Bob Knight: Rules Ohio State players broke are ‘idiotic’
Bob Knight has never shied away from controversial topics, so it was no surprise when he started popping off about Ohio State and the NCAA during the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards ceremony Monday evening.
"I understand what's happened and there was a rule that was violated," Knight told media before he was scheduled to deliver the keynote address. "But it was an idiotic rule."
Knight, who is currently an announcer for ESPN, was responding to the suspensions of five Ohio State players whom the NCAA found guilty of selling memorabilia for tattoos and possibly other paraphernalia. Last week, coach Jim Tressel resigned after he withheld information about the NCAA violations from his bosses and the NCAA. Since Tressel's resignation, Ohio State has been under constant media fire and scrutiny from nearly everyone with an opinion. University president E. Gordon Gee and athletic director Gene Smith also have targets on their backs, but might not see repercussions from the whole ordeal until after the NCAA delivers its final verdict.
In the meantime, Gee is taking a closer look at compliance in an effort to return Ohio State to the gold standard it once was rather than the punchline it's become.
But in Knight's mind, it's not just Ohio Sate that needs to keep up with the changing times, it's also the NCAA.
"I think this NCAA that we're currently involved with is so far out of touch with the integrity of the sport that it's just amazing."
