Younger Knight finds way

LUBBOCK, Texas – Pat Knight seems to have coached himself out of an identity crisis.

Knight acknowledged he had a difficult time adjusting in his first full season at Texas Tech last year. Players said he may have tried to please too many people – his bosses, fans, his team.

Maybe even his famous father, Bob Knight.

Pat Knight, who took over after nine years as an assistant to his dad at Texas Tech and Indiana, said he was unsure how to act at first. Should he be subdued, the antithesis of his father?

“Then finally, toward the middle of the year, I’m, ‘To hell with it, I’ve got to be me.’ And that’s getting after people,” Pat Knight said. “So there’s just too much stuff I worried about that I shouldn’t have.”

The transition wasn’t easy, said the younger Knight, who claims he’s more like his father “than anybody knows.”

Last season Texas Teach finished 14-19 and won only three games in Big 12 play.

Pat Knight has a more athletic team this year and there is greater depth off the bench. The Red Raiders (10-1) are ranked No. 23.

Leading scorer Mike Singletary said players like the way Pat Knight coaches them. The junior won’t be pulled out of a game for missing a shot or committing a turnover, Pat Knight told him. Bob Knight did it otherwise, Singletary said.

“Pat just makes us feel comfortable,” Singletary said.

Singletary said he often felt stymied while playing for the elder Knight.

There was “kind of a fear factor,” he said. “But with Pat, (it’s) just go out and play your game and play with effort. I can live with that.”