How Bob Knight almost became the Florida Gators basketball coach
Bob Knight's legacy as the greatest college basketball coach of his era was cemented by the three national championships he won at Indiana and by guiding the Hoosiers to the sport's last perfect season in 1976.
But history may have been different had Knight taken another path five years before taking the Indiana job.
Knight, who died Wednesday night at 83 after a five-year battle with Alzheimer's, interviewed for the Florida Gators basketball coaching job in 1966 after Norm Sloan left for North Carolina State. Just 26 at the time, Knight was considered one of the top young coaching prospects after leading Army to an 18-8 record and NIT fourth place finish in his first season as head coach.
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According to former Florida basketball player and Gator basketball historian Bill Koss, Knight hit it off with Florida athletic director/football coach Ray Graves.
"They had a very good conversation about everything," Koss said. "They shook hands. Bobby said 'I’m taking the job.' "
But after word leaked about the interview, Knight was met back at West Point by Army's Commandant and a number of other high-ranking Army officials, who reminded him of his contract status.
"They told him, you will not ever have an opportunity to succeed in the coaching profession, we’ll make sure of that, if you don’t stay here and fulfill your obligation to your contract," Koss said. "So he didn’t, he stayed for that reason because it shocked him, it caused him to pause."
After Knight's change of heart, Florida hired Tommy Bartlett, who went 95-85 in seven years as UF's coach and guided the Gators to one NIT appearance in 1969. Knight stayed at Army for five more years, going 102-50, before beginning his iconic and controversial 29-year run at Indiana in 1971.
It would take Florida 30 years to find its equivalent to Knight, Billy Donovan, who was hired in 1996 and led UF to two national championships and four Final Fours in 19 seasons before beginning his NBA coaching career in 2015. Knight and Donovan are the only two coaches in college basketball history to win two national titles before their 42nd birthday.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: How Bob Knight almost became basketball coach of the Florida Gators
