Indiana Players Come To Knight’s Defense

For the second time since the season ended, Indiana University’s basketball players are publicly defending their controversial coach - this time following a critical Sports Illustrated article.

The team sent a letter to the national sports magazine, objecting to a story in the May 12 issue that asked “Has Bob Knight lost it?” and noted that Knight’s program has slipped in recent years.

“Your article implies that those of us from Indiana, Illinois and Ohio should have avoided coming to Indiana… . Those of us who are from outside of this area knew the tradition of Indiana basketball, and that’s what attracted us to the program,” the players wrote.

“There is not one of us who regrets the decision we made in coming to Indiana.”

Forward Andrae Patterson said the players wrote the letter “because Sports Illustrated did not give us a chance to put in our side of what goes on at Indiana. That wasn’t fair to us as a team.”

A Sports Illustrated spokesman said Wednesday he could not comment until he had seen the letter.

The article noted that Knight’s teams are playing soft and his methods are being questioned by longtime followers. Also, most of the top high school players in the Midwest are signing with other programs, the magazine noted.

Sports Illustrated also reported that “many coaches” around the country say Knight will become the next Woody Hayes, the former Ohio State football coach whose career ended when he punched an opposing player.

But Knight’s players - as they have for all of his 26 seasons at Indiana - defended their coach’s character in the letter and telephone interviews Wednesday.

“It’s not all cookies and cream, I’ll leave it at that,” Patterson said. “But it’s not all bad. If it were all bad, why would I still be here after he gave me the same chance he gave Neil (Reed to leave)?”

The players said they would have defended Knight in the article if anyone from the magazine had contacted them. They also complained that the article “is filled with anonymous quotes” and insults them by saying Knight doesn’t get the best players anymore.

“Coach Knight thinks more of us as players and people than any other coach or teacher we have known,” the letter said. “Playing for him at Indiana is what we like to call the total package.”

Not only does Knight prepare certain players for the NBA, he also teaches lessons about life that will serve players for life after graduation, the players wrote.

“We all came here to succeed on and off the floor, and Coach Knight’s record in this area has been proven over and over again,” the players wrote.

It’s already been a rocky off-season for the Indiana program.

After a loss to Colorado in the first round of the NCAA Tournament the third straight season to end that way - Knight told juniors Richard Mandeville, Patterson and Reed to consider transferring.

Reed, saying Knight pushed him out of the program, quit the team for the second time this season, his teammates say. This time, it was for good, and Reed was voted off the team. Afterward, Reed accused Knight of physically and verbally abusing him. Current and former players jumped to Knight’s defense when those charges were made.