Anger Mismanagement: Bobby Knight's Temper Strikes Again
— -- As Bob Knight moved one win closer to catching Dean Smith, his temper flared once again, when he used hishand to push a player's chin during a timeout, as if to make himlook the coach in the eye.
With more than 4 minutes to go in Texas Tech's 86-74 victoryover Gardner-Webb on Monday night, Red Raiders forward MichaelPrince was called for a foul. During the ensuing timeout, Knightapproached Prince, and as the player lowered his head, the coachmade contact with his chin.
Knight gave a brief statement at the postgame news conferencethen answered one question before exiting the room. The incidentwith Prince was never addressed.
It was win No. 871 for Knight, who is five away from passingAdolph Rupp for second place on the all-time list. He needs ninemore victories to surpass Smith for the most wins in Division Ihistory.
Knight's career has featured three national championships, allat Indiana, and plenty of temper outbursts, including run-ins withplayers.
In 1992, Knight kicked a chair on the bench while son Pat, thena player for him at Indiana and now his assistant andsuccessor-to-be at Texas Tech, was sitting in it. When fans behindthe team bench booed, Knight turned and responded with anobscenity.
He was accused of grabbing a player by the throat during apractice in 1997, an episode that was caught on videotape andcreated the whirlwind that eventually led to his firing fromIndiana in September 2000.
Knight was fired for what Indiana officials called a violationof a zero-tolerance behavior policy shortly after he grabbed thearm of a student who greeted him on campus by saying "Hey, what'sup, Knight?"
His most infamous moment came in a game against Purdue in 1985,when he threw a chair across the court after being assessed atechnical foul.
Jarrius Jackson led Texas Tech with 22 points in the first-roundvictory over Gardner-Webb in the College Basketball ExperienceClassic. The Red Raiders (2-0) will play Arkansas-Little Rock, an81-79 winner over Akron, in the second round on Tuesday night.
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