DRC Bobby Knight slaps player in face

[OldTimer]

07:40 AM CST on Tuesday, November 14, 2006

By TIM MacMAHON / The Dallas Morning News

LUBBOCK – Win No. 871 for Bobby Knight was marred by an incident on the sideline in which replays showed the Texas Tech coach slapping a player in the face.

ESPN replays of the Red Raiders' 86-74 win over Gardner-Webb on Monday night showed Knight striking the face of forward Michael Prince, a sophomore from Plano West, with an open right hand during a second-half timeout at a mostly empty United Spirit Arena.

Prince, who scored two points in 11 minutes, committed a turnover that angered Knight prior to the timeout.

Knight did not address the incident in his postgame press conference, which lasted less than four minutes. He complained about the poor attendance and answered only one question before leaving the podium.

No players were made available for comment, and attempts to reach school officials were unsuccessful.

With the victory, Knight pulled within eight wins of all-time NCAA leader Dean Smith. But it didn't come easy.

Tech (2-0) managed to have a 34-27 halftime lead despite shooting 42 percent from the floor and committing nine turnovers. But even with 62 percent shooting in the second half, Tech struggled to put away Gardner-Webb.

Tech guard Jarrius Jackson scored 12 of his team-high 22 points in the second half. Forward Martin Zeno scored 15 of his 19 points and center Esmir Rizvic had 11 of his 17 after the break.

Tech will play Arkansas-Little Rock, an 81-79 winner over Akron, at 9 p.m. tonight. The winner advances to next week's College Basketball Experience Classic semifinals in Kansas City.

Gardner-Webb went scoreless until the 13:52 mark of the first half. The Bulldogs missed their first eight shots, but hung around mostly because of 11-of-28 shooting from beyond the 3-point line.

E-mail tmacmahon@dallasnews.com

Edited November 14, 2006 by OldTimer

[CMJ]

It didn't look like a heavy slap, more of a attention getter. I've seen other coaches do the same thing in the past. I think it got so much attention because Knight has been a loose cannon in the past.

[untbowler]

some people need to get over this overly pampering of athletes, no wonder they are such primadonnas. For crying out loud the kid and his mom said it was nothing. this nothing more than the press piling on eager to make a mountain out of a molehill.

[MeanGreenBuzz]

some people need to get over this overly pampering of athletes, no wonder they are such primadonnas. For crying out loud the kid and his mom said it was nothing. this nothing more than the press piling on eager to make a mountain out of a molehill.

←

I agree. The fact that this is getting any press is BS. He should not be fired or even punished for this. He got the kids attention and the kid will play better for the rest of his career for it. Hell you see football coaches grab players by the face mask and jerk their head around or smack them on the helmet to get their attention all the time. If JJ had done this during a game no one would have even mentioned it much less it making Sports Center.

[good_ken]

Is this any different than when a fotoball coach grabs the facemask of a player to grab his attention?

[untwillrise]

I don't know how many of ya'll played organized ball, but a coach should never call out a single player on the court. It is nothing like football, in football if a coach yells and grabs a player for missing a tackle that player will take out his anger on the next person in his way. But basketball is all about confidence, timing, and keeping your head. I could care less what you do behind closed doors, you could bitch slap someone, but never do it on the court.

[gksmith]

Knight, player, parents, administration, students at Tech all say it was nothing.

I watched the tape on PTI. You can read Bobby's lips. It isn't a slap or a punch. It was a hard nudge under the chin and Bobby says "Look at me." He was getting the kid to raise his head up.

There was no slap, punching, kicking, choking, chair throwing, et al.

The only reason this is news is because it is Bobby Knight. If it were any other coach, this would be page 3, smallest story in the bottom corner below the horizontal fold and hidden by the vertical fold of the newspaper. For the record there have been other coaches that grabbed or smacked players in recent times with only a casual mention by any media. But since it is Knight, ESPN devoted an entire FIRST segment on SportsCenter with a debate between two analysts (and the analyst condemning Knight looked like an idiot!).

This story needs to just die. The player and his parents (former college BB players also) said it was no big deal. Those three parties are all that matter. If they say "no big deal" to this incident, then it truly is NO BIG DEAL.