Knight made Purdue better; rivalry 2nd to none
As news broke last week that legendary basketball coach Bob Knight had passed away, I began reflecting on the tremendous IU-Purdue games I was blessed to cover through the years.
Still to this day I cannot believe I was lucky enough to cover north of 90 percent of the storied classics that featured Knight and Gene Keady.
Nothing and I mean nothing compared.
The Knight-Keady years elevated the Purdue-IU rivalry to never before seen heights, heights that will never be reached again.
Simply put, the rivalry was off the charts, beyond must-see TV.
Heck, back in the day this state virtually shut down when they collided twice a year. I’m not kidding.
Since Knight was kicked to the curb in 2000, the Hoosier-Boilermaker heated rivalry has lived on, but it’s not the same, not even close.
The rivalry is great, but it was second to none in its glory days of the 1980s and ‘90s.
In the days since his passing, the tributes to Knight have poured in.
Prior to an exhibition game last Wednesday rival Purdue showed a ton of respect by observing a moment of silence in his memory. A class act to say the least.
After his team’s win over Grace College, Boilermaker head coach Mat Painter weighed in on Knight’s passing.
“It’s a sad day with his passing,” said Painter, who grew up in an IU family and dreamt of playing for Knight but the scholarship offer to Bloomington was retracted in favor of Todd Leary with hopes of getting his teammate Eric Montross.
“The thing he did for us at Purdue is he made us better. He would get everybody’s best. He always got Purdue’s best. We knew when we played Indiana you had to have your ducks in a row. It was going to be a great battle, but you also knew that they were always going to have a great game plan. They were always going to be prepared. That’s what great coaches and great competition does, it makes other programs better.
“He brought the best out of everybody in this league. They were the standard.”
Even former Boilermaker standouts weighed in on what Knight meant to them.
“For four years I was blessed to be involved in one of the best rivalries in sports, Indiana vs. Purdue,” Cuonzo Martin tweeted. “A rivalry that was filled with toughness, great players & two of the best basketball coaches ever in the sport.
“As a competitor, I always wanted to beat IU, but I also knew that it would be a tough game with The General on the sidelines.”
Yes, Knight and Keady had many memorable battles where the two thrived off one another. Often the sideline antics of those two were as fun to watch as the games themselves and that’s saying a ton.
They were the fiercest of competitors who hated to lose.
Many were surprised to learn of the mutual respect they had for each other.
I really think Knight’s respect for Keady grew over the years because of how hard the Purdue teams played despite not having rosters full of high school All-Americans. Plus, Knight liked how Keady ran his program. It was no nonsense where players were expected to go to class and get their degrees.
Yes, in a lot of ways the two coaches’ programs mirrored one another. No, Purdue didn’t get to any Final Fours and certainly didn’t win a national championship like Knight’s Hoosiers did, but the two were juggernauts when it came to Big Ten basketball.
More times than not, the Big Ten title went through Bloomington and/or West Lafayette.
I’d even go so far to say Knight was one of the main reasons Keady took the Purdue job.
You see back in 1980 Keady had plenty of people in his ear telling him to not take the job, to stay far away from the Hoosier State because Knight owned and ruled it.
Fortunately for Purdue fans, Keady didn’t listen to the likes of legendary coach Al McGuire. Instead, Keady embraced the challenge of all challenges and took over a program that some how some way would have to compete, recruit and co-exist with the perennial powerhouse that Knight had built in Bloomington.
Knight like Keady did a lot with his program despite not having an abundance of high school All-American talent. Get this … Knight’s IU teams won three national championships and played in five Final Four, but he had just one NBA All-Star (Isiah Thomas).
Many won’t believe this, but Keady actually beat Knight’s teams more often than not. In the 41 Purdue-IU meetings they were involved in against one another, the final tally read Keady 21, Knight 20.
From the very first time the two met on the sidelines in Assembly, Knight knew his teams would be in a dogfight with Keady’s.
You see on that occasion, Knight was working the officials and Keady wouldn’t have any of it so he got up and not only barked at the officials but gave Knight an earful. Knight was taken a back and later admitted he thought Keady was crazy.
Keady did get into that crazed zone during games often times tossing his jacket. He was intense as they came and wasn’t about to back down to anyone. Sound familiar?
Keady never threw a chair on the court like Knight did during the Purdue game in 1985 in Bloomington (https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=mcafee&ei=UTF-8&p=knight+throwing+a+chair&type=E210US739G0#id=15&vid=ab2f69f587b11ec4adef8bc0cf6c9aba&action=click), but when the bulldog was in rare form, you never quite knew what was next.
Keady and Knight were the main attraction in a Big Ten that had its share of characters.
Illinois’ Lou Henson and his teams had some intense games against Knight’s squads. Henson even called Knight out, saying he was a “bully.”
Needless to say Knight irked plenty of folks along the way and plenty of people irked him. He wasn’t always politically correct, sometimes far from it.
I kid you not on one occasion Knight even brought a live donkey onto his television show and had a Purdue hat on it. He referred to the donkey as “Jack.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdm4Oi1YRZY)
As you could imagine, Purdue didn’t take too kindly to Knight’s gesture, which was directed to then-Boilermaker athletic director George King.
When Knight wanted to get a point across, humor wasn’t his mode of delivery.
You see, through the years Knight’s wrath was felt by many.
Media members seemed to be in Knight’s crosshairs more times than not.
Even yours truly got into it with him during a postgame press conference.
As I describe in my book, Tales From Boilermaker County, I asked Knight his thoughts on Brian Cardinal after Purdue beat IU in 1987 in Assembly Hall.
The exchange went like this …
“Cardinal played very good,” Knight answered. “He’s a very good player. Are you not capable of writing about it yourself?”
My response, “Very capable.”
Knight, “Well then, write it.”
I said, “I will.”
I didn’t think much of it until several media members approached me afterwards congratulating me on standing up to Knight and not backing down.
Knight’s postgame press conferences in Mackey Arena were sometimes memorable.
Occasionally he wouldn’t show up at all and on other occasions he would wait forever, knowing on weeknights sportswriters had deadlines to meet.
Oh, and on one occasion, the IU sports information director put out a statement that Knight would not be attending the postgame press conference because the Hoosiers had to get back to Bloomington for classes in the morning. You see, Knight hated ESPN Big Monday late games.
Even Knight’s entrance was one to behold.
He always made sure the Boiler crazies had to wait for his grand entrance into Mackey.
Just prior to the starting lineups, Knight would saunter down the tunnel with a rolled up program in hand. As he emerged, he was greeted with a deafening chorus of boos. He would tap a Purdue cheerleader on the leg with his program and then proceed to hug Keady’s late wife, Pat, seated behind the bench before throwing an arm around the Purdue boss.
Oh those were the days!
Knight was quite the character indeed.
Knight and Keady were always cordial to one another through the years and, in fact, grew closer and closer as time went on, especially in their retirements.
Upon hearing of Knight’s passing, Keady said, “He was special in my career because although we had many battles, we always respected each other and the game.
“He was a great friend to me.”
Without question, Knight was one of a kind. There never was a coach like him and there will never be one like him again.
Even with all his transgressions, he was a treasure that transcended well beyond the Hoosier State.
Thank you Coach Knight for all the Purdue-IU memories that will live on forever. You will be missed. RIP.
Special thanks to Plumlee Dentistry in Plymouth for helping us bring you Indiana High School Athletics like no one else and for being the proud sponsor of the Plumlee Radio Booth, our on-location broadcast site at games. Please give their website a visit by going to https://plumleedentistry.com/
Also a big thank you to AMP Auctions in Argos for being one of our loyal sponsors. Please give their Facebook page a visit by going to https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086581323750
You can follow me on my personal Twitter page – @DougGriffMAX983 – as well as keep an eye on his posts on Twitter @Maxsports983 and on Facebook (facebook.com/wymrradio) and MAX’s website – MAX983.net.
