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.
The statue will be displayed in the south lobby of the stadium that opened in Knight’s first season as coach in 1971, according to a press release.
“He changed college basketball and he is our coach,” IU trustee and captain of the 1976 team Quinn Buckner told the crowd.
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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 I 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 athletic 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.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana planning statue for late coach Bob Knight at Assembly Hall
Reporting by Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
