Kirk Herbstreit shares heartfelt story following Bob Knight's passing

When Kirk Herbstreit’s dad attended Ohio State, he was classmates with Bob Knight. The legendary Indiana coach played for the Buckeyes and won a national championship in Columbus in 1960.

Knight passed away Wednesday at age 83, and tributes came in from across the college sports world. Herbstreit was among them, sharing a story about the last time he saw Knight. It was when the Hall of Famer worked for ESPN and called a game at Vanderbilt, and they met up at a local restaurant.

They started talking, and time ticked away.

“Last time I saw Bobby Knight he was in Nashville calling a @VandyMBB game and he wanted to meet for lunch,” Herbstreit wrote on social media Wednesday night. “So @ReceDavis (doing play by play that night) and my good friend and producer Bill Bonnell and Coach Knight met me at Tazikis in Green Hills. After an hour or so Bill and Rece headed back to the hotel to get ready for the game and coach wanted to stay with me and just chat. I knew him but not that well. My Dad and he were classmates and at Ohio State and he felt a connection because of that. We sat and talked for another 2 hours-mostly me listening.

“I’ve always been grateful for that time alone with him and listening to his stories and him asking me about my family. I know he became a controversial figure as the years went by but I always enjoyed my time with Coach Knight and have always been impressed to hear the majority of his players talk about the impact he had on their lives. God bless him and his family.”

More on Bob Knight’s legendary career

Knight became one of the all-time great college basketball coaches during his 29 years at Indiana. He led the Hoosiers to three national championships, including one in 1976 when they went undefeated. No team has accomplished such a feat since.

In his 29 years at Indiana, Knight totaled a 662-239 record — including a 353-151 mark in conference play — as he became the program’s all-time winningest coach. The Hoosiers made it to the NCAA Tournament in all but four of his years as head coach.

All told, Knight totaled a 902-371 record as a head coach at IU, Army and Texas Tech, which puts him at sixth on the NCAA’s all-time wins list. In addition to his achievements at the college level, Knight also took the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team to a gold medal.