Bob Knight honored at Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame with bench dedication
"Coach Knight ties us all together." The former Indiana basketball coach sold his rings, but the Hall of Fame was important to him. So he would appreciate this bench dedicated in his name.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Hours before the Class of 2024 officially entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday, another special ceremony was held.
Because of rain, however, it was moved inside to the theater.
Three coaches were honored with the dedication of a bench: Bob Knight, Chuck Daly, and Nancy Lieberman. It was part of the Coaches Circle program that was established in 2015, led by Jerry Colangelo, George Raveling and John Calipari — all three Hall of Famers themselves.
The intent of the program is to pay tribute to basketball’s first coach, Dr. James Naismith, and highlighting his core values of teamwork, determination, self-respect, leadership, initiative, and perseverance.
There were three chairs at the front of the theater. Pat Knight represented his father, who passed away in 2023, and broadcaster Jim Gray was there for Daly since Daly’s daughter, Cydney, was stuck in Orlando due to Hurricane Milton.
Then after the ceremony, everyone made their way to the north end of the Hall of Fame to see the three new benches that joined about 20 others.
“Not to sound dire, but I'd rather have fans come see this to honor him than, say, go to the cemetery,” Pat Knight, now the head coach at Marian University, told Fieldhouse Files afterward. “Because this was what he wanted. And so now if they want pay their respects, come here to the Hall of Fame. Come see his bench, honor him that way. That's what he wants. He's a basketball guy, not Mr. Sentimental and stuff.
“My dad never was into awards at all, no trophies around the house. He actually sold all his rings probably 20 years ago. And watches. He just wasn't sentimental except about the Hall of Fame.”
Bob Knight, a three-time NCAA champion, was inducted back in 1991.
A very impressive group joined Pat for this moment: Quinn Buckner, Scott May, Mike Woodson, Dr. Larry Rink, Scott Dolson and Steve Ferguson. That’s three of the all-time great IU players, plus the current athletic director at Indiana University (Dolson).
“Three of my dad's favorite players and probably three of his greatest,” Knight added.
The support from within the program is something that has always stood out. This group has been through the highs and lows together.
“They've always been there, even when we got fired in Indiana and all that stuff went down,” added Knight, who was previously a scout for the Pacers. “Through the years, always coming to see us when we went to Texas Tech, all the former IU players show up and then him battling Alzheimer's these last several years.
“It’s the backbones, it's guys you can count on. It’s different for me because I grew up with all these guys and everything. They’re pretty much like my older brothers. They've just always been there.”
Knight singled out current IU head coach Mike Woodson for making this happen, along with Colangelo. “He was a dear friend of my dad's for a long time and one of the few people coach would actually listen to,” he said of Colangelo.
Dolson, now the athletic director, got his start as a manager for the basketball team. He joked that he once was Pat’s babysitter.
“It's been awesome and honestly really emotional just getting Pat together with us and having the IU basketball family together is really, really a big deal,” Dolson said outside, talking next to the bench.
It was important that they were there not only for Bob Knight, but also for Pat and their IU family.
“There's so many former players, former managers, and obviously our fans, because Hoosier Nation is massive and I think we’re very close knit, and Coach Knight ties us all together for sure. And we try to make certain we do things now that exemplify things that he did for our program as well in terms of our graduation, in terms of all the good things. And winning.”
Then in the evening, another Hoosier was honored. Herb Simon, owner of the Indiana Pacers and Fever, was part of the 13-member class enshrined nearby at Symphony Hall.
You can’t have basketball without Indiana, which was well-represented at Hall of Fame weekend.
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See the IU family look at the bench for coach Knight, then watch Pat Knight and Nancy Lieberman's speeches.