"When you played for Coach Knight, you attended class everyday": Steve Alford once spoke on Indiana HC Bob Knight's love for the team

Former Dallas Mavericks guard Steve Alford played college basketball at Indiana for four seasons under coach Bob Knight. Alford was a prolific scorer for the Hoosiers, scoring 2,438 points, leading the team to a national championship in 1987.

In Nov. 2023, a day after Knight's demise, Alford, now the head coach at Nevada, appeared on the Big Ten Network, where he recalled his time in Indiana and playing for Knight.

Host Dave Revsine asked Alford how he handled Knight's hard-nosed coaching style despite being the team's star player.

"When you played for Coach Knight you attended class every day,” Alford said (at 8:38). "It's different if you're somewhere where going to class wasn't a priority, but at Indiana under Coach Knight, getting that degree, showing you respect for your education and going to class was just something you knew about."

Alford further raved about Bob Knight's love for his players and the team.

"[Bob] loved building a team. You might not have always understood that from the outside — people might not have understood that — and there were times on the inside that there were struggles from that. But deep down, you had to know how much Coach loved you, how much he cared for you."

He concluded by saying it was imperative to understand what Knight was trying to convey as opposed to how he was trying to convey it.

Steve Alford broke down in tears while recalling last meeting with Bob Knight

Bob Knight, a legendary figure in college basketball, passed away at the age of 83 at his home in Bloomington, Indiana. A former player under Knight, Steve Alford, expressed the deep bond he had with his mentor and how he was severely affected by his passing.

During the same interview with Dave Revsine on the Big Ten Network, Alford was visibly emotional when speaking about his final encounter with Knight, a little over a month prior to his demise.

"I see him a little over a month ago, obviously not in very good health at the time, but I was able to know the family so long," Alford said (at 0:45). "I started going to those camps when I was a third grader, so Pat [Knight] was in junior high when I was playing at Indiana.

"During coach's poor health about a month ago, when I was in town, I was able to go by and see coach but also spend about three hours with Pat, which was very, very helpful just to share stories and talk about coach."

Bob Knight coached college basketball for 43 seasons, including 29 seasons at Indiana, where he won three national championships.