Indiana plans to build a permanent bronze statue of Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight, the school announced Monday.
The statue will be displayed alongside the 1976 national championship statues in the lobby of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
“Coach Knight’s influence on the game of basketball is immeasurable, but his impact on this university and Hoosier basketball fans is even deeper,” Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said in a statement. “On a personal level, having started my career here as a student manager under Coach Knight, I saw firsthand the unparalleled standard of excellence he demanded. He taught me, and countless others, that success is the result of meticulous preparation and unwavering discipline.
“This statue will be a well-deserved tribute to a man who didn’t just win games; he changed how the sport is played.”
The announcement comes on the same day that the 1975-76 Indiana men’s basketball team was honored at halftime of the Hoosiers’ game against Oregon. The 1975-76 Hoosiers were the last undefeated national champion in Division I men’s basketball.
Knight, who died in 2023 at the age of 83, led Indiana to three national championships and five Final Four appearances. He went 662-239 during his time in Bloomington.
Knight was eventually forced out at Indiana in 2000 for violating a “zero tolerance” behavior policy by grabbing the arm of a freshman student whom he said greeted him by his last name. It was the final transgression on a long list, which included his most infamous incident — throwing a chair during a Purdue game — and accusations of numerous physical confrontations. The most notable involved Knight apparently choking player Neil Reed in a practice in 1997.
He finished his career with 902 victories, while also leading USA Basketball to gold medals at the 1979 Pan American Games and the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.
“One of the things that he said to our 1976 team, which I was fortunate enough to be a part of, was that you may never see another team like this again,” Indiana University board of trustees chairperson Quinn Buckner said at the time of Knight’s death. “Well, I don’t know that we will ever see another coach like him again.”
The statue is being funded by an anonymous Indiana donor.
