BLOOMINGTON — With the 1976 undefeated Indiana basketball team on the floor to celebrate the 50th anniversary of winning a national title, the university announced plans to honor former coach Bob Knight with a bronze statue at Assembly Hall.
According to a press release, the statue will be displayed in the south lobby of the stadium that opened in Knight’s first season as coach in 1971.
“He changed college basketball and he is our coach,” IU trustee and captain of the 1976 team Quinn Buckner told the crowd.
Knight, who died in 2023, led the Hoosiers to three national titles and 11 Big Ten titles. The 1975-76 team went 32-0 and is the last undefeated team in Division 1 men’s basketball.
“Coach Knight’s influence on the game of basketball is immeasurable, but his impact on this university and Hoosier basketball fans is even deeper,” Indiana athletics director Scott Dolson said in a statement. “On a personal level, having started my career here as a student manager under Coach Knight, I saw firsthand the unparalleled standard of excellence he demanded. He taught me, and countless others, that success is the result of meticulous preparation and unwavering discipline. This statue will be a well-deserved tribute to a man who didn’t just win games; he changed how the sport is played.”
Indiana announced Brian Hanlon of Hanlon Studios will “design and fabricate the statue” and is fully-funded by an unnamed supporter of the program who wishes to remain anonymous.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana announces plans for bronze statue of former basketball coach Bob Knight
Reporting by Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
