Bob Knight's legacy still being debated 14 years after his firing

BLOOMINGTON – Clad in a blue collared shirt, with a crimson sweater pulled down over it, Bob Knight made his return to Bloomington one day shy of a year ago.

An estimated 900 fans showed up, as Knight promoted his book, "The Power of Negative Thinking." The Wal-Mart hosting the event hung makeshift replicas of the Hoosiers' national championship banners. It was a distinctly IU affair.

But as Knight prepares to speak Thursday night at The Palladium in Carmel, any sort of official return to Indiana — he was fired in September 2000 — remains unlikely.

This was once a source of great consternation. Nationally, it was believed Indiana needed Knight back in the family to seem whole once more.

That perception, if it was ever fully grounded in reality, appears to have changed.

"I just don't think it's that big of a deal," said Luke Burch, a junior from Corydon who is active with Indiana's Student Athletic Board.

When then-IU President Myles Brand made the decision to fire Knight in 2000, University Chancellor emeritus Ken Gros Louis said he knew it would anger alumni and fans.

But Brand "was astonished by the viciousness of the emails and letters than he got," Gros Louis said. Peg, his wife, was so concerned that she began spending more of her time at a university-provided residence in Indianapolis.

That vitriol helped create a perception that Indiana lost significant booster support. Scott Dolson, deputy director of IU athletics, said that wasn't accurate.

"It definitely brought out a lot of emotion," said Dolson, who ran IU's Varsity Club before assuming his current position. He was also student manger of 1987 championship team. "There certainly were some (boosters who distanced themselves from IU), but in terms of the masses, I never felt that."

Still, a direct link to Knight remained until 2006, when Mike Davis, the man who replaced him, stepped down.

Davis was followed by Kelvin Sampson, whose recruiting indiscretions plunged the program into a years-long rebuilding process. That process reset IU basketball in the minds of some fans.

"When Tom Crean got here, it almost seems like a new chapter," said Aaron Olson, an IU student born in Evansville. "That was the starting point."

J.T. Forbes, head of the IU Alumni Association since 2010 and himself an IU alumnus, was speaking to a student leader on campus recently, when Knight's name came up. A student asked why Knight had been fired.

"That was a watershed moment for me," Forbes said. "Some of what is a very passion-inducing experience toward the end of his career is not something our current students and more recent alumni know much about."

Olson, who describes his family as full of longtime IU fans, said he believes many fans still hope Knight returns to the program someday.

But he believes Knight's legacy at IU has changed since the controversial ending.

"It has kind of faded over time, and what people associate with him are championships and greatness," Olson said. "They don't talk about the bad, or times he said things that were controversial."

Said Dolson: "What's talked about more, what people reminisce about, is just more the great teams he had here, and his legacy."

Does Knight still cast a shadow over the program he led to three national championships, one with which he was synonymous for so many years? Everyone interviewed for this story suggested that the answer was no.

But Indiana has tried hard to make Knight feel welcome, if he ever does return to Bloomington. He was inducted into IU's Hall of Fame in 2009, and Dolson, Crean and IU coach Tom Crean have all strived to honor his achievements.

A friend of Knight's during his time in Bloomington, Gros Louis said "Knight fans are still Knight fans." But those around the department believe IU basketball has long since moved on from the controversy that soured its legendary coach's relationship with the program.

"Sometimes," Dolson said, "I'll try to think to myself how many people in this department worked here when Bob Knight was here. It's a handful. It's very small. Even people in the department will ask me, 'What was it like when coach Knight was here? ... Time just goes on. It just does."

Follow Star reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.