”

“His teams performed much like him – disciplined, tough, smart, focused, and tenacious. His success was based partly on his ability to instill quality fundamentals in his players,” the Hall of Fame’s description of Knight’s career reads. “His motion offense demanded a firm grasp of some of the game’s most basic ideas.”

Indiana University President Pamela Whitten issued a statement after news of Knight’s death that read, “As we collectively mourn the passing of Coach Knight, we also celebrate a man who will always be an integral part of Indiana University’s rich and vibrant story. With unmatched accomplishment, Coach Knight’s brilliance ensures he will forever rest among the giants of college basketball.”