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    • What it was like for Pat Knight to coach against IU at Assembly Hall
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    What it was like for Pat Knight to coach against IU at Assembly Hall

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    BLOOMINGTON — Pat Knight admitted it was a spur-of-the-moment thing Friday night when, upon returning as Marian coach, he received a standing ovation from the Assembly Hall crowd, jogged to midfield, knelt and kissed the State of Indiana logo on Branch McCracken Court painted.

    On the one-year anniversary of his father's death, Pat Knight took his new program to the building he called his “playroom” as a child for an exhibition meeting with Mike Woodson's Indiana.

    Knight, who was hired as head coach at Marian last spring, enjoys a life full of memories in the arena where his father, Bob, found so much success as IU's head coach. Pat began his Marian term with a few more.

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    “I grew up here, you know?” Pat Knight said after the game, following a 106-64 IU win in the exhibition on Friday. “I had a key to the auditorium. This was my playroom. …

    “It’s like home to me, so it’s just special to be back here.”

    Pat Knight played for his father from 1991 to 1995 and then coached under him as an assistant near the end of Bob Knight's tenure in 1999 and 2000. His son followed his father to Texas Tech and eventually took over in Lubbock when Bob Knight retired in 2008. Pat also coached under Lamar and then worked as a scout for the Pacers for 10 years before returning to coaching earlier this year.

    He knew Friday night would test his young Marian team. He could see the Knights overwhelmed at times by the scene, the crowd and the atmosphere. But he also left the building knowing that this experience will serve his team well next season.

    “It was good for us,” Knight said. “It’s good for these kids to learn what the next level is about.”

    There was an inevitable sense of ceremony associated with Knight's return.

    In addition to his standing ovation, Indiana welcomed his wife, Amanda, and his mother, Nancy. Woodson met with Knight on the field before the game and took time before the game started to climb into the stands and also hug Nancy Knight.

    The building has changed since Pat Knight explored its nooks and crannies as a young man, but some things still remain. Like the zigzag ramps on the north side that he ran remote-controlled cars up and down after Christmas. Or the one basket his father would allow him to shoot before Pat Knight was old enough to join the Hoosiers for full practice as a player.

    Knight laughed after the game when he admitted that when he exited the visitors' tunnel for the first time, he was so disoriented that he thought IU had swapped the traditional placement of its home benches (north end) and visitors benches (south end).

    But it's all still a memory Knight will cherish on his final visit to his “second home.”

    “I’ll never get out of that locker room, I was so confused,” he said, smiling. “But it was great. To go back, it was one of the greatest things ever.”

    Listen to Mind Your Banners, our IU athletics podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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    Kathleen William
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