Legendary Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight is ‘not well,’ Hoosiers radio announcer says
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Legendary Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight’s health is said to be in decline, according to Don Fischer, the Hoosiers radio voice. (Getty Images)
Legendary Indiana University basketball coach Bob Knight is said to be declining, according to Don Fischer, the voice of Hoosiers radio.
Fischer told “The Drive with Jack & Tom”, a radio show in Lansing, Mich., about Knight’s health when he was asked about the 78-year-old Hall of Fame coach’s relationship with the school. He revealed that Knight was “not well.”
"I hesitate to say anything about that right now because Coach Knight is not well," Fischer told the radio hosts. "He's going through some major issues and it hurts me to even talk about it just because a man with that kind of a mind, who was so tremendous at coaching the game of basketball, and you know, at the age that we get to at this point in our lives, you want to keep thinking that that brain is never going to go away, and it appears that's a real problem for him right now and in the sense of what he's dealing with."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“So I can’t answer that question,” he continued. “I wish he would come back. I wish there was some way for whatever that fence is that hasn’t been mended yet could be mended. Unfortunately at this juncture, if it hasn’t been mended, I don’t know if it ever will be,” Fischer said of Knight.
Later, Fischer released a statement to the Indianapolis Star after they contacted him about the comments. The broadcaster said he “probably shouldn’t have said what I said” and explained what he meant about Knight’s health.
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"That's not what I was trying to say," Fischer said in the statement. "I don't mean to intimate in any way shape or form that he's on his death bed. That's not the case that I know of. Just that his health has declined."
Knight, who coached the Hoosiers from 1971 to 2000, led the team to three national championships. After he was fired from Indiana University in 2000, Knight has had a turbulent relationship with the school. He was fired after he grabbed student Kent Harvey by the arm after a zero-tolerance policy was implemented.