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Hall of Fame coach Knight to visit Hobbs

Hall of Fame coach Knight to visit Hobbs

Legendary college basketball coach Bobby Knight is coming to Hobbs.

Knight, one of college basketball’s most successful and innovative coaches, will be the guest speaker for an intimate evening of dinner and socializing, Tuesday, October 16 at Hobbs Country Club. All proceeds will benefit athletic scholarships at New Mexico Junior College. The evening will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a cash-bar reception, followed by a dinner buffet. Knight will then discuss his career and insight of basketball. A live auction immediately follows.

“Bobby Knight is a legend,” said Deron Clark, NMJC Athletic Director. “His willingness to come to Hobbs and help our athletics program speaks volumes for his high regard for education, and helping students become the best they can be. We are very fortunate to have this prestigious Hall of Famer whose name is synonymous with greatness and winning.”

Knight is one of only three men to win the college basketball national championship as a player and coach. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991, won three national titles with Indiana University, and was the first Division 1 men’s coach to accumulate 900 career wins.

He led the United States basketball team to gold medals at the 1979 Pan America Games and the 1984 Summer Olympics. It was in 1984 that he won the triple crown with an NCAA title, an NIT title, and an Olympic gold medal.

His first head coaching job was West Point, at the age of 24, the youngest varsity coach in college history. He won 102 games over the six years he was there. One of his players was Mike Krzyzewski, who later served as his assistant before becoming a Hall of Fame head coach at Duke. In 1971, Knight was hired by Indiana University, where he led the Hoosiers to several championships over 29 years. He was known as an innovator of the “motion offense”, which he perfected and popularized. He was also extremely prepared for each game, saying “Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win.”

After leaving Indiana in 2000, he began coaching at Texas Tech in 2001, where he led the team to postseason appearances in each of his first four years at the school (three NCAA Championship tournaments and one NIT), advancing to the Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament in 2005. Knight retired in 2008, and served as an analyst with ESPN until 2015.

Over the years, Knight won 11 Big Ten Conference titles, five Final Fours, and a 32-0 undefeated season in 1976.

Tables of eight for an evening with Bobby Knight are $1,000, with a limited amount of tickets available. Anyone interested in purchasing a table should contact Deron Clark:

(575) 492-2741 or dclark@nmjc.edu.

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