When former national champ Steve Alford recalled Bob Knight making him walk home after getting a suspension

Nevada Wolfpack coach Steve Alford is one of the most renowned players to have played under the legendary Indiana Hoosiers coach Bob Knight. Alford was part of the team that won the 1987 national championship, the fifth for the Hoosiers and Knight's third.

During a November 2023 segment of the "Dan Patrick Show," Alford added to the collection of hilarious anecdotes about the coach's famous disciplinary methods.

Alford detailed how he had been suspended for posing for a calendar cover for charity on campus but still got on the bus for the trip to play the Kentucky Wildcats. He was, however, made to walk back to campus by Knight.

"So, I was on the bus and when you exit the bus for a road trip, coach always hits you on the back," Alford said (1:40 onwards). "We got our trench coats on, it's cold and I'm one of the last players off the bus. He hits me and then he grabs the back of my coat and pulls me back in the bus and says, 'What are you doing?'

"'You're at home. You're suspended, think about what you did. Support your teammates from home and find your own way home.' It's 20 minutes from campus out in the middle of winter and I just start walking. I see the plane go through the clouds, I get about half a mile down the road and the poor bus driver saw all this, the bus pulls up, he opens the door and he goes, 'Need a ride?'"

Steve Alford's recruitment by Bob Knight

Steve Alford and Bob Knight's relationship started when the former was nine years old and attended a camp put together by the legendary coach. Alford, an Indiana native, was named Indiana Mr. Basketball for his performances for New Castle Chrysler High School.

During an interview with "WishTV" after Knight died at the age of 83, Alford revealed how the coach recruited him.

“My dream every workout I did on the driveway or at New Castle Fieldhouse was preparing myself to hopefully be good enough that he would be interested in me, and then when I committed to him prior to my junior year, that was the most special moment. He called my dad," Steve Alford said.

"Dad pulled me out of the cafeteria and said that coach had just called and offered me a scholarship and wanted to know what I wanted to say, and, obviously, it was ‘yes,’ and my dad was like, ‘I figured that, so I already told him that so I don’t have to call him back."

Alford was a two-time consensus first-team All-American under Knight and helped lead the Hoosiers to the 1987 national championship. He also played for Knight on the 1984 Olympic team.

After graduating from Indiana, Steve Alford wrote a book about his experiences playing for Bob Knight. The pair even butted heads as coaches after Alford took the Iowa Hawkeyes job.