"*" "(Narrator)Formost people, most of the time, even the very thought of perfection can be a trap." "Despite plans, preparation and practice, it's simply an unrealistic goal." "But the Indiana coach was not like most people, and the 1976 Hoosiers were not an ordinary team." "They demanded the most of each other, and they had the capacity to fulfill the highest of expectations." "His." "Something their coach made perfectly clear on the first day of the 1976 season:" "Yourgoalis notwinning the Big Ten Championship, not winning the National Championship, but going through the entire season, from first game to NCAA Championship game undefeated." "*" "BobKnightoncesaidthat  basketball might have been invented in Massachusetts, but it was made for Indiana." "So much so that it would be hard for any place and any sport anywhere in the United States to be more connected than Indiana and College Basketball." "The undeniable truth is that basketball simply means more in Indiana." "(boys laugh)" "Inthesmalltownsand the farms that dot the state, folks are born into the game, and are weaned on the Hoosiers." "It's a personal and imminent love affair that goes back to the days of IU's first two national championships," "1940 and 1953." "(crowd cheers)" "Butitwouldtake another 23 years, and one magical team for Indiana to again be crowned champions, a summit they were nowhere near in the mid-60s." "Indianawasn'twinning, the bottom kind of dropped out, there was a 5 year period when Indiana was last in" "The Big Ten 4 years." "Thetalentwasn't there, the coaching, quite frankly, wasn't there." "They had one year where they won the Big Ten championship, but I was here from 1966 to 1970 and the cultural change was such that competitive sports were not at the forefront of the new generation." "(crowd protests)" "WhenI enteredtheuniversity in 1969 as a freshman, a time of turmoil, a time of controversy." "Spring of 1970 was the Cambodian Incursion, and bombing that led to protest on campus." "Somewhere around 10,000 to 12,000 people in Dunn Meadow." "We were averaging about 2,000 to 3,000 spectators in the old field house." "That was not a good way to pay bills." "Tiredofmediocrity, in the spring of 1971" "Indiana handed the ball to Bob Knight, an impressive but demanding 30 year old coach from Army who immediately showed why he was called "The General"." "WhenI wentto Indiana, the first day I was there" "I wanted each player in my office that day, and so I just wanted them to know what they could expect and what I expected." "Iwalkedin to  shake his hand, welcome him here, and he said" ""Steve, I want you to figure out where you want to transfer to when you leave Indiana."" "I said "What do you mean, Coach?" "I'm not" " I'm your center!" "I'm the best player you got here"," "I'm thinking this, you know." "He said "No, I've looked at your grades and you're just doing C work, you're doing just enough to get by, and if you're that way in the classroom, you'll be that way as a basketball player" "and I can't use anybody like that."" "I ended up with a 3.0 point average because I really thought that he would make me leave if in fact my grades didn't improve." "We were a loose bunch, I mean, nobody was used to running 4 miles a day, doing all these things that he asked us to do in practice, I mean, two and a half hour workouts and," "I mean, he punished us." "All he did was holler at us the whole time." "I did not really like Coach Knight to be honest with you (laughs)" "I've never seen him smile." "Thepracticewas open for anybody who wanted to come and watch you practice, and when Coach Knight came that was all over." "Alotof peoplewere upset about that 'cause they had cages, a wire cage is what it was," "I mean, that separated the floor from the tunnel, and he had a sign "Closed Practice", and they'd stand there, "What is this?"" "you know, and if that didn't leave, they sent a manager over there to make them get out." ""Thereain'tgonna be any open practices"," "I said, "we're gonna practice, and we're gonna practice, and we're gonna work at getting better." "They can come watch us play on Saturday."" "I didn't particularly like the way they played, they were used to running and shooting a lot and I've always felt that you have a lot better chance with good defense and Indiana didn't have that." "I learned an awful lot about the returns for good defensive play when I was at West Point." "*" "I'lltreasure that my entire life." "Itwasaperfectplace for a history major to go, and he was quite absorbent of that atmosphere." "Traditions, all the things that West Point stood for." "You look at Bob's 6 years there, and they stand out by themselves in Army history." "He was 102-50 there, nobody has done that, nobody has had a sustained period like that, and always the leaders are the team defense." "Herecomes this guy from Army," "I was his first recruit back in '71, and one of the first books I got after signing was a Devil on the cover, "How To Play defense", another one was a guy on a ladder putting a ball through" "a hoop and saying "we gotta get a good shot", and I go "Oh my gosh, what did I get into?", 'cause I was a run and gun kind of kid." "That'stheway you were gonna play, and if you don't want to play that way, then you're gonna have your ass on the bench, or you may transfer." "He'ssomeonewho forged his own path and did things his own way, and if people liked it and got onboard, that's fine, if they didn't, he could care less, but one thing trumps everything else," "and that's winning, and people got behind him when he started to win, and win impressively." "InDecemberof 1971, Digger Phelps was a first year coach at Notre Dame," "Bob Knight's a first year coach at Indiana, and Indiana won the game, believe it or not, 94-29." "They just crushed Notre Dame." "Knight'sdisciplineddefense first approach might have seemed foreign to Hoosiers fans, but it clearly worked." "In just his second season, Indiana marched all the way to the 1973 Final Four." "Thisistheworst defense we've played all year, you're letting them do anything they wanna do." "Let's play some basketball." "Butinthe National Semi-Finals, the Hoosiers were beaten by Bill Walton's UCLA, the eventual National Champions." "Almost overnight, the culture had changed in Bloomington, thanks to players like Quinn Buckner, who was the starting point-guard as a freshman on the 1973 Final Four team." "Just a year after he chose Indiana over several other high-profile schools." "Hehada recruiting trip here, and I was in the car with him, we were driving around," "I said "Well Quinn, where else are you thinking of going?"" "he said "I'm thinking of going to UCLA and Michigan", and he's riffing off all these schools like" ""Wow, this guy's really, really up there"," "I mean, I just barely got into Indiana and this guy is, you know, he can go anywhere he wants." "Hecameto Indiana largely because his father had played football here." "Mydadwas 5'10 and 280 lbs." "He said "Sign this, boy, you're going to Indiana"." "He said, "You can go to UCLA and win a championship and be one of many", he said, "you can go to Indiana and win a championship and you'd be one of very few"." "Inadditionto basketball, Buckner also played football, starting all 10 games as a freshman." "But midway through his sophomore season, he began to rethink his decision to try both sports." "Mysophomoreyear I got hit so hard" "I could feel it today, and I'm pretty sure it was Ohio state." "(crowd cheers)" "ScottMayusedtocome  to games and watch me play, and said "Quinn, you need to get off the football field"." "Theyusedto get killed at football." "I don't know if the two years that he played that they won half their games, it was that bad." "Weusedto talk about it quite a bit, back in the dorm or at dinner, whatever, and I was like "Man, maybe you oughta quit, maybe you oughta concentrate on basketball, we need you, we're trying to win" "the National Championship."" "Ijusttoldhim  one day, I said" ""Here's what we're gonna do:" "I'm going to release a statement." "You're going to have to give up football to play basketball, that we need you as a full-time basketball player, then that way if anybody's irritated they can be irritated with me, and so that worked out very well." "Knightwasnot one for fooling around." "He knew this group was capable of doing something special." "In addition to Buckner, the Hoosiers had also landed one of the best high school players in the country, forward Scott May." "WhenCoachrecruited me, he recruited my mom." "She would always say that it was just something about him that she really liked, versus the other coaches." "She thought that he would help me and take care of me and at that time in my life, I needed some structure because" "I was kind of a loose cannon as a young kid." "I'd say it worked out - worked out alright." "Thosetwoguyswerelike  finding gold in a cuckoo clock, because they had the two qualities most important in winning." "They were smart, and they were tough." "InMay'sfirstyear,1974 , Indiana finished 23-5, beating Purdue in the season's final game to tie for 1st in the Big Ten." "'74 was also Kent Benson's first year in Bloomington, although the team's sensitive, homegrown center wasn't sure he wanted to stay." "Coachwas on him all the time " ""Ben, you gotta do this, you gotta do that", and he'd say "Lass, Coach doesn't like me", he said "I'm gonna get in the Chrysler," "I'm driving back to Newcastle, I'm out of here."" "And I said "Okay Ben, let me walk back with you", and I said "Benny, we really need a center, and you're the guy, that's why he's on you so much"," "and in 8 and a half minutes I talked him out of it, okay?" "And then the next week would come by, and Knight was on him again." "He'd say "Lass, I'm driving back to Newcastle," "I'm out of here" another three times, okay?" "And each time I talked him out of it, and I'm so glad that he stayed." "I'm so glad he stayed." "Bensonmight have stuck it out, but the outcome wasn't the same for another shy country boy from rural Indiana." "CoachcallsGreeno,Benson and I in the office after my junior year and he says "I want you to drive to French Lick and go talk to this kid and his coach", so we drive down there and we take him to" "the Pizza Hut for lunch." "Wespentthe whole day with him, got pizza, met his coach and the whole deal, shot hoops, and on the way back I'm talking to Lass and Benny," "I go "Did he say anything?" "Did he ever say anything?" "We're never gonna get this guy, he hates us!"" "Then I went back and told Coach Knight," "I said "Don't count on him at all because I don't think he has any interest", but two weeks later" "Coach came in and said "Hey, Larry Bird signed"." "Herecomesone of the new freshmen," "Larry Bird, and so he was just like anybody else." "It wasn't like "Oh, Larry Bird is here" at practice, you know, it was just like all of us." "Heonlymade it about 10 days, and just too big, too many people." "Where'sthiskidBird?" "My brother said "I saw him out on Highway 37," "I think he's headed back to French Lick."" "I'm like "Oh, okay."" "Larry'sfromoneofthe poorest counties in the state, and IU's a substantial school for a young man like that and I do think it was a bit overwhelming, but it obviously worked out pretty good for him (laughs)" "EvenwithoutBird, by 1975 the Hoosiers had a chance to be one of the best teams in the country." "They had a talented young core, which also featured" "Bobby Wilkerson, an invaluable player with unusual skills." "Bobbyplayedguard, but jump center." "Jump center because he could jump higher than anybody had at 6'7." "Hewasafreak." "*" "Hisnickname was Spiderman." "Whenever I went on the road trip," "I always sat next to Bobby Wilkerson on the plane and he always made sure I had food." "He said "You need something else to eat, man?", and he'd give me some of his food, it was like "Man, you're Bobby Wilkerson," "I'm just some kid from the daily student"." "Spiderman was my favourite." "Keyedbytheirtwo guards, Indiana was now playing exactly the type of oppressive defense Knight desired." "Thecombinationof  Buckner and Wilkerson was devastating to most teams." "(Announcer) ... left side knocked away by Wilkerson with a steal" "Theywerebig range-y guys, tough guys, very quick, in my mind, the best pair of guards defensively ever to play the game." "Assoonas youstarted to get across half court," "I'm coming." "Quinnwouldput,like, three fingers on your hip, you know, you're dribbling the ball, three fingers, that's nothing." "He could" " I mean, he could control you, he was strong." "(Announcer) ... there's the ball stolen by Buckner" "Bobbywithjustthat absolutely long arm reach." "Bobby'sgottahave close to a 7 foot wingspan." "You're bringing the ball down, and Bobby's waiting on you, you're like "What is this?"" "(laughs) "What is this?" "!"" "(crowd cheers)" "(Announcer) ... knocked away, Bobby Wilkerson with the steal" "Itcanbe a little disconcerting." "(Announcer) ... he fights for it, and it's taken away by Quinn Buckner" "Takehimoutofplaying offense the way they like to play, now you take the joy out of the game from them." "TheHoosiersswarming defense might have taken the joy out of their opponents, but it did give the local McDonald's a considerable boost thanks to some clever ad men." "Acoupleof guysatadagency and I started talking about it, and we decided that we needed emphasis on a defense and so we came up with the idea that if Indiana held it's opponent below 50 points, you'd get a free" "hamburger, french fries and a soft drink." "We'dsittheretogetherand watch the games and hold on to our tickets hoping "Man, we're gonna get to go to McDonald's and we're gonna eat for free!" (laughs)" "Thefirsttimethat paid off was a game we were playing Iowa on a Saturday afternoon." "*" "Theyhadn'thada particularly good week of practice, and Bob had let 'em know that they're fat headed and they're arrived to be knocked off, and so they came out against Iowa and we were ready." "(Announcerindistinct) inside to Abernathy, and Johnny gets it in!" "... Buckner" " Buckner fires away, another!" "... Down to Green, gets a shot from 20 feet away and it's way in here." "... All the way for Wilkerson, and Spiderman lets it fly!" "Wegettheupperhand and it was a blowout for Indiana." "(whistle blows)" "(crowd cheers)" "Thescorewas102-49, and the crowd was really into it and just hanging on everything and screaming." "(crowd cheers)" "Thefansallofthesudden erupt at about the minute mark with " ""Burger,burger,burger", I mean with a passion, with a vengeance." "(crowd cheers)" "LuteOlsonwhowas  the coach at Iowa was absolutely bamboozled, he was perplexed." "Olsonknewnothing about the promotions, they thought that was the most bloodthirsty crowd they'd ever played before." "Andattheend the  crowd rushes out the door." "7,000peoplewoundup going right across the field to the McDonald's." "McDonald's took a big loss financially that day, but they came out way ahead." "(Announcer)toWilkerson, Wilkerson down " "Indianabreezedthroughthe  early part of the '75 season, reaching the new year at 11-0, but through all the winning, Knight never stopped coaching." "Hewouldhavethat little handheld cassette tape, and he would just - he'd hold it and play it just like that." "Sharinglessonshe learned from some of his mentors." "We'dgatheraroundinthe locker room and we're staring at a cassette but it was Red Auerbach." "(Red)Whenit comesto taking that last shot," "I like the guy who's gonna say" ""Give it to me!" "I'll take that shot."" "PeteNewell!" "(Pete)Manyteamsplayedthat  weak side backline defender too tight, so the basket area was open for a drive, it was open for this weak side cutter coming in." "Andveryelementary, our recording devices, but you could hear it." "If this person was that important to him that he would take the time to do this, it must be important to us too and so we would listen to what they talked about." "Itmaybelasted two or three minutes, but it just got emblazoned in our heads." "Thegreatplayers are dedicated." "Every year, they will work, and they'll pay the price." "Heconstantlyhadpeople talking to us about what it takes to be a champion." "Theresultswere near perfection." "By mid-January, Indiana was the Number 1 ranked team in the country, and looked to be unbeatable." "1975wehadthe bestteam  in college basketball by far." "We had really good athletes, we had smart kids, and I think we were at a time where in my own mind, it's time to win a championship." "Ifyougo backand  look at the scores and the margin of victories, they crushed people." "They were beating people in the Big Ten by 25, 30, 40 points." "*" "Theoffense was going by then, he had his shooters that he needed, he had Steve Green." "They had Laskowski, the super sub who could sort of ignite the offense." "As that season went on, Indiana got on the" "Sports Illustrated cover for the first time." "Iwasin class,my first class at 8:30, and one of the guys had bought it, one of the students had bought it, and he goes "Look!"" "Oh my gosh, on the cover of Sports Illustrated, that's the wildest thing that could ever happen, so I go to practice that day and Coach did not like the article at all and so I'm not having a great practice," "which was not unusual, and I remember he stopped it," ""Damnit, you get your picture on the cover of that magazine, you don't think you have to work anymore?" "!"" "And gee, he just blasted right into me." "Don'tstepin last- Jimmy drilled clear over here and he went past both of you." "Johnny, are you paying any attention to what the hell" "I'm telling you?" "And neither one of you even made a step in on the basketball, now step in on the ball!" "Thewholepoint through was, you know," ""Hey guys, it's great that they're featuring our team, it's great that we're the Number 1 team in the country, but we still got work to do." "Noteameverdominated the Big Ten like the Hoosiers in 1975." "They won all 18 conference games by an average of 23 points, and finished the regular season undefeated 29-0" "(Announcerindistinct) Indiana wins - in 1974-75" "The regular season is over and Indiana goes unbeaten" "Thefirsttwogamesofthe 1975 NCAA Tournament brought wins 30 and 31, but those were won without much help from Scott May, Indiana's best all-around player who had broken his left arm late in the year against Purdue." "Kentucky was next, a talented team Indiana had soundly beaten by 24 points earlier in the season, but that was with a healthy Scott May who was now clearly compromised." "(Announcer) Scott May brings it over all that heavy taking on his left arm " "*" "Hestartedthegame, but he had a tough time handling the ball." "He's a damn good defensive player, but he was really kind of being protective of that left arm." "Despitehisvalianteffort, May would only last 7 minutes." "Youknow,youcan 't play this game with one arm, you know, or you can't play this game thinking" ""Oh shoot, I might get hit."" "Scott'sinjury,of course, really tainted Indiana's chances in many respects because they weren't the same basketball team without Scott." "(Announcer)hegoesup for his shot, good " "Jack Gibbons having a great day." "Mike Williams playing (indistinct ) - but he lays it up and in." "AnIndianayearthatallyear long had played great defense," "Kentucky scored 92 points against them." "(Announcer)...onthe give and go to Flynn and he puts it in, Mike Flynn." "*" "IhadmovedWilkerson out of the guard position." "Defensively, he would take May's place, and it hurt us." "*" "Ibrokeup thebestpair  of defensive guards that ever played, and I always chastised myself for being dumb and doing that, and still do today, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish I'd had kept both of those guys at guard." "(Announcer)Kentuckyout plays Indiana 92-90 (indistinct)" "Welose92-90." "The only game I'll remember the losing score that we had of the how many thousand that" "Indiana university has played." "I'velovedIndiana basketball from the time I was 4 or 5 years old, and no loss came tougher than that one." "*" "Goingintothe locker room after the game, the pain those guys felt was so real." "Guys were sobbing and crying and a team that really thought their destiny was "win the national championship"" "saw it taken away from them and the seniors who had been Knight's first recruits, that was it, no more college basketball." "I remember Steve Green and John Laskowski really being particularly upset." "Veryhard." "Very hard, 'cause you didn't think your season was ending, you thought we had another week to go, we're going to San Diego for the Final Four, and we're gonna play Johnny Wooden in his" "last game as a coach, he'd already announced he was retiring, think about that match-up." "Wealreadyhaddrawnitup  in our minds that it was gonna be UCLA and Indiana, and that's what" "I wanted to be a part of and we were right there," "I mean, we were gonna do that, but it was one of those things that should've been but did not happen." "but did not happen." "ThefirstdayIwalked into the locker room there was a sign on the wall "Kentucky 92, Indiana 90"." "*" "AndI remembermy littletalk to them went like this:" "winning the Big Ten didn't make any difference, and winning the National Championship didn't make any difference." "If you will continue to work and follow what we want done, you have the ability to go undefeated, and anything less than that would not be the equivalent of what your capabilities were, and I said that's all," "and we started practice the next day." "Ithinkhe feltpretty comfortable saying that, but he also put that carrot out there as well, again, the psychological part of what Coach Knight does is infinitely more important and impactful than just the X and Os, it's about his ability to get you to do" "some things you don't think you're capable of doing." "The1976Hoosiersstarted their pursuit of perfection as the Number 1 ranked team in the country." "With four returning starters and one versatile and valuable veteran." "ThepriorthreeyearsIwas  basically like the seventh man, so then my senior year I was the starter and so the responsibility ratchets up." "Hewasgonnadowhateverit took to fit into that group, he knew those four guys had a dynamic and so he had to fit into them, they didn't have to adjust to him, and he had the ego where he could pull that off." "WhenI triedto go  outside of the abilities I had," "I'd hear from Coach "You don't need to be the star Abernathy, just go out and do what I need you to do"." "In1976Indianahad  stars all over the court." "There was Junior Kent Benson in the middle, a third year starter who was on his way to becoming a first string all-American center." "*" "BobbyWilkerson was back as well, focused on finishing what he and his teammates had come so close to doing the year before, along with fellow seniors Quinn Buckner and Scott May, the heart of the team." "ScottMayaveraged a lot of points, and so you would consider him a star, he was a star, but his role on the team was to score." "You'regonnaspendmostof your time setting screens for" "Scott, because if he gets open, he's gonna make shots." "Scott's as good a shot-maker that I've ever played with," "Larry Bird included." "If he was open from 16 - 17 feet, he's making that shot." "Buthealsocould pass, he could run, he could jump, he could play defense, he could do rebound." "There wasn't any element of the game that he wasn't very, very good at." "Oneofthegreatestthings I can say about Quinn:" "he may not make a shot the whole game, but when it came down to it, and it was winning time, he was gonna do something to help us win." "QuinnbasicallywasCaptain for this basketball program for four years, I mean, think about that." "But that's the kind of basketball mentality and leadership skills that Quinn Buckner had." "I'veneverbeenaround an athletic leader like Quinn Buckner." "Whether he scored or didn't score, it didn't make a bit of difference." "Whether he won or not made a lot of difference and he would sell that to everybody else." "InKnight'smindtherewas no doubt his team could handle whatever pressure he put on them." "So he started the '76 season with an exhibition game against the National team of the Soviet Union." "The reigning Olympic Champs." "Ifyourjersey'snot the  same as the jersey that my team has on, I don't like you, and that included the Soviet Union at the time." "Weknewthattheyhad cheated the United States for the gold medal in '72." "Mr.Ibawasone ofthe finest coaches I've ever known and I felt so sorry for him because he bore the brunt of what happened and it was totally unfair, it was totally illegal, and with that in mind," "I just thought that was a great way to open things." "Igotakickoutof that one." "*" "DespitetheSoviet's decided age advantage, the Hoosiers totally outclassed their more experienced opponents, winning in a rout 94-78." "But Knight wasn't satisfied with just beating the Olympic Champs, he had another challenge in mind for his team to start the regular season." "Bobgoesintothe locker room one day to Quinn and Scott, he turns to them and says "How would you like to play UCLA in" "St. Louis as our first regular season game?"" "Yeah." "I mean, it was literally that quickly." "Coachdoesnot dodge anybody." "Beingatfilm school in Los Angeles, and in listening to everybody talk about the dominance and the greatness of UCLA over and over again," "I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to watching that game on television with my friends who were UCLA buffs." "Onceagain,it  was no contest." "Indianadestroyed them by 20." "That was one of the sweetest victories I have ever experienced in my entire life (laughs)" "Butwhenthe season got going, not every game would be easy." "The close calls started in early December with Kentucky." "Kent Benson's unlikely tip-in with 6 seconds left tied the game, and the Hoosiers won in overtime." "Wehadsomeclose games that season." "We saw a couple of those games and we poured out some victories, you would walk away scratching," ""How did they win that?"" "I said that same thing, "How did we do this?"" "LaterintheyearBigTen rival Michigan had an 8 point lead with 9 minutes to play." "Inthesecondhalf, he asked me to go in the game and he said "I need some offense", and I was going in the game to try and go in and just move the ball to the right guys that play defense and" "I was confused so I went from the score table back to the bench and I said "Excuse me coach, did you say it's okay to shoot?", and of course I won't repeat what he said," "but in essence he said "Yes", and so I just said" ""My God this is wonderful", so every time I touched the ball I shot it." "SophomoreWayneRedford's season high 16 points rescued the Hoosiers, but it was Jim Crews' last second desperation play that saved the perfect season." "(Announcer)downto  7 seconds (indistinct)   base line, back out to Quinn, shot in the air " "(indistinct) Crews lifts it up - score!" "It went in!" "(crowd cheers)" "Andthenwe  beat 'em in overtime." "Jimmy Crews to me in my opinion saved our whole year on one play." "HadJimmynotbeenable  to get the ball and get it even close to the rim, we're beat." "Thewinoverthe Wolverines was also memorable for another more unsettling reason." "Therewasaguardonthat team by the name of" "Jimmy Wisman who was this angelic looking guy." "He made a couple of mistakes and Knight reached out and grabbed him by the jersey and kind of pulled him towards the bench." "The picture showed Knight in all of his fury, and Jimmy Wisman in all of his fear, and what made it such a big deal was the" "Indianapolis Star put it on the front page, not on the front of the sport's section, it was on the front page of the Sunday Indianapolis Star the next morning." "Uh-oh, he's not gonna be happy about this." "He had a TV show every Sunday with Chuck Marlowe, and he blasted The Star and he wanted people to call The Star and complain." "Butmuchto Knight's chagrin, Bob Collins, the Sports Editor of the Indianapolis Star did not back down." "Collinsdidnothingmore than publish Bob's privately listed telephone number." "Ifyouwanttofile  your opinion on this thing, call Coach Knight and tell him yourself." "AsIndianamovedcloserto an undefeated season in 1976," "Bob Knight remained the same." "He could be sensitive, he could be intimidating, but overall, he remained as committed and demanding as ever, and his team responded as the pressure to perform intensified." "Wehadahuge bullseye on our back." "The more you stay undefeated, the bullseye kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger." "Everytimewe walked into somebody else's arena, we were the biggest game for that season." "It'susagainst everybody else." "Bring it on, we love it." "Bring on your best shot." "(crowd cheers)" "Wefearedno one, we respected everyone, because we knew we had prepared to be where we were." "It allowed us to be relentless in our pursuit." "That's all Coach Knight really is." "That's the brilliance in the man." "*" "He'sverydemanding." "He was demanding about perfection." "Indiana'sdoing their walkthrough practice, and the game is gonna be on TV and all the TV production guys were there setting up cables and lines and camera and all that stuff." "I'm sitting there watching this, and he's pacing up and down the baseline getting madder and madder that these guys were causing a distraction in his practice." "All of the sudden, he just went nuts." ""I told you guys, you know, this is my practice, and shut up, and get the hell out of here", and all this stuff, and it was, like wow, that was the first time I'd seen his volcanic temper." "Hedidn'ttreatmeany different than the last guy on the team." "When it was my week to be on my ass about something," "I went and do it, if I didn't play defense, or if I didn't help out on the screen I got it." "Hecouldbe  boisterous, he could, you know, knock over the water cooler to get his point across to me, and no matter which way he did it," "I always listened to what Coach said to me, but not how he said it." "Besidesthefactthathe was 6'5 and 235 and could scream like a mad grizzly bear, you could feel it, you could see it, you could understand it, there was an intensity in everything." "Everybody got a burgundy red suit jacket to wear." "You would see our team travel, coats, ties, slacks." "We'd come back from practice, go to the room, eat, whatever, have a team meeting, we would put our coats and ties on, there was none of this "just put your sweatpants on" "and come down to the meeting" and that being said, even if you had two more meetings that night, you would get back out of bed and put your coat and tie on and come back to the meeting." "(Laughs)Well,most of us only had one suit, couple of ties, but yeah, that was a thing, you know, we play as a team, we look like a team." "Theonlytimethatit really challenged me was my senior year when he benched me." "I had started every game since I was a freshman, and he benched me for two games, Iowa and Minnesota." "Buckner'sbenchingcameafter he moved off campus and had" "Knight believing his star point guard wasn't taking proper care of his health." "Wewereoutofthedorm and we weren't eating right, and in the dorm you eat good food, you eat nutritious food, I'm not (laughs) you know, once I'm off campus, I'm excited and I'm eating" "fast food and it cost me." "Thatwasatoughtime for Quinn if I remember right 'cause" "Coach rode him pretty hard, but that happens when you don't eat right, you know?" "Hespentallofhis time getting us to the point that not doing the little things was something that we could not accept." "Idon'tseehow the hell a guy can get away with it." "Just get some more motion before we get to the point where we got a shot." "Oneofthehardestthingsfor a coach is that when the team understands that it is good, we've gotta have the same effort." "Thisiswherewewere playing about the best we've played in the first half." "Ineverletthemthink that just winning was important." "I wanted to win playing as well as we could play." "Wedidn'tplaywell, that was at Ohio state." "After the game the media guys thought it was the Officiating, and so he was so upset." "Don't let these kids believe it the was the officiating, it was our poor performance." "AndI alwaysthinkthatwhen  kids get things going in the right direction that's the time when you've really gotta get on them." "Comeon,faketrack, fake track, fake track." "Theweekwe practiced for teams that we had superior talent and kind of knew we did and he could see that we did he drove us to the ground to make sure we understood how hard we had to play" "to really not give that other team any sense that they had a chance." "AndI 'msuretherewere times after we left the locker room having won a game that kids said" ""Boy, is he ever satisfied?" "He just chewed our ass up one side and down the other, and we won by 17 points"." "*" "Weweremuchlikehim,  work, come to practice, do what you gotta do, detailed." "You can't slip up." "Itfeltlikewe were a 500 ball club." "The way we were working in practice and how focused he was, you know, I'm thinking" ""We're undefeated, aren't we?"" "Therereallywasn'tmuch the Hoosiers did wrong in 1976." "They finished the regular season with a 29 point thrashing of Ohio state." "The 37th Consecutive Big Ten win, and second straight title." "At 27-0, Indiana was just 5 wins away from a perfect season." "Asthetop-rankedteam in the country, Indiana might have expected a simpler path to perfection, but the NCA tournament was anything but a coronation." "Starting with the Hoosiers close win over 6th ranked Alabama in the regional semi-finals, Indiana's last four opponents were all teams ranked nationally in the top 10." "The highest was Al McGuire and second-ranked Mark Brey, but even with Scott May struggling the Hoosiers methodically won by 9 to reach Philadelphia and Knight's second Final Four." "In the semi-finals, college basketball's past met the present." "UCLA had won 10 of the last 12 national championships, but as they were earlier in the year, the Bruins again proved to be no match for the Hoosiers." "(Announcer) 5 seconds - he scores!" "It's over and Indiana, and the final ballgame," "Indiana and Michigan, it's all Big Ten." "IfIndianawanted to realize it's destiny in the city of brotherly love, the Hoosiers would have to defeat a familiar opponent with a coach who was more friend than foe." "JohnOrrandBob  were good friends, and they did needle each other big time, and Gerald Ford was the president at the time, that Michigan guy, and John Orr got a call and his secretary said "Coach, President Ford's on the phone" (laughs)" "I think he - he picked it up and, uh " "Wellitwasprobablya relatively poor impersonation of Gerald Ford." "I tried to disguise my voice a little bit, and he called John to congratulate him on the parents and the Final Four and wish him well and - it took him about 10 minutes 'till he realized that it wasn't" "President Ford talking to him." "(Announcer)Tonight, Indiana University, unbeaten in 31 games and ranked number one since the beginning of the 1975 -1976 season, meet the Michigan Wolverines for the National Collegiate Athletic Association" "Basketball Championship." "Ifyousithereand think that we're going to beat" "Michigan because we beat them twice, that isn't gonna happen." "If we slide at all, we're gonna get our ass beat." "Butbarely,twominutesin beating Michigan for the third time got even harder." "(Announcer)Uh-oh,problem, there's an injured Hoosier, it is Bobby Wilkerson who is down for the Hoosiers, and that 3 on 2 break for Michigan." "Watch where Wayman Britt's elbow hits Bobby Wilkerson right on the button." "That's like throwing a right cross and Wilkerson remains dazed, so it could be a very severe loss to the Hoosiers here in the first half as Bobby Wilkerson KO-ed." "Thewayhe gothit , the angle and the force, you know, he was knocked out." "(Announcer)Thehandisfor Bobby Wilkerson who's been taken off the court and to the Indiana dressing room." "WithoutWilkerson,Indiana looked dazed and confused, and Michigan took advantage." "(Announcer)andIndiana wants a time out " "Indiana down with 9 seconds to go in this first half." "*" "Weweredown6pointsat halftime so it wasn't working, you know, as well without Bobby Wilkerson, that's for sure." "(Announcer) Michigan 35, Indiana 29, and the Hoosiers are down 6 points, the national champions." "Downathalftime,don 't have their best defender, this is like Scott May getting hurt the year before, it's just not meant to be." "You'rethinking "Man, here we are again", you know, we're in the final game and one of our best players goes down, and what are we gonna do?" "Iwasthelastperson to go in the locker room." "I don't remember just going in and really raising hell with them, I think I did it very quietly." "Hecomesin ,andmaybe we thought he'd be ranting and raving about, you know, our defense, our help or something." "He comes in and says, hey " "You'reintheprocess of throwing away something that you've worked on all year." "I brought up when I talked to them before the season started about their abilities to go through the season undefeated, and you're just wasting something here that you'll remember forever." "Ifyouguyswant to make history, if you want to be one of the greatest teams of all time, you've got 20 minutes to prove it." "Wehadoneshot at forever." "One shot." "(Announcerindistinct)" "Wejustblew'em out ." "Imean , everything went our way." "(Announcerindistinct)" "(crowd cheers)" "(Announcerindistinct)" "(crowd cheers)" "(Announcer)Buckner steals - he's on a breakaway." "(indistinct) - scores!" "Ohmygoodness, Quinn was unbelievable," "Benny was unbelievable, Scott was unbelievable," "(Announcer)Whatashot by Scotty May!" "and it was just a thing of beauty as a fan to watch like, phew, how they're showing what they can really do." "(Announcerindistinct)" "Howcouldanyteamhave  changed so much and all of the sudden realized that they couldn't just show up and win the game." "The last 10 minutes of the second half was as well as the game could be played." "It was the perfect half." "It'sthemostspectacular second half that anybody's ever played to win a championship game." "(Announcerindistinct)" "TheyoutscoredMichigan 57-33 in that second half." "That 57 is the most points ever scored at a" "National Championship Game, first or second half." "You can match that up against any team, anytime, anywhere, with everything on the line, with basketball they're under those circumstances, except that you're beside from anybody." "(Announcerindistinct)" "(Announcerindistinct)" "(crowd cheers)" "(Announcer) Indiana scored!" "They're the National Champions for 1976 86-68, can you believe it?" "incredible!" "A lot of tears falling here." "Indiana, the Number 1 team in the country, no doubt about it now." "Ifeelso goodrightnow,  we worked so hard all year long for it, and it finally paid off, it paid off, I'm so happy I don't know what to do." "BobbyKnight." "WellI 'veneverseen a group of kids work any harder than these guys have." "We've really been going after this thing for two years now, last year and this year both, and they've been a tremendous, tremendous group all year long." "*" "*" "Alltheway from Indianapolis, through Morrisville down to Martinsville, through every town, every crossroad that we passed, there would be fans there to see the team bus." "Fromtheairporttohere , people were lined up along 37 and had signs and banners." "It was an amazing thing, how important our team was to the whole state." "Thiswas,like, a Tuesday morning." "It's not like everybody was free (laughs)" "Thiswaswhatwas  supposed to happen, and it did." "*" "Indianalovesbasketball and it is part of the heritage and the culture of the people that, for anybody that was around at the time and it was kind of one of those" ""Yeah, I remember where I was when that happened"" "type moment." "Deepinthe heartland of America a group of humble athletes came together with a singular goal." "Driven by an intense 35-year-old coach with nearly impossible expectations, the Hoosiers completed their crusade with a remarkable 2 year record of 63-1." "Perfect in '76." "Ithinkforthe  past 4 years, we, all of us, and I speak as a fan now, have been extremely privileged to sit in this building and watch 5 tremendous young men perform their skills here on the basketball field." "Hesaidthatyou willnever see the likes of this kind of basketball team in Indiana again." "This is as special as it gets, and he was right." "Coachisprophetic." "He knew what we had accomplished, and really what he had accomplished 'cause without" "Coach Knight there is absolutely no way we would've had the success and gone undefeated and won a National Championship." "He just wouldn't let up on allowing us to not reach our potential." "* Happy Birthday to you *" "* Happy Birthday to you *" "* Happy Birthday dear Coach *" "* Happy Birthday to you *" "Iwillalwaysbegrateful for the opportunity to have been able to coach you boys." "You were the best college basketball team in the United States." "I hope you always remember that." "Boys, I really enjoyed what we did, how we did it, and the contributions each of you made." "This was a wonderful thing here this evening for me," "I just want you to know." "(applause)" "It'sbeen40 years since Indiana's remarkable, perfect season, and since then, no other division one college basketball team has gone on to do the same." "Whethertherewouldhave been a dozen undefeated teams, in my mind, it would still be this team." "**" "ThePatriotsareundefeated, or Las Vegas is undefeated in basketball or some undefeated thing, then we start getting a lot of calls, you know, we're unlike the Miami Dolphins, they celebrate every year, you know," "they're a lot more fun than we are, we're pretty boring guys I guess because we talk about our kids or what's going on in life or laugh about things, but do we reminisce a lot about "weren't we good?"" "I've never heard a discussion." "Not even once." "**" "Ifa teamcandoit, because we know how hard it is, we're all for you." "Do it." "In the history of sports, if they're gonna have a banquet for all the great teams," "I'm sure we'll have a place at the table." "*"