RIP Neil Reed / University values

Consolation
Tue, 07 Aug 2012 09:41:44 +0000

Knight’s “coaching style” and explosive personality were well known. Hell, I even knew about it back in the day, and I am the farthest thing from a college basketball fan. Knight was notorious, even then. This is not hindsight, or judging someone by today’s standards. The fact that Reed was forewarned by Knight’s reputation does not make Knight’s behavior an acceptable “style” of coaching. The fact that Knight may have routinely laid hands on players the way he laid hands on Reed does not make Reed wrong to object to it and leave. What WAS definitely wrong is the attempt to smear him by denying that it ever happened at all. Dismissing it by saying he “wasn’t a fit”… seriously? It seems to me that what we have here is an example of a guy who was out of control for a long time, but he was enabled and excuses were made for him because he was winning. It is unfortunate for all concerned that Knight’s behavior was shrugged off as a “coaching style” for so long. If Knight were a genuinely talented basketball coach–and there’s no reason to think he wasn’t–he could have developed winning teams without it.

Let me draw your attention to the post by MizBee, who actually saw the reality:



I worked in the athletic complex as a freshman and had the pleasure of often being in the halls during b-ball practice. As a huge IU fan, I was shocked and disheartened by the way that Bobby Knight treated his players. His coaching seemed to consist of screaming profanities and demeaning them. It was not an isolated incident, but normal behavior. That was in 88-89 season, so I was only surprised that he didn’t get in trouble years earlier.