Bob Knight gives parable about long hair at Trump rally

Legendary former Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight appeared with Donald Trump at his rally Wednesday at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

Donald Trump said he was the "greatest endorsement in the history of Indiana." And in large part, Knight did all the things you'd expect when endorsing a candidate: He flattered the people of Indiana about how much his time here meant, he talked up Donald Trump's ties to the military and he encouraged people to get out and vote.

Primary blog: Knight says Trump is most prepared candidate in history

But then, just before Knight stepped off stage, things got a little strange.

He launched into what can only be called a parable. It wasn't about Trump; it wasn't about Knight. It was about "the man in charge" and his son Johnny. Here's a transcript of the tale:

I’ll talk to you one other thing about Donald Trump and how he operates and how he gets things done.

 Johnny walks into his dad’s office one morning and says,  ‘Dad, did Mom tell you I passed the driver’s test?’”

And Dad says, “Son, she did tell me that. She told me that the trooper who gave you the test said you had the best written and the best driving test of anybody he’s ever had. I’m so proud of you, Son.”

“Now, Dad, will that give me an opportunity maybe to drive your car or Mom’s car once in a while?”

Well, Son, now, this is the man in charge I’m talking about now. Or it could be the lady in charge. But this is all about the person that’s in charge.

And he said to his son, “Well, sure, Son. There’ll be a time for you to use one of our cars. However, there are some prerequisites. Your mother is not real happy with the way you treat your brother and sister. Your grades are two below what they should be. And I’ve talked to you son about reading, Son, about reading and I never see you read. And I’ve talked to you about the Bible because, Son, there are a lot of good things in the Bible that don’t have anything to do with religion.

“And then there’s one last thing, Son. And it’s that damn long hair of yours. I’ve told you to get a haircut and you haven’t done it. Now when you think you’ve done all of these things, Son, then we’ll talk about driving the car.”

About three weeks later, Johnny comes in to talk to his dad and says, “Dad, I wanted to talk to you, I think I’ve done a lot of things you’ve asked me to do.”

“Son, I’m proud of you. Your grades, the way Mom feels, the way you’re treating your brother and sister, all those things we talked about, all those prerequisites, really good in all of them. But there’s one thing left — it’s that damn long hair of yours and you haven’t done a thing with it.”

Now this is the man in charge, and that’s this man right here.

And that boy looked at him and he said, “Well, Dad, you know you got me to read the Bible. And I did. And when I read the Bible, I learned a lot of things. But, Dad, I also learned that Matthew, Mark , Luke, John, Jesus himself all had long hair, Dad.”

And the man in charge looked at that kid and he said, “Son, you are absolutely right. And they walked their ass off everywhere they went." 

The moral of the story? Well, someone has to be in charge.

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Allison Carter is an engagement producer at IndyStar. Follow her on Twitter @AllisonLCarter.