Symbol of college basketball, he made history with Indiana
Bobby Knight, the legendary NCAA basketball coach, has died at the age of 83. Knight, nicknamed ‘the general’, linked almost his entire career to the University of Indiana, with which he won 3 university titles. The coach had been hospitalized since April and had been in precarious health for years. In his career, Knight made his coaching debut in 1965, at the age of just 24, on the bench of Army.
At the helm of Indiana he achieved 661 victories, qualifying for the NCAA tournament in 24 of his 29 seasons. Among the 3 titles, the first remains memorable, won in 1976 in a year without defeats for the Hoosiers. In 1984, Knight was the coach of Team USA that won the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, contributing to the final triumph at the Games of a selection made up of NCAA players. In a career also dotted with ‘over the top’ episodes, from throwing a chair in a match with Purdue to physical clashes with players, Knight left Indiana to move to Texas Tech in 2001: in 6 seasons he collected 5 years as at least 20 victories, a milestone never reached by the school, and reached 880 career successes, surpassing Dean Smith’s record.
Source-www.adnkronos.com