Referee Ted Valentine Recounts Famous Moments with Bob Knight

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Robbie Hummel and Jeff Goodman brought NCAA referee Ted Valentine onto the Goodman & Hummel Podcast, which is part of the Field of 68 network.

Valentine has a very storied career with refereeing. He was suspended from Big Ten nonconference games in 1998-99, banned from Big East games in 2003, lost his full time gig on ACC games in 2008, initiated a nose-to-nose incident with Mick Cronin in 2014, and turned his back on a North Carolina player in 2018 that ultimately cost him his Big Ten job and the NCAA Tournament.

He has earned the nickname "TV Teddy" from all the moments he's had on national television over the years.

Indiana has a lot of history with Valentine, most notably with former Indiana coach Bob Knight.

On the podcast, Valentine was asked about an incident with Knight on Feb. 24, 1998, when Indiana played at home against Illinois.

Valentine called three technical fouls on Knight and ejected him from the game.

Here's what he had to say about that incident:

"Most of that situation (in 1998) went back to the 1992 Final Four when they played Duke and I was involved in the situation,” Valentine said. “I was in a game where a ref was afraid of him (Knight), and I whacked him bad (with a technical). Whacked him. Boom!

“It was always something where I every time I would see him (Knight), there was always something from him. There was always this venom and anger. I don’t think he ever let that 1992 Final Four go.”

The Final Four moment Valentine is referring to was when Indiana led Duke by 12 at halftime. Then during the second half, there was a slew of whistles that got Indiana in foul trouble, and Valentine gave Knight a technical. Duke went on a 31-6 run and eventually defeated Indiana 81-78.

Valentine believes that game led to the fireworks in 1998.

"The way he came at me that night, he threw every left, every right and every jab that he wanted at me. But it didn't work because I basically understood him.

"I got angry at him. It was my mistake the first technical foul. I went in the huddle and whacked him the first one. Went right in his huddle. It was like a street fight. I said the ‘the hell with you, here it is.’

"After that, I kind of subsided and I got cool... The more he came at me, the more I was like OK bring it on. I knew he wasn't going to let it go. The rule was, you're only supposed to call two techs, but I called three."

You can listen to the full podcast with Valentine HERE.

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