‘It’s a sad day’: Kansas basketball coach Bill Self reacts to the death of Bob Knight
LAWRENCE — Prior to the start of Kansas basketball’s exhibition game Wednesday against Fort Hays State, the Jayhawks held a moment of silence inside Allen Fieldhouse for Bob Knight.
Knight, the former college basketball coach, died recently at 83 years old. He had a Hall of Fame career that saw him serve as the head coach at Army, Indiana and Texas Tech. With the Hoosiers, he won three national championships.
“It’s a sad day,” Kansas coach Bill Self said after the exhibition game. “He had been sick for a while, and he gave an awful lot to the game, an awful lot to a lot of people, and in only the way that he could do it. And I think most people respected it. A lot of people definitely picked holes at it — which, that’s OK because he’s a controversial figure. But nobody could ever doubt or deny the good he did for a lot of people.”
Self highlighted the graduation rate Knight’s players had. He praised what Knight did for Landon Turner, who played for Knight at Indiana before a car accident left him paralyzed. Self noted that Knight, an icon and as big of a figure their sport has known, will be missed.
RELATED: Kansas basketball coach Bill Self enjoyed return to Illinois, but didn’t call it emotional
RELATED: Bill Self: Johnny Furphy, Kevin McCullar Jr. could play in Kansas basketball exhibition
RELATED: Kansas basketball coach Bill Self hopes charity exhibition games become a regular event
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball coach Bill Self reacts to the death of Bob Knight
