Love him or hate him the man was a success.  He won three National Championships and an Olympic Gold Medal, won 902 games, more than any other college coach, and had was one of the most polarizing coaches to ever stalk the sidelines.

Bob Knight never had an NCAA violations, ran clean programs, won, and graduated his players.  There is a story about Knight,  that after learning that a local gas station in Bloomington was giving his players free gas, he drove to the gas station and told the owner that if he ever did that again he would personally run him out of town.  He was a man that believed in education and teaching his young players what it took to be successful in life as much as he did in teaching them about basketball.

But the thing that most people will remember of Bob Knight is the chair throwing, the tantrums, and being run out of IU because of allegations of abuse to players and eventually a student fan.   Despite his approach I believe that he truly was a great coach who’s methods lasted in the college game for over 4 decades and will be considered one of the great coaches of all time.

Bob Knight was a man that had as many supporters as he did haters but in recent years the haters seemed to have a louder voice.  Now, I am not saying that he wasn’t a jerk, I believe that as a man he was often infantile and often times over the edge.  But what amazes me as I have been watching sports tonight, as that no matter what coach is talking about Knight, they all agree that he was a great coach, one who turned his players into men and cared about their education and ran his programs the right way.  As I was listening to NPR this morning, John Feinstein, the author of Season on the Brink, was saying that Steve Alford, one of Knight’s whipping boys during that season, still gives credit to Knight for turning him into the man that he is today, that is the same sentiment held by many if not most of his former players according to Feinstein and others.

So, the Old General will no longer roam the coaches box, but what will his legacy be?  Will history see past his crude tactics and infantile behavior to the man who lead some of the greatest teams in college basketball? A polarizing man for sure, but I for one, will miss seeing his teams play with the fire and intensity that only he could invoke.