Indiana plans to build a permanent bronze statue of Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight, the school announced Monday.
The statue will be displayed alongside statues from the 1976 national championship in the lobby of the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
“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 begun my career here as a student manager under Coach Knight, I saw firsthand the unparalleled standard of excellence he demanded. He taught me, and many others, that success is the result of meticulous preparation and unwavering discipline.
“This statue will be a fitting tribute to a man who not only won games; he changed the way this sport is played.”
The announcement comes on the same day the 1975-76 Indiana men's basketball team was honored at halftime of the Hoosiers' game against Oregon. The 1975-76 Hoosiers were the last undefeated national champion in Division I men's basketball.
Knight, who died in 2023 at the age of 83, led Indiana to three national championships and five Final Four appearances. He went 662-239 during his time in Bloomington and finished his career with 902 wins, while also leading USA Basketball to gold medals at the 1979 Pan American Games and the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.
“One of the things he told our 1976 team, which I was fortunate to be a part of, was that we would never see another team like this again,” Indiana University Board of Trustees Chairman Quinn Buckner said at the time of Knight's death. “Well, I don't know if we'll ever see another coach like him again.”
The statue is being funded by an anonymous donor from Indiana.
