Texas Tech basketball docs we need: Bob Knight at the salad bar

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Head Coach Bobby Knight of Texas Tech receives a trophy. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /

Knight reprimanded, Smith eventually goes down in flames for a separate incident

Every documentary needs a compelling resolution. But at first, it didn’t seem like we were going to receive it.

Tech essentially did it’s best to sweep the incident under the rug. The university reprimanded Knight but decided not to suspend him.

In fact, one day after the altercation, Knight was on the bench as the Red Raiders took down Baylor in Lubbock 83-63. I’ll never forget the ovation he received from the crowd that night nor will I forget the green shirts a number of students were wearing. Those shirts said “Lettuce support Coach Knight”.

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That season, Knight would lead Tech to a 23-11 record and a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. A year later, his team would reach the Sweet 16, just the second time for any Texas Tech basketball team to do so since the tournament field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Knight would coach the Red Raiders until the middle of the 2008 season when he stepped down. During his time in Lubbock, he became the NCAA’s all-time Division I wins leader, surpassing Dean Smith by earning career win No. 880 in January of 2007. He then surpassed the 900-win milestone two years later.

However, Chancellor Smith, who many consider the villain in this story, saw his career take a turn worse than any controversy that Knight ever had to endure. That’s because he eventually found himself on the wrong side of the law. Talk about a fate all too common for people depicted in documentaries.

Leaving Tech in 2006, Smith became president at The State University of New York Upstate Medical University (SUNY Upstate). In 2018 though, he pleaded guilty to three counts of official misconduct related to his time at SUNY Upstate.

"According to EverythingLubbock.com, “’As part of a plea agreement, Smith must pay over $250,000 in restitution and fines,’ an official statement said.” “The investigation revealed, and Smith’s admissions in court today confirmed, that Smith abused his authority as President of Upstate to increase his pay without authorization, using several methods. “The statement said Smith directed an employee of his to approve money from the State University of New York Research Foundation. The money over the course of time totaled $189,412 in additional salary “he would not have otherwise earned.”"

Stealing money from a medical university’s research foundation? That makes any of Knight’s antics look like child’s play.

This incident had all the makings of a great documentary. There was a beloved but controversial head coach who had more public missteps than any coach in history but who also won more than any coach before him. Who better to play the role of the tragic hero?

His foil proved to be the man at the top of the Texas Tech food chain. He represented the authority that most common people in our society love to cast as the antagonist in any story. And as we can surmise by his eventual downfall, he was far from a bastion of righteousness himself.

Then there was the fact that the incident had the added sensational element of the beloved coach throwing vegetables at his boss. Who hasn’t wanted to do that once or twice in their life?

Next. The all-time Bob Knight Texas Tech team. dark

Unfortunately, Knight’s health has reportedly been in decline in recent years and his mental facilities may be leaving him. Thus, we won’t likely ever hear any more about this or any of his other memories from his time at Tech, both good or bad. Meanwhile, Smith and Myers would have no reason to dredge up this incident again. Therefore, we may never know what happened in 2004 at United but what we do know is that it would make one heck of a documentary.

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