Indiana Basketball: All-time starting live under head coach Bob Knight
By Bryan Mauro
899 Wins, 28 NCAA Tournament appearances, 5 Final Four appearances, and 3 National Titles. Those were the numbers of the legendary Bob Knight. Those of you who may have been too young to remember coach Knight or were not into College Basketball at that time there are a few things you need to know about the legendary coach.
He was one of the most polarizing coaches in the industry. He often blew his top at officials and his own players, throwing everying from a pen to a chair across the floor just to get his point across. Coach Knight also had some of the best press conferences in the history of the sport, but the thing that he is always going to be known for is putting Indiana Basketball on the map. Coach Knight is Indiana Basketball and the Hoosiers would not have near the history they do without Coach Knight.
His motion offense is still used today by Colleges and High School’s everywhere and his influence on the game is unmatched. He is one of the few coaches that everyone knows, even those that don’t follow the sport. He is in a class with John Wooden, Coach K, and a few others who are so well known that they transcend the sport of basketball. All of these accomplishments would not be possible without the players that were under his tutelage. Coach Knight coached 16 All-Americans, 9 Big Ten Players of the Year, and had 39 players drafted to the NBA draft in his career. Coach Knight, just like every other coach, has had a lot of players who have gone on to accomplish great things in their own careers.
Who were the five best players that ever played for Coach Knight? In other words, who are the players that Coach Knight would have picked to be his all-time starting five. He would have a lot of players to choose from with his three years at Army, 28 years at Indiana, and 7 years at Texas Tech. Coach Knight’s best years were at Indiana and every player on this list is from Indiana.
However, Andre Emmett from Texas Tech, Mike Silliman from Army, and Bill Schutsky from Army all had great careers but were surpassed by other players. Who is the best starting five that coach Knight could assemble with his past players?