Community reflections: Bob Knight made an impression on everyone who met him

'He gave us something positive to cheer for'

Bob Knight coached his first season at IU my senior year, and I didn’t pay much attention. But early in 1973 — during my first year of grad school — I was sitting in my dorm room studying and I heard a racket outside.

I thought, “Oh, here we go ... another political demonstration" (they were quite popular and often contentious back then). But when I stuck my head outside, I realized it was a parade of cheering students. IU had won the Big Ten title for the first time in years, and campus went crazy.

I thought to myself, “Thank you, Bob Knight, for helping us just be college kids for a while.” He gave us something positive to cheer for and set a good example for hard work, strong ethics, and loyalty. He will always be my hero.

— Candi Brunk Harrison, IU '72, '74, Tucson, Arizona

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'We live and die with Indiana basketball'

I was a IU student circa 1985 when Jimmy Crews got the Evansville job. I’m from Evansville so myself, mother, and grandmother went to the event welcoming Coach Crews to the Aces. Coach Knight was the featured speaker.

My mom and I were too intimidated to speak to him but my grandmother walked up to him and said, “I just want you to know that my grandson goes IU and we live and die with Indiana basketball!” He looked down at her and said, “YOU are not old enough to have a grandson in college!” I mean, she was already a big fan before, but after that …

—Timber Tucker, Bloomington

'It was an honor to be present in that moment'

Going into my freshman year at IU, I thought having a Bob Knight memory was extremely far fetched. I still felt that way when I walked into work at Assembly Hall for IU’s clash with Purdue in 2020.

I worked at the front of the student section, but was told that Knight was in fact in the building and there would be a halftime ceremony with him included. I was given permission to hop up to see the ceremony.

My feelings on Knight are admittedly conflicted, as are those of so many. I think with him, it is necessary to take the bad things with the good things.

But in that moment, with Coach Knight entering the house he built for the first time in my lifetime, I was overtaken by the genuine impact that he had, not just on all the players who gathered to be with him, but on the fans and the Hoosier nation as a whole. And it was an honor to be present in that moment, to truly see what Indiana basketball is.

—Siôn Shepley, South Bend

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A birthday wish for my mom

My family will be forever grateful because of his act of kindness to my mother, Mabel Veal.

My sister Janet and her husband once owned a fast-food chicken restaurant on Walnut Street and Coach Knight and his staff would eat lunch there from time to time. One day Coach Knight and staff came in and my sister said to him, "You know, my Mom is a huge Indiana fan. She just loves ..."

Coach interrupted her and said, "Cut the B*** S*** lady and tell me what you want."

My sister told him how it was our Mom's birthday and if she got Mom on the phone could he wish her a happy birthday? He smiled and said he would. So, Coach Knight wished our Mom a happy birthday and talked to her for a couple of minutes. Then he handed the phone over to Norm Ellenberger and he talked to our Mom for about 5 minutes!

Also, once my sister told him that they had a promotion where if you told a chicken joke you would get a free soft drink and his reply was, "Lady, I get into enough trouble the way it is, I'll pass."

— Joe Veal, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Getting Coach's signature at 11 years old

After the 1987 NCAA championship, the Hoosiers held a celebration event in Assembly Hall. My parents took me and (as I recall) the audience sat on one side of the area, while the team was on the opposite side. Various players and coaches spoke, including Coach Knight.

Afterward, there was an opportunity to get autographs. I fought as hard as an 11-year-old could to get a signature from Coach Knight. He was seated at a table with all kinds of people around him. I finally got to him, presented my team photo and asked for the autograph. He quickly signed with a magic marker, and I put my hand out and said, "Thank you, Coach." He gave me a look of confusion, smirked a bit and shook my hand with a "you bet."

Side note, I wanted Keith Smart's autograph as well ... I chased him down the halls of Assembly Hall. Once I got to him, I gave him the picture and my pen. I got "Keith Sm..." and my pen ran out of ink!

Great memories!

— Jim Inman, Jr., Bloomington

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A late night visit to a 16-year-old cancer patient

I was a bedside nurse, working nights in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Indy back in the 70s. My patient was a young man of 16 who was being treated for cancer. He was a huge IU basketball fan, as was I, and we had lots of evening sports talks.

Imagine our surprise, one night long after midnight, when Bobby Knight walked into our unit. He was there to see my patient!

He brought him gifts, a signed basketball, jersey, and other swag and sat down and talked with this young man for about 30 minutes. They talked sports, and Bobby talked with him about his illness, treatment, his strength he was showing and “beating it.”

After about 30 minutes, he said his goodbyes and left. This young man talked about this until 3 a.m. when he finally dozed off to sleep.

Coach Knight had a sweet side that many never got to see, like I did that night.

Rest peacefully in Heaven, Coach. I hope you are able to catch up with this young patient you had such an impact on up there.🙏🏻❤️

— Ann Eskew, Bloomington

'Investigating quackery in medicine'

I started my solo practice of Ob/Gyn in Carmel on July 1,1974. Having attended a practice management course, on their advice, I installed a phone in each exam room so that after my exam, I could dictate into the patient’s medical record what I had just told the patient.

At 10 o’clock, my nurse knocked on the exam room door and said, “There is a doctor from Washington, D.C., on the phone.” Being involved with ACOG, the national organization of Ob/Gyn, housed in D.C., I didn’t think much about answering.

I picked up the phone and the voice said, “This is Dr. Arnold Schwartz and we are investigating quackery in medicine and I want to know your credentials.”

At this point I recognized the voice of Bob Knight, but I couldn’t respond like I wanted to in front of a new patient! Coach Knight, who called my dad Grampa, then said, “I am in your father’s office and he told me how proud he was and I wanted to congratulate you as well.”

Bob and Grampa are together again.

— Phil Eskew, Jr, Bloomington

Good advice that paid off

Coach Knight treated me very well, considering I was never going to play at Indiana.

My new coach at University of Colorado played for him and coached under him. Coach Knight gave me full access to the IU weight room for two summers. More importantly, I got to play five days a week, two summers in a row, in Assembly Hall with the team that would win the 1987 National Championship. I met Isiah Thomas in that weight room and he proceeded to invite me up to the HPER and whoop me in one-on-one three games in a row.

That first summer, the coach who signed me was fired so I was able to ask Coach Knight what he thought I should do. He strongly recommended honoring my commitment to Colorado.

We lost more than we won in the Big Eight those years, but I followed his guidance and finished with a B.S, during four years of basketball and an MBA with a year of Track (high jump). That was an important fork in the road and his advice paid off.

— Brent Vaughn, Centennial, Colorado

Courtside seat and a new TV

In my years in The Herald-Times newsroom, I had to contact Bob Knight about a story I had written concerning a woman who was in a Martinsville nursing home after having polio decades earlier. Her great joy was following Indiana University basketball on her small TV.

After the story ran, she contacted me thrilled that Coach Knight had read the story, bought a large TV for her room and was sending a chauffeur to pick up her and a friend for an IU game. She would sit in a wheelchair close behind his bench.

When I called, Coach Knight said he didn’t do that for publicity but, when I asked, he nicely gave me a couple of quotes.

Coach Knight didn’t have to be kind to that woman or to me. But he was. I will never forget it. Bless him.

Jackie Finch, former H-T reporter, Bloomington

Playing cards at Knight's house, playing ball and meeting coaches

We would go to his house and play euchre with his son, Timmy, usually on Friday nights. I was just out of high school, in 1979 or 1980. I played (basketball) at Edgewood. I was the Monroe County leading scorer my senior year.

I was just a kid from Stinesville. I was on Cloud 9 when I got attention from that man.

I'm sure Coach knew a little bit about me. I got a letter asking me to try out at West Point. ... I'm sure Coach Knight passed off my name to (Mike Krzyzewski). He was a first-year coach. I didn't want to join the Army.

I went to Bobby Knight's basketball camps all the time. Being in Bloomington as a kid, wanting to be a basketball player in the era of Bobby Knight, you couldn't have been in a better location.

I remember running into him a couple of other times, later. In 1984, I got back to Bloomington and was at Big Wheel. In walked Coach. There were three guys behind him. He introduced me to Sam Perkins, Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan. That had to be April 1984. He told them, "If this kid was 6-5, I would cut all of you and use him." He was meeting someone else and said to me, "Keep an eye on these guys. I might need a couple of them in July."

Berry Payton, Bloomington

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Readers share stories of meeting Bob Knight, who died at 83 Wednesday