My Two Cents: Praying Hard On Oct. 25, Bob Knight's 83rd Birthday
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Mike Woodson had a captive audience, and the huge crowd at Hoosier Hysteria swallowed every word as he talked about his latest Indiana basketball team.
But then Woodson's voice went soft ... and somber.
Bob Knight, his beloved head coach 40-plus years earlier on this very same floor, was tugging at his heart.
“When all of you guys go home tonight, do me a favor,'' Woodson told the adoring throng at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall last Friday. "Get on your knees and say a prayer for Bob Knight and his family because I wouldn’t be standing here without him, Bob Knight is Indiana basketball, man.’’
This was absolutely not something scripted in the Hoosier Hysteria screen play. This was Woodson, on his own, feeling very concerned about his head coach, a man who has had an imprint on his life since he was a teenager.
And has an imprint on his life still today.
Today is Oct. 25, and it's Bob Knight's 83rd birthday. He'll enjoy the day surrounded by family, and probably a few friends. But he's not doing well, people tell me, and that's why Woodson asked for prayers.
So we pray.
Like Woodson said, Bob Knight is Indiana basketball. He was born in 1940 in Orrville, Ohio, played basketball at Ohio State, coached at Army and came to Bloomington in 1971 as the young head coach of the Hoosiers.
We all know what happened from there. By 1973 he had Indiana in a Final Four, and had two unbeaten regular season teams in 1975 and 1976, winning it all in '76 with a 32-0 record, the last NCAA team to start and finish a season unbeaten in 47 years. He won titles again in 1981 and 1987, and stayed in Bloomington for 29 years before he was unceremoniously fired in 2000, a bitter conclusion to his time in Bloomington.
His firing splintered Indiana's fan base, and Knight — plus many of his players — never set foot inside Assembly Hall for 20 years, not until that miraculous day on Feb. 8, 2020 when Knight returned to the arena he made famous for a grand reunion. He was joined by several dozen former players and was introduced to a roaring crowd at halftime of an Indiana-Purdue game.
Grown women cried in the stands.
Grown men, too.
Knight moved back to Bloomington about five years ago, and he liked being back around family friends again. The return to Assembly Hall in 2020 was the ice-breaker, and it helped even more a year later when Woodson — one of Knight's all-time favorite players — was named Indiana's head coach.
Knight was never at any of Woodson's games in the past two years, but he has come to practice several times, and that's meant the world to Woodson and Indiana's current players the past few years.
They know the legend, and they see the banners. They're heard all the stories, too.
They've also see the current situation, and were well aware that Knight has been in and out of the hospital a few times, including for several days last April. His mind is fading, his body, too.
His son, Pat Knight, released this statement after the April hospital stay.
"On behalf of the Knight Family, we thank you for your thoughts and prayers. As many have heard, my dad was hospitalized over the weekend with an illness and has since been released from the hospital. We ask for your privacy as he is cared for and resting at home in good hands. Coach always taught us, and those that played for him, the importance of fighting through adversity and he and our family thank you for the tremendous amount of support you have shown and given during this time. We appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers."
Since April, Knight has not been seen out in public like he was when he first moved back to Bloomington. Plenty of people have stopped by the Knight's home on the east side, and many visitors have said he was having a good day that day, and others not so much.
These are difficult times in the Knight family. It's why Woodson looked sad last Friday night, and why he worries about his coach every day.
So here's to Coach Knight, and happy birthday to The General. I'm following Woodson's lead and saying a prayer, too. Here's to hoping he has a good 83rd birthday, and has more to come.
