OPINION

By Mike DeCourcy

updated 4:50 p.m. ET Feb. 16, 2008

Mike DeCourcy

One course of action would be to state the obvious, that Indiana cannot hire Bob Knight as head coach because it currently has a coach. But that fact hasn't stopped many, if any, from speculating on the possibility. No one can predict the future at IU, not even the immediate future, so let's just skip right on past all that.

Let's just say all the Knightheads get their dream and Big Bob comes walking back through that door.

Here's what those fans can look forward to:

• A coach who, at 67, declared he was too tired to continue coaching Texas Tech and resigned with 10 games remaining on the schedule, plus the Big 12 Tournament and any postseason events that would want the Red Raiders.
• Who, since 1995, owns a 5-10 NCAA Tournament record that includes six first-round eliminations.
• Who lost NCAA Tournament games during that stretch to Jan van Breda Kolff, Jim O'Brien and Mike Jarvis, none of whom currently is a Division I head coach.
• Who hasn't signed a McDonald's All-American since Jared Jeffries was lured to Indiana in 2000 and who had two such players in the late-90s — Jason Collier and Neil Reed — transfer away from the Hoosiers.
• Who, according to Scout.com, committed 20 high school prospects in his last five classes as Texas Tech who were not rated among the top 25 players at their positions — and only one who was.

Who I've not spotted at one of the Las Vegas summer tournaments since 2001, his first year on the job at Texas Tech. Knight was recruiting Kyle Wilson of Dallas that year. He didn't get him. (Wilson chose Illinois, then transferred and played for a Sweet 16 team at Wichita State).

Now, those Vegas events are spread out all over the place. And, to be fair, I was usually watching the best players, so it might have been that Knight was off at some distant gym watching the 33rd-best player in Texas.

Mike Miller's college hoops blog As Sampson watch heats up, so do the Hoosiers

The Knight whom his most ardent loyalists want to hire at Indiana is a fantasy. He still is a genius, still the greatest teacher and clinician the game has ever known, but great players know his reputation — for how he treats his players and not exactly cranking out future NBAers — and aren't eager to play for him.

And because Knight is not working the recruiting trail like a Roy Williams or Billy Donovan, he is easily avoided by the best talents.

There is a segment of fans who refuse to surrender, though. It's like trying to dial up the Kay Lenz that lives forever in Rod Stewart's "Infatuation" video. That's her version of the '76 Hoosiers. It's in the past.

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