Patrick Clair Knight (born September 21, 1970) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach. It was announced he had been hired as the men's coach at Marian University in Indianapolis on May 8, 2024. Prior to that he was a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). Knight assumed that position on July 1, 2014, and was the Pacers' college scout for the West Coast Region. Formerly, he was an American

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

coach. He became the coach of the Lamar Cardinals basketball team on April 5, 2011, but was fired on February 16, 2014. He was previously the head coach of the

Texas Tech Red Raiders men's basketball The Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball team represents Texas Tech University in basketball. Texas Tech competes in NCAA Division I and has been a charter member of the Big 12 Conference since its first season in 1996. The team previously competed ...

team until March 7, 2011. Prior to that, he served in other coaching, administrative and scouting capacities with the NBA, United States Basketball League, International Basketball Association,

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

, and CBA teams. Knight is the son of

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

member

Bob Knight Robert Montgomery Knight (October 25, 1940 – November 1, 2023) was an American men's college basketball coach (basketball), coach. Nicknamed "the General", he won 902 NCAA Division I men's basketball games, a record at the time of his retire ...

, and replaced his father as Texas Tech's 13th head coach on February 4, 2008.

Playing career

Knight played basketball at Bloomington High School North and

New Hampton School New Hampton School is an independent university-preparatory school, college preparatory high school in New Hampton, New Hampshire, United States. It has 330 students from over 30 states and 22 countries. The average class size is eleven, and the ...

, and then he went on to play

for the

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the demonym for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

from 1990 to 1995 under his father, lettering during four seasons. From 1991 to 1993, the Hoosiers posted 87 victories, the most by any Big Ten team in a three-year span, breaking the mark of 86 set by Bob Knight's Indiana teams of 1974–76. During the 1991–92 season, as Knight redshirted, they reached the

Final Four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

. After the season Knight received national press coverage when he was reportedly kicked off the team by his father after being arrested for disorderly conduct at a Bloomington bar, but he returned to the team the following season. During the 1992–93 season, the 31–4 Hoosiers won the Big Ten and finished the season at the top of the AP Poll, but were defeated by

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

in the

Elite Eight In the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, NCAA men's Division I basketball championship or the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, NCAA women's Division I basketball championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight t ...

. Knight scored 138 points in 112 games played, a 1.2 points-per-game average. Knight graduated from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

in 1995 with a degree in sports management.

Coaching career

Knight was head coach of the Wisconsin Blast of the International Basketball Association and the Columbus Cagerz of the United States Basketball League before taking assistant coaching positions at Indiana, Akron and Texas Tech. He was also an administrative assistant and scout with the NBA's

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

and an assistant coach with the Connecticut Pride of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

.Player Bio: Pat Knight :: Men's Basketball

Texas Tech

In 2005, Knight was designated to succeed his father as head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders, assuming that role on February 4, 2008, when his father abruptly retired. Pat Knight used the motion offense and man-to-man defense, both of which he learned from his father as a player at Indiana and as an assistant coach. After taking the head coaching job midseason, his initial two games were defeats on the road. The first was an 80–74 loss to Baylor on February 6, 2008. The second came three days later at

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. Knight's first head coaching win came at home when the Red Raiders upset #18 Kansas State, 84–75, at United Spirit Arena. Going into the game, KSU was in sole possession of first place in the Big 12. The win came on what had earlier been declared Pat Knight Day by Lubbock mayor David Miller. On March 1, 2008, the Red Raiders again defeated the top team in the conference by beating #5

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, 83–80, ending a month-long, eight-game winning streak for the Longhorns. The Red Raiders finished the regular season with back-to-back losses, first at

and then to Baylor. At the 2008 Big 12 men's basketball tournament, they added another loss, to Oklahoma State, in the first round. The team did not receive an invitation to play at either the

NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the Division I level ...

or at the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

. Texas Tech did get an invitation to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational, but declined the offer. In the third game of the 2008–09 season, Tech defeated Division II opponent East Central University 167–115, setting a new school record for most points scored in a game. The previous record of 128 was set in the double overtime victory over Texas on February 20, 1994. The combined total of 282 points also became a new record. During the 2008–09 season, Knight was reprimanded twice for altercations with officials. In a home game against Nebraska, Knight ran onto the court to argue with officials after Texas Tech player Alan Voskuil was called for a foul. After receiving two technical fouls, Knight was ejected from the game. Once in the tunnel, Knight ran back onto the court to continue arguing. Knight was not suspended, but received a public reprimand instead from the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

. Less than a month later, Knight was then suspended one game for his criticism of officiating in a loss against

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

on February 23, 2009. On March 7, 2011, Texas Tech fired Pat Knight after 3 disappointing seasons of conference play.

Lamar

On April 5, 2011,

Lamar University Lamar University (Lamar or LU) is a public university in Beaumont, Texas, United States. Lamar has been a member of the Texas State University System since 1995. It was the flagship institution of the former Lamar University System. As of the ...

hired Pat Knight as head coach. On February 23, 2012, during a post-game press conference following a 62–52 loss to Stephen F. Austin State University, Knight berated his team's seniors, saying that, in his opinion, they were the worst group of seniors he'd ever coached. The Lamar squad went on to win the final three games of the season and the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference (SLC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it participates in ...

East Division Championship. Though Knight never apologized for his comments, he said he was proud of the way his seniors responded after the criticism. "They're the ones that deserve the credit," he said. Knight led Lamar to its first 20-win season since 1988 and a third-place finish in the conference. Lamar would go on to win the Southland Conference Tournament and earn their first NCAA appearance since 2000. Lamar qualified to play one of the "First Four" opening round games, but lost to

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. In a post-game interview, Knight tearfully complimented his seniors, calling them the "under-the-bus-gang," referring to his earlier criticism of them. The following season, after those seniors graduated, Knight led Lamar to a 3–28 season (a .107 winning percentage) in 2012–13. He experienced similar difficulty in 2013–14, coaching the Cardinals to a 3–22 record. With five games still remaining on the season schedule, he was fired on February 16, 2014.

Coaching record

* Knight became coach midway through the season Source:

Personal life

Knight and Amanda Shaw were married on May 10, 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Pat 1970 births Living people American basketball scouts American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Continental Basketball Association coaches Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball coaches Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Akron Zips men's basketball coaches Indiana Pacers scouts Lamar Cardinals basketball coaches Place of birth missing (living people) Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball coaches United States Basketball League coaches 20th-century American sportsmen