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Indiana University Athletics has announced plans for a statue to honor former men's basketball coach Bob Knight, who won three national titles during his 29 years in Bloomington. 

Knight's statue will be displayed alongside the 1976 national championship statues in the south lobby of Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. The 1976 team -- Knight's first national championship squad -- remains the most recent Division I men's basketball team to go undefeated, finishing the year with a 32-0 record. 

Knight, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 83, posted a 662-339 during his time at Indiana that included two more national titles (in 1981 and 1987), five Final Four appearances and 24 NCAA Tournament appearances. He is a member Naismith Hall of Fame, the National College Basketball Hall of Fame, and the IU Athletics Hall of Fame. 

The announcement of the commission of Knight's statue was made on the night where members of the 1976 team were honored at Assembly Hall. 

The announcement of the statue comes just over 25 years after Knight's run at Indiana ended on a tumultuous note. In September of 2000, Knight was relieved of his duties after violating a "zero-tolerance" policy regarding his behavior. Knight and the school had been under the microscope for months after a former player claimed he had been chocked by Knight during a practice several years earlier. A video later surfaced that appeared to show Knight placing a hand on said player. 

Many Indiana fans were outraged at the school's decision to fire Knight, who finished his coaching career with a largely successful, seven-year run at Texas Tech that included a Sweet 16 appearance in 2005. 

Knight, who retired from coaching in 2008, kept his distance from Indiana during his first dozen years of retirement. 

"Well, I think that I've always really enjoyed the fans, and I always will," Knight told Dan Patrick in 2017. "On my dying day, I will think about how great the fans at Indiana were. As far as the hierarchy at Indiana University at that time, I have absolutely no respect whatsoever with those people. That in mind, I have no interest in ever going back to that university."

The relationship did repair itself to the point where Knight did return to Assembly Hall in February of 2020 to honor the 1980 Big Ten championship team. Knight and his former players received a thunderous ovation from fans who had waited nearly 20 years to give the old coach a proper sendoff. 

The statue announcement is confirmation that the school will continue to honor Knight's legacy as one of the most successful coaches in basketball history. 

"Coach Knight's influence on the game of basketball is immeasurable, but his impact on this university and Hoosier basketball fans is even deeper," said IU vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics  Scott Dolson. "On a personal level, having started my career here as a student manager under Coach Knight, I saw firsthand the unparalleled standard of excellence he demanded. He taught me, and countless others, that success is the result of meticulous preparation and unwavering discipline. 

"This statue will be a well-deserved tribute to a man who didn't just win games; he changed how the sport is played."