One Year Later: Bob Knight's Return Still Indiana's Greatest Day In Years
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It's the eighth day of February in 2021, and Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall is eerily quiet. No one is stirring, and outside of several thousand cardboard cutouts in the West stands, the building is empty. There's a quiet hum from the heating system, and those five championship banners in the north end zone sway back and forth ever so softly.
Indiana had played a basketball game there the day before, but the vast majority of Assembly Hall's 17,000 seats were empty for that event, outside of family members and a few close friends. The COVID-19 pandemic has sucked all the fun out of the building.
A year earlier, it was the polar opposite. It was the best day ever.
Feb. 8, 2020 was the greatest day in Assembly Hall in years, maybe decades. It was the day that Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight returned to the arena he made famous. Twenty years of hostilities finally melted away between the university and its three-time national championship coach. They were washed away from the tears rolling down the cheeks of lifelong fans, young and old, when Bob Knight and several dozen of his former players were out on the Assembly Hall floor during halftime of the Indiana-Purdue game.
For the 17,000 people who were there – and the million more who wish they could have been – it was the greatest day in Indiana basketball history in this 21st century.
One year ago today.
"It just felt like we were all finally back to the way it was supposed to be,'' said Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson, who was part of a very small group that helped organize the event with former players. "I think it meant that much to all the players. I'm not any different. I'm a loyal supporter, too, and it was so great to be talking about all the old times.
"The whole day was incredible, and it was such an important moment that it felt like the game didn't even matter. Everything went perfect, the whole day. When Quinn (Buckner) and I talked about it a few days later, Quinn was talking about how it was such a historic day. It was almost hard to express how much it mattered to so many people.''
History.
One year ago today.
Former Indiana coach Bob Knight shares a laugh with Quinn Buckner (right) and his son, Pat Knight when he returned to Assembly Hall on Feb. 8, 2020. (USA TODAY Sports)
Planning the day to perfection
For years, people inside the university and out have been trying to get Bob Knight to come back to Indiana, but the anger over his 2000 firing, which Knight never thought was fair, always got in the way. He wouldn't come back when all of his three national championship teams were honored, and he wouldn't come back even when his favorite players were inducted into the IU Hall of Fame.
He even missed the night in 2016 when his undefeated 1976 team was honored as the greatest college basketball team of all time. All of his players and assistant coaches were there. Knight was the only absence.
But a few years ago, Knight and his wife Karen moved back to Bloomington, and they'd be seen around town. He even showed up unannounced for an Indiana baseball game in the spring of 2019, as if the massive iceberg was starting to thaw.
So when an event was set in 2020 to honor the 1980 Indiana team that won the Big Ten under unique circumstances – and was one of Knight's favorite teams – the wheels were put into motion to see if Knight would join them.
"When we set up the event for Feb. 8, as we got into it, I was as confident as I have ever been that it might happen,'' said Dolson, who was the assistant athletic director at the time. The former Indiana basketball manager for Knight from 1984-88 took over as AD from Fred Glass on June 1, 2020. "Randy (Wittman) and Quinn (Buckner) were involved, and Bob Hammel and Larry Rink, too, and we all thought it was important to keep the group small so no one would be out there in public talking about it, so no one would look bad if it didn't happen. And when Pat Knight got involved, then I felt really good about it actually happening. Pat and I have been friends for a long time, and I think he knew he could trust me from our end to make it work the way they wanted it to.
"We were always close and when he would publicly say that he wasn't comfortable coming back until his dad did, I understood that completely. So when Pat got involved this time, we all made it very clear that the most important goal was to make it a positive thing for Coach Knight and his family. That was always priority one. Quinn and Randy wanted that too, very much.''
It wasn't until they were a week or two out from the event that Dolson felt like it was going to happen. That small group of players worked covertly to invite former teammates back, but it was all done very discreetly. No one talked about it in public, or in social media. There was zero media attention in advance, though rumors swirled. But that didn't mean anything, because rumors had swirled before.
It wasn't until the night before the event where it looked for sure that it was going to happen, especially when former Knight players from all over the country were spotted around town.
"The leadership of those former players, that was really important. They took ownership of the day, and they made it perfect. Goal No. 1 was to take care of Coach Knight, and we never lost sight of that. We stuck to the plan. Quinn, he's very mission driven, and we made sure Coach Knight and his family were always comfortable. It turned out perfect.''
Pregame at Cook Hall, in the locker room
Dolson admits that the best thing they did was set up a meeting area in Cook Hall, the basketball practice facility adjacent to Assembly Hall. Knight was there several hours before the game, and his former players and their families all came by to see their coach and visit with him and their former teammates. There were plenty of pictures taken, plenty of stories told and plenty of hearty laughs among Knight and the players.
"What we did at Cook Hall was tremendous. Seeing the faces of the players and their families when they were around Coach Knight was really special,'' Dolson said. "I'm really glad we set it up that way, because it was all so comfortable and relaxed. Everyone really enjoyed it. If we had only done something at the game, it wouldn't have been the same. ''
Before the game, Knight, Dolson and a few others went into the Indiana locker room, where he said a few words to the current Indiana team. Dolson couldn't help but think about the decades getting tied together finally. Seeing Knight in sacred Indiana locker room again, and inspiring players again, was an epic moment.
"I was lucky enough to be in the locker room when Coach Knight talked to our current players, and that's a moment I'll never forget, that's for sure,'' Dolson said. "They all absorbed every word he said, and you could tell that it really meant a lot to Coach Knight too, just being in there and talking to them.
"I get chills right now just thinking about it. It was an incredible experience.''
Bob Knight chats with Dean Garrett of his 1987 national championship team and Dean's wife, Cristy. (Garrett family photo)
Bridging all the years
Dolson couldn't help but think about all the years that have passed, and his ties to Knight that are still very strong. The Michigan City, Ind. native was a manager for Knight from 1984 to 1988. He was part of the national championship team in 1987 and he was the head basketball manager the following season as a senior. He worked for Tim Knight, the coach's son, right out of college, and he's spent three decades working at Indiana ever since.
He can still remember his very first moment inside Assembly Hall with Knight, way back in 1984.
"I remember my first day in Assembly Hall with Coach Knight like it was yesterday,'' Dolson said. "It was my first day as a basketball manager (in 1984), and I really didn't know what to expect. The players came out early and they did a lot of individual work. And this wasn't just warming up or stretching, they were working very hard, doing a lot of individual work and a lot of shooting drills. It was intense. It was different.
"So when Coach Knight came out, he said 'let's go inside (to the locker room).' The guys had worked so hard, I really thought practice might have been over. The older managers, they just laughed at me. They knew better, and I was just learning.
"I learned a lot that day. I learned a lot every day being around Coach Knight, and I still rely on a lot of that now. That bond, it never goes away. Even now, every game we play, I'll get texts from the managers I worked with. That was like my little fraternity.''
Knight reunites with his fan base
During halftime of the game, about four dozen Indiana players were introduced, and when Knight came out, the roar from the Indiana crowd was deafening and relentless. Some announcements were made, and cheers would always follow. Knight, who turned 80 in October, didn't speak to the crowd, but he waved often and acknowledged the love. On his way off the floor, he even screamed ''defense'' to the fans behind the basket. The crowd roared one last time.
There wasn't a dry eye in the place. No one left their seats at halftime.
"It was just a tremendous moment,'' Dolson said. "Like after halftime, watching Quinn and Isiah (Thomas) and their embraces coming off the court with Coach Knight, that was very emotional to me. You could tell they've waited a long time for that moment and that it meant so much to them.''
It was certainly the highlight of 2020, and years prior, really. A few weeks later the world changed.
"Coach coming back, that was the bright spot in 2020, no doubt about that,'' Dolson said. "And we really got it in under the wire. A month later, we were completely shut down with COVID. Can you imagine if we had planned all that, and then it didn't happen? I do think we would have seen him around more after that.
"I saw him around the holidays, John Laskowski and I went over to his house for a visit, and Pat was there, too. It was great to see everyone. We spent about an hour there, and it was delightful. It really meant a lot to me, and you can tell that Coach really loves having his former players stop by.''
Dolson's first few months as athletic director have been difficult, but much like everyone else, he can't wait for things to return to normal, or at least a new normal.
"I started July 1, but it really feels like 10 years,'' he said. "It's just been such a different time. We've had so many wonderful things going on, and it's a shame we haven't been able to share all of that with our fans.
"Hopefully next season, we'll see Coach Knight around even more when things are back to normal. It doesn't surprise me one bit, of course, but the love and the bond that Hoosier Nation has with Coach Knight is absolutely incredible. There are so many people who love Coach Knight and love having him back in Bloomington. Who knows what happens next, but we'll always have February eighth. It was a day that I'll never forget, that's for sure.''
Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas chats with Bob Knight during the halftime ceremony on Feb. 8, 2020. (USA TODAY Sports)
