LIKE IT IS: Coach K has Knight in sight; 10 more to go

— There are many people who like Bob “The General” Knight.

The former Army, Indiana and Texas Tech head coach turned ESPN expert analyst is one of those people who seldom falls in the gray area.

Jerry McKinnis, wellknown local outdoorsman and owner of B.A.S.S., is a friend of Knight’s.

Mike Krzyzewski, the Duke head coach, played for Knight at Army and no doubt got a strong recommendation from Knight for the Army job in 1975 when he started his head coaching career.

Knight is remembered for many things, from throwing chairs, slamming down phones and physically assaulting folks, to any sorted number of controversial comments.

Yet, he’s also known as one of the great basketball minds of all time, having led the Indiana Hoosiers to three NCAA national championships and finishing his career with 902 victories, the most in the history of men’s Division I college basketball.

Tennessee’s women’s Coach Pat Summitt has 1,061 victories as a head coach, no small feat, but this is about the chase for the men’s record.

Krzyzewski has 893 victories as a head coach, or exactly 10 short of setting a new mark.

Duke, arguably one of the best teams in the country, has four regular-season games remaining, plus the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament (likely three more games) and the NCAA Tournament.

Therefore it is possible Krzyzewski could break the record this season, at the Sweet 16, most likely in New Orleans since the Blue Devils should be a No. 1 seed and that is the regional closest to home.

To do that would be difficult, but possible.

Duke could definitely win 10 consecutive games to tie the record.

The Blue Devils get Temple and Clemson at home and travel to Virginia Tech and North Carolina, and yes,anything can happen when the Tar Heels and Duke hook up.

Krzyzewski’s only losing seasons at Duke were his first three, and in his fourth season the Blue Devils went 24-10.

He’s won four NCAA championships and owns the NCAA Tournament record for total victories with a 77-22 career mark. He’s been to 11 Final Fours, second most in NCAA history.

His first NCAA championship was 1991 in Indianapolis, a short drive from the Indiana campus, but his mentor Knight chose to attend Oakland A’s spring training instead.

Yet, that never fazed Krzyzewski, who on many occasions voiced his support and appreciation for Knight.

Knight took Indiana to lofty heights, but in 2000 was put on notice by then-Indiana President Myles Brand after former player Neil Reed, who spent part of his youth in Hot Springs, claimed Knight had choked him.

A few months later a student claimed Knight grabbed his arm and lectured him, and Brand asked him to resign, which Knight immediately refused to do, but finally did on Sept. 11, 2000, with a crowd estimated at more than 6,000 there to show support.

Knight took a season off and then coached six full seasons at Texas Tech before resigning 20 games into the 2007-2008 season so his son Pat would be named head coach.

The young Knight is 49-57 overall and only 15-39 in Big 12 play, and probably on the hot seat.

Of course, you can’t fault a parent for trying to help his child.

For some, Knight will be remembered as a bully who found ways to be involved in controversies; for others, as The General.

One thing for certain, though, he’s not going to be known as the winningest coach in men’s college basketball much longer.

It is fitting that Krzyzewski was trained by Robert Montgomery Knight.

It would also be fitting if Mike Krzyzewski broke the record in the NCAA Tournament on his way to a fifth championship.

Sports, Pages 15 on 02/22/2011

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