Bring him back home, Ohio State. Bring him back to the beginning, back to his school, back to the Big 10. Just bring Bob Knight back to college basketball relevance.
Bring him back to the chair of his beloved college coach, the late Fred Taylor. Bring him back to where he won his national championship with John Havlicek and Jerry Lucas. Bring him back where he can be a star again, where he can play Indiana twice a year, where he can ultimately break Dean Smith's all-time record for victories with everyone watching.
With a three-year extension on the table at Texas Tech, with his loyalty to AD Gerald Myers, this is a long-shot, but the rest of the sport should be rooting for it. Because NCAA basketball is sick. It's dying. Worse, it's putting people to sleep. The players are gone, one in the rising generation of coaches is just like the next in the assembly line, and college basketball could do worse than having Knight in the chase for a national championship again.
This isn't to suggest that Knight isn't flawed, that he hasn't lost his mind too often through the years; it is entirely possible he could embarrass Ohio State with his bad manners. Yet, with who's taken over college basketball, with the frauds and crooks and hoodlums running loose on campus, I'll live with Knight's flaws.
If you want a clean program, want kids graduating, want to win, well, run the risk that Knight has learned his lessons. He isn't right for every school, but Ohio State is different. It's home. The Buckeyes should gamble that Knight has learned his lessons, paid a penance and would treat a chance to get back in the national championship race, back in his home state of Ohio, like a precious gem.
All of that won't be an easy sell to the blue bloods operating Ohio State. This sure wouldn't be Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger's style. Already, one of the top names for the job is N.C. State's Herb Sendek. Nice guy and all, but come on. Sendek? Good luck selling that in the shadow of a national championship football program.
Listen, Ohio State won't be Fresno State, desperate to bring back shamed alum Jerry Tarkanian, nor Oklahoma State doing it with Eddie Sutton. Ohio State doesn't see itself as some renegade operation, grateful that a fallen star with the school's degree on his wall would stoop to ending his coaching career there. Ohio State will believe it can get a major coaching star. Only, there isn't a bigger coaching star available than Knight, who's proved his genius all over again at Texas Tech.
He needed to be shook on a lot of levels, and his firing at Indiana did so to his core. It didn't just get him behaving better, but working harder, working wiser, to win again.
At the end in Indiana, his obsession was self-preservation. At the end, he was just a caricature of himself. Now, he probably still has some championship coaching left in him. What he's done there has been remarkable, but that's all he can do there. Get some good JUCO's, get 20 victories, and get to the NCAA Tournament. He maxed out the job at Texas Tech. That's all there's to bleed out of that program.
Ohio State gives him access to top Midwestern high school talent again. It wouldn't be long until the Buckeyes were back in the top 20, chasing Final Fours. And it isn't just college basketball and the Buckeyes that could use Knight, but the Big 10.
The Big 10 used to be a coach's conference. It had characters.
Charisma. Charm.
Now?
Well now, it has Tommy Amaker.
Now, they're running Gene Keady out of Purdue for Matt Painter.
College basketball has been overtaken by marketing department dweebs turned athletic directors, wanting people as boring and colorless as themselves running teams. Everybody wants these cardboard cutout coaches. Painter is undoubtedly a fine young coach, but one 20-win season with someone else's players at Southern Illinois doesn't make him deserving of a Big 10 coaching job.
Yet, Purdue believes Painter is worth the gamble. He's an alum. He's one of them.
For now, Bob Knight is way out in Lubbock, out in west Texas, out where he can probably do fine for the rest of his coaching career. Get to some more NCAA Tournaments, win some games, but never, truly be in the middle of everything. All that, Ohio State can change.
Bring him back home, back to where it started, back to where Bob Knight can do his part to make college basketball matter again.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=wojnarowski_adrian&id=1818562
Bring him back to the chair of his beloved college coach, the late Fred Taylor. Bring him back to where he won his national championship with John Havlicek and Jerry Lucas. Bring him back where he can be a star again, where he can play Indiana twice a year, where he can ultimately break Dean Smith's all-time record for victories with everyone watching.
With a three-year extension on the table at Texas Tech, with his loyalty to AD Gerald Myers, this is a long-shot, but the rest of the sport should be rooting for it. Because NCAA basketball is sick. It's dying. Worse, it's putting people to sleep. The players are gone, one in the rising generation of coaches is just like the next in the assembly line, and college basketball could do worse than having Knight in the chase for a national championship again.
This isn't to suggest that Knight isn't flawed, that he hasn't lost his mind too often through the years; it is entirely possible he could embarrass Ohio State with his bad manners. Yet, with who's taken over college basketball, with the frauds and crooks and hoodlums running loose on campus, I'll live with Knight's flaws.
If you want a clean program, want kids graduating, want to win, well, run the risk that Knight has learned his lessons. He isn't right for every school, but Ohio State is different. It's home. The Buckeyes should gamble that Knight has learned his lessons, paid a penance and would treat a chance to get back in the national championship race, back in his home state of Ohio, like a precious gem.
All of that won't be an easy sell to the blue bloods operating Ohio State. This sure wouldn't be Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger's style. Already, one of the top names for the job is N.C. State's Herb Sendek. Nice guy and all, but come on. Sendek? Good luck selling that in the shadow of a national championship football program.
Listen, Ohio State won't be Fresno State, desperate to bring back shamed alum Jerry Tarkanian, nor Oklahoma State doing it with Eddie Sutton. Ohio State doesn't see itself as some renegade operation, grateful that a fallen star with the school's degree on his wall would stoop to ending his coaching career there. Ohio State will believe it can get a major coaching star. Only, there isn't a bigger coaching star available than Knight, who's proved his genius all over again at Texas Tech.
He needed to be shook on a lot of levels, and his firing at Indiana did so to his core. It didn't just get him behaving better, but working harder, working wiser, to win again.
At the end in Indiana, his obsession was self-preservation. At the end, he was just a caricature of himself. Now, he probably still has some championship coaching left in him. What he's done there has been remarkable, but that's all he can do there. Get some good JUCO's, get 20 victories, and get to the NCAA Tournament. He maxed out the job at Texas Tech. That's all there's to bleed out of that program.
Ohio State gives him access to top Midwestern high school talent again. It wouldn't be long until the Buckeyes were back in the top 20, chasing Final Fours. And it isn't just college basketball and the Buckeyes that could use Knight, but the Big 10.
The Big 10 used to be a coach's conference. It had characters.
Charisma. Charm.
Now?
Well now, it has Tommy Amaker.
Now, they're running Gene Keady out of Purdue for Matt Painter.
College basketball has been overtaken by marketing department dweebs turned athletic directors, wanting people as boring and colorless as themselves running teams. Everybody wants these cardboard cutout coaches. Painter is undoubtedly a fine young coach, but one 20-win season with someone else's players at Southern Illinois doesn't make him deserving of a Big 10 coaching job.
Yet, Purdue believes Painter is worth the gamble. He's an alum. He's one of them.
For now, Bob Knight is way out in Lubbock, out in west Texas, out where he can probably do fine for the rest of his coaching career. Get to some more NCAA Tournaments, win some games, but never, truly be in the middle of everything. All that, Ohio State can change.
Bring him back home, back to where it started, back to where Bob Knight can do his part to make college basketball matter again.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=wojnarowski_adrian&id=1818562
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger joked he will rely on reporters to tell him the top candidates to replace basketball coach Jim O'Brien, fired Tuesday for paying a recruit $6,000.
"The (news) papers haven't been printed yet, so I haven't gotten my list," he said with a grin.
Texas Tech coach Bob Knight is among the names already circulating on call-in radio shows and on Ohio State fan Web sites. Others are: Xavier's Thad Matta, Cincinnati's Bob Huggins, Skip Prosser of Wake Forest, Pete Gillen of Virginia, Dan Dakich of Bowling Green and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, among many others.
Knight showed his soft side after he brought the Red Raiders to Ohio State for a game in January.
"I've never really forgotten about all Ohio State has done for me - when I was here as a student and what it enabled me to do after that," Knight said then, his voice choked with emotion. "I have felt deep down more for Ohio State than any of the schools I've coached."
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/sports/8879668.htm
"The (news) papers haven't been printed yet, so I haven't gotten my list," he said with a grin.
Texas Tech coach Bob Knight is among the names already circulating on call-in radio shows and on Ohio State fan Web sites. Others are: Xavier's Thad Matta, Cincinnati's Bob Huggins, Skip Prosser of Wake Forest, Pete Gillen of Virginia, Dan Dakich of Bowling Green and former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, among many others.
Knight showed his soft side after he brought the Red Raiders to Ohio State for a game in January.
"I've never really forgotten about all Ohio State has done for me - when I was here as a student and what it enabled me to do after that," Knight said then, his voice choked with emotion. "I have felt deep down more for Ohio State than any of the schools I've coached."
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/sports/8879668.htm
Texas Tech head coach Bob Knight has reportedly agreed to a three-year contract extension that will run through the 2009 season.
According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, the deal is expected to be finalized next week after Knight returns from vacation.
"I'm really pleased with this and really enjoy being here," the paper reported Knight as saying. "I look forward to doing this a long time. This is the best possible situation for me as long as I coach."
Knight has completed three seasons as Tech's coach and has a record of 68-33, including 23-11 during the 2003-04 campaign. The Red Raiders lost to Saint Joseph's in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this past spring.
Texas Tech has three 20-win seasons under Knight and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
Knight won three NCAA titles in his 29 seasons at Indiana and also spent six years at Army. He has a record of 832-322 in 38 years as a collegiate head coach.
The 63-year-old Hall of Famer is within range of Dean Smith's all-time record of 879 career victories.
It had been speculated that Ohio State might be interested in Knight after Jim O'Brien's dismissal earlier in the week. Knight was a graduate of Ohio State in 1962.
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0604/152297.html
According to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, the deal is expected to be finalized next week after Knight returns from vacation.
"I'm really pleased with this and really enjoy being here," the paper reported Knight as saying. "I look forward to doing this a long time. This is the best possible situation for me as long as I coach."
Knight has completed three seasons as Tech's coach and has a record of 68-33, including 23-11 during the 2003-04 campaign. The Red Raiders lost to Saint Joseph's in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this past spring.
Texas Tech has three 20-win seasons under Knight and a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances.
Knight won three NCAA titles in his 29 seasons at Indiana and also spent six years at Army. He has a record of 832-322 in 38 years as a collegiate head coach.
The 63-year-old Hall of Famer is within range of Dean Smith's all-time record of 879 career victories.
It had been speculated that Ohio State might be interested in Knight after Jim O'Brien's dismissal earlier in the week. Knight was a graduate of Ohio State in 1962.
http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0604/152297.html
While Bob Knight has agreed to a three-year contract extension to remain as head coach at Texas Tech, he just might consider a move to his alma mater Ohio State, according to published and broadcast reports.
Knight was born in Massillon Ohio and he played at Ohio State from 1958-62. And the published report, citing sources close to Knight, said the coach would listen if the Buckeyes called him.
Conversely, the published report also said it is unclear whether Ohio State is interested in hiring the coaching legend. The school has not contacted possible candidates to replace Jim O'Brien, who was fired last week. But Xavier's Thad Motta and Marquette's Tom Crean are thought to be among a list of top coaching names to take over at the Big 10 school.
Knight needs 48 wins to surpass Dean Smith as the career victories leader in Division I.
As the published report pointed out, Texas Tech athletics director Gerald Myers told The Associated Press last Wednesday that Knight's extension could be signed this week.
"I look forward to doing this a long time," Knight told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal last week. "This is the best possible situation for me as long as I coach."
http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=2489948
Knight was born in Massillon Ohio and he played at Ohio State from 1958-62. And the published report, citing sources close to Knight, said the coach would listen if the Buckeyes called him.
Conversely, the published report also said it is unclear whether Ohio State is interested in hiring the coaching legend. The school has not contacted possible candidates to replace Jim O'Brien, who was fired last week. But Xavier's Thad Motta and Marquette's Tom Crean are thought to be among a list of top coaching names to take over at the Big 10 school.
Knight needs 48 wins to surpass Dean Smith as the career victories leader in Division I.
As the published report pointed out, Texas Tech athletics director Gerald Myers told The Associated Press last Wednesday that Knight's extension could be signed this week.
"I look forward to doing this a long time," Knight told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal last week. "This is the best possible situation for me as long as I coach."
http://www.foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=2489948
Rumors and news reports seem to center on two key candidates to replace O‘Brien.
ESPN.com’s Andy Katz has reported that former OSU player Bob Knight, now the head coach at Texas Tech, would listen if Ohio State and/or Geiger would call regarding the vacancy.
According to Katz, influential people have contacted OSU on Knight’s behalf. At the same time, Texas Tech announced last Wednesday that Knight had agreed to a three-year contract extension through 2009. However, it has also been reported that Knight has not signed that extension.
Katz also reported that Xavier’s Thad Matta would also have to be considered a serious candidate, ahead of a field that may also include Marquette's Tom Crean, Rutgers' Gary Waters, and N.C. State's Herb Sendek. Sources indicated it is unlikely that OSU will go after any professional coaches, including George Karl and former OSU player Jim Cleamons.
Knight is set to begin his fourth season at Tech -- his 39th overall -- with 832 wins. He is the victory leader among active coaches following the retirement of Jim Phelan of Mount St. Mary's in 2003.
He was hired by Texas Tech in 2001, six months after he was fired by Indiana for what then-school president Myles Brand called his "pattern of unacceptable behavior."
Knight’s Red Raiders have posted three straight 20-win seasons and made a pair of NCAA appearances. His current five-year contract is worth $4.5 million. In addition to the $250,000 in base pay, he was given $150,000 in deferred annual income and $500,000 in guaranteed outside income through May 2006.
John Havlicek, one of Knight’s former teammates on OSU’s 1960 national championship team, appeared on WBNS-AM’s “Herbstreit and Fitzsimmons Show” Tuesday afternoon to discuss the sudden job opening at his alma mater. He was shocked at O‘Brien‘s ouster.
“Jimmy O’Brien is one of the great character guys,” Havlicek said. “When he was hired at Ohio State, I endorsed him because I had a chance to see him at Boston College and the fine job he did here.
“He’s a man of great integrity. Sometimes, the moral thing to do is one thing and the cheating type of thing is another thing. Sometimes, you’re put in a position where you feel obligated to do something, even if it might violate a rule. You have to pay the consequences if that happens. I feel bad for everyone involved.”
Show hosts Kirk Herbstreit and Ian Fitzsimmons then discussed the job search and dropped Knight’s name.
“I think it’s one of the plum jobs in the entire country,” Havlicek said. “Football is seen to be dominant there, but their isn’t any reason basketball can’t be on the same level, especially with the facilities they have and the type of people they have at the university.
“Let’s get this right. Hopefully, they can get someone in that position to make it right.”
When educated about Katz’s report, Havlicek threw his support behind Knight.
“He is a friend of mine and if that’s what he wants, I’ll go with Bob Knight,” Havlicek said. “If they would want to sell out that arena, Bob Knight would certainly do that. I think if he could ever come back there, the people would cheer him on as hard as they rooted against him.
“If he would want to come back, I would certainly go along with it. Certainly, there is the chance he would do something out of the ordinary. But he hasn’t done that as much in recent years. I think he learned his lesson after that Indiana debacle.”
Havlicek said he thinks Knight may be interested in coming back to the Big Ten.
“He left (Indiana) with a bad taste in his mouth,” Havlicek said. “He probably would want to come back into the Big Ten to try and resurrect himself.”
http://ohiostate.theinsiders.com/2/267613.html
ESPN.com’s Andy Katz has reported that former OSU player Bob Knight, now the head coach at Texas Tech, would listen if Ohio State and/or Geiger would call regarding the vacancy.
According to Katz, influential people have contacted OSU on Knight’s behalf. At the same time, Texas Tech announced last Wednesday that Knight had agreed to a three-year contract extension through 2009. However, it has also been reported that Knight has not signed that extension.
Katz also reported that Xavier’s Thad Matta would also have to be considered a serious candidate, ahead of a field that may also include Marquette's Tom Crean, Rutgers' Gary Waters, and N.C. State's Herb Sendek. Sources indicated it is unlikely that OSU will go after any professional coaches, including George Karl and former OSU player Jim Cleamons.
Knight is set to begin his fourth season at Tech -- his 39th overall -- with 832 wins. He is the victory leader among active coaches following the retirement of Jim Phelan of Mount St. Mary's in 2003.
He was hired by Texas Tech in 2001, six months after he was fired by Indiana for what then-school president Myles Brand called his "pattern of unacceptable behavior."
Knight’s Red Raiders have posted three straight 20-win seasons and made a pair of NCAA appearances. His current five-year contract is worth $4.5 million. In addition to the $250,000 in base pay, he was given $150,000 in deferred annual income and $500,000 in guaranteed outside income through May 2006.
John Havlicek, one of Knight’s former teammates on OSU’s 1960 national championship team, appeared on WBNS-AM’s “Herbstreit and Fitzsimmons Show” Tuesday afternoon to discuss the sudden job opening at his alma mater. He was shocked at O‘Brien‘s ouster.
“Jimmy O’Brien is one of the great character guys,” Havlicek said. “When he was hired at Ohio State, I endorsed him because I had a chance to see him at Boston College and the fine job he did here.
“He’s a man of great integrity. Sometimes, the moral thing to do is one thing and the cheating type of thing is another thing. Sometimes, you’re put in a position where you feel obligated to do something, even if it might violate a rule. You have to pay the consequences if that happens. I feel bad for everyone involved.”
Show hosts Kirk Herbstreit and Ian Fitzsimmons then discussed the job search and dropped Knight’s name.
“I think it’s one of the plum jobs in the entire country,” Havlicek said. “Football is seen to be dominant there, but their isn’t any reason basketball can’t be on the same level, especially with the facilities they have and the type of people they have at the university.
“Let’s get this right. Hopefully, they can get someone in that position to make it right.”
When educated about Katz’s report, Havlicek threw his support behind Knight.
“He is a friend of mine and if that’s what he wants, I’ll go with Bob Knight,” Havlicek said. “If they would want to sell out that arena, Bob Knight would certainly do that. I think if he could ever come back there, the people would cheer him on as hard as they rooted against him.
“If he would want to come back, I would certainly go along with it. Certainly, there is the chance he would do something out of the ordinary. But he hasn’t done that as much in recent years. I think he learned his lesson after that Indiana debacle.”
Havlicek said he thinks Knight may be interested in coming back to the Big Ten.
“He left (Indiana) with a bad taste in his mouth,” Havlicek said. “He probably would want to come back into the Big Ten to try and resurrect himself.”
http://ohiostate.theinsiders.com/2/267613.html
Coach has stated that he is not happy with recruiting in the Big 12. I think we all know that these guys in the Big 12 will do about anything, whether ethical or not, to succeed. Coach knight will not resort to this behaviour. he would be in heaven recruiting for OSU. I think it would be to good to be true, so I feel like knight will remain in Texas, but I am in hopes he gets back in the Big 10 where he has a chance to win a title. The chances are near zero at TT.
>I think he would love to play in the same >conference as Indiana!
That would be among his prime motivation to jump the Tech ship, but I think the salad bar incident this winter with the Tech brass is a precursor of things to come in Lubbock, and even tho he did re-up for a few more years there, there may be enuff inner turmoil to give KNight an opt out. As the "other" General stated
, just about no chance in hell for an NCAA crown at TeeTeeTech
That would be among his prime motivation to jump the Tech ship, but I think the salad bar incident this winter with the Tech brass is a precursor of things to come in Lubbock, and even tho he did re-up for a few more years there, there may be enuff inner turmoil to give KNight an opt out. As the "other" General stated
WHY YOU ALL SAY NO CHANCE IN HELL FOR NAT'L TITLE @TTECH I DON'T KNOW!! HE CAN RECRUIT...HE WILL GET IN THE TOURNAMENT..BIG XII BASKETS RIGHT NOW STRONGER THAN BIG 10..AND LUBBOCK IS NOT AS BAD AS YOU GUYS MIGHT THINK...TTECH NAT'L CHAMP IN LADIES HOOPS...NEW ARENA..WHAT ELSE WOULD ONE WANT???
Bobby Knight may be moving to Ohio.
The rumors are getting louder that ex-IU coach may be coming back to his alma mater, Ohio State.
We first told you about the possibility of a Big Ten comeback for Knight last week on Newswatch.
A reliable source from Columbus, Ohio, says Bob Knight will leave Texas Tech to become the new head coach at his alma mater Ohio State. And, that announcement will come Friday.
Wednesday afternoon Newswatch spoke with Emily Jones at our sister station KCBD in Lubbock, Texas. She had this to say, "All bet's are off when it comes to Bob Knight. We've heard everything from one end of the spectrum to the other. Yes for sure he is going. Yes for sure he is staying. So what we do know is he has a contract on his desk that would keep him at Texas Tech until 2009. I spoke with Ron Phillips in the University's President's office today. He said he is just waiting on the signature and he feels good about the possibilities of Coach Knight going ahead and signing that and coming back to Texas Tech."
So, what are people saying in Columbus, Ohio? Thursday afernoon, we checked out that story with Joe Weasel, a sports reporter with WCMH TV in Columbus. He reported, "We are hearing a lot of the same things as you guys out there, and that is that potentially a contract has been offered as early as today to Coach Knight. And then that he would accept it on Friday. Upon hearing that, I contacted OSU's athletic director Andy Geiger and he told me quote 'That would be news to me, I am amazed to hear that stuff."
But whatever the answer, Newswatch was told it'll be coming Friday, if not sooner. When it comes to Bob Knight, all bets are off, meaning you hear just about everything.
http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=1964964
The rumors are getting louder that ex-IU coach may be coming back to his alma mater, Ohio State.
We first told you about the possibility of a Big Ten comeback for Knight last week on Newswatch.
A reliable source from Columbus, Ohio, says Bob Knight will leave Texas Tech to become the new head coach at his alma mater Ohio State. And, that announcement will come Friday.
Wednesday afternoon Newswatch spoke with Emily Jones at our sister station KCBD in Lubbock, Texas. She had this to say, "All bet's are off when it comes to Bob Knight. We've heard everything from one end of the spectrum to the other. Yes for sure he is going. Yes for sure he is staying. So what we do know is he has a contract on his desk that would keep him at Texas Tech until 2009. I spoke with Ron Phillips in the University's President's office today. He said he is just waiting on the signature and he feels good about the possibilities of Coach Knight going ahead and signing that and coming back to Texas Tech."
So, what are people saying in Columbus, Ohio? Thursday afernoon, we checked out that story with Joe Weasel, a sports reporter with WCMH TV in Columbus. He reported, "We are hearing a lot of the same things as you guys out there, and that is that potentially a contract has been offered as early as today to Coach Knight. And then that he would accept it on Friday. Upon hearing that, I contacted OSU's athletic director Andy Geiger and he told me quote 'That would be news to me, I am amazed to hear that stuff."
But whatever the answer, Newswatch was told it'll be coming Friday, if not sooner. When it comes to Bob Knight, all bets are off, meaning you hear just about everything.
http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=1964964
COLUMBUS, Ohio - It is "highly unlikely" that Ohio State will hire Bob Knight as its new basketball coach, the Columbus Dispatch reported Thursday.
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That puts Marquette coach Tom Crean at the forefront of the Buckeyes' search for a new coach, ESPN reported Thursday. Crean, a former Michigan State assistant, has strong support within the Big Ten Conference.
Knight, the current Texas Tech coach, former Indiana coach and former Ohio State player, probably will remain with the Red Raiders, said ESPN, quoting multiple sources.
It is unlikely that Crean can take Marquette higher than its Final Four berth in 2003. Furthermore, Marquette is moving to the Big East Conference.
ESPN reported that Crean can't afford to be involved in a drawn-out process. If Ohio State wants him, and makes it clear that he can't go after the Michigan State job if Tom Izzo leaves for the NBA at some point, the Buckeyes have to pursue him hard, ESPN reported.
Crean began his coaching career as an assistant at Michigan State in 1989-90, then moved on to Western Kentucky as an assistant for four years and to Pittsburgh for a season before returning to Michigan State for four years.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5288846/
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That puts Marquette coach Tom Crean at the forefront of the Buckeyes' search for a new coach, ESPN reported Thursday. Crean, a former Michigan State assistant, has strong support within the Big Ten Conference.
Knight, the current Texas Tech coach, former Indiana coach and former Ohio State player, probably will remain with the Red Raiders, said ESPN, quoting multiple sources.
It is unlikely that Crean can take Marquette higher than its Final Four berth in 2003. Furthermore, Marquette is moving to the Big East Conference.
ESPN reported that Crean can't afford to be involved in a drawn-out process. If Ohio State wants him, and makes it clear that he can't go after the Michigan State job if Tom Izzo leaves for the NBA at some point, the Buckeyes have to pursue him hard, ESPN reported.
Crean began his coaching career as an assistant at Michigan State in 1989-90, then moved on to Western Kentucky as an assistant for four years and to Pittsburgh for a season before returning to Michigan State for four years.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5288846/
Rumors flew that Knight would land at his alma mater, but AD takes a pass on him.
From The Associated Press
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Scratch Bob Knight's name from the list of candidates for the Ohio State coaching job.
The Texas Tech coach released a statement Thursday night saying he has been told that his alma mater won't be considering him.
"Last night, a friend of mine from Columbus (Ohio) called me to say that the athletic director had decided not to discuss the vacancy with me," Knight said. "Therefore, there was no need for me to consider it."
The Buckeyes are looking for a replacement for Jim O'Brien, fired June 8 after Athletic Director Andy Geiger said the coach admitted giving $6,000 to a recruit in 1999.
Knight agreed earlier this month to a three-year extension of his contract, which would keep him at Texas Tech until 2009. Nonetheless, his name was linked because of his ties to the Buckeyes.
"During the past two weeks, I have called no one nor initiated any inquiries about the basketball coaching position at Ohio State," Knight said. "However, several people in Columbus and in Ohio have called to ask if I would be willing to take the job."
Knight, who won three national championships at Indiana, has led Texas Tech to three straight seasons of at least 20 wins. He is 48 victories shy of Dean Smith's mark as the winningest coach in Division I.
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/9012838.htm
From The Associated Press
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Scratch Bob Knight's name from the list of candidates for the Ohio State coaching job.
The Texas Tech coach released a statement Thursday night saying he has been told that his alma mater won't be considering him.
"Last night, a friend of mine from Columbus (Ohio) called me to say that the athletic director had decided not to discuss the vacancy with me," Knight said. "Therefore, there was no need for me to consider it."
The Buckeyes are looking for a replacement for Jim O'Brien, fired June 8 after Athletic Director Andy Geiger said the coach admitted giving $6,000 to a recruit in 1999.
Knight agreed earlier this month to a three-year extension of his contract, which would keep him at Texas Tech until 2009. Nonetheless, his name was linked because of his ties to the Buckeyes.
"During the past two weeks, I have called no one nor initiated any inquiries about the basketball coaching position at Ohio State," Knight said. "However, several people in Columbus and in Ohio have called to ask if I would be willing to take the job."
Knight, who won three national championships at Indiana, has led Texas Tech to three straight seasons of at least 20 wins. He is 48 victories shy of Dean Smith's mark as the winningest coach in Division I.
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/9012838.htm
