And just last week Knight scanned the crowd during a home win over Stephen F. Austin and brought a young boy from the stands into the team huddle to make a point. The Red Raiders had missed more than a dozen layups, and their coach asked the youngster if he could make one.

After the boy said ’yes,’ Pat Knight turned to his players and told them if a 12-year-old could make layups, they had no excuses for missing theirs.

Players say they like the change in styles.

Alan Voskuil, the Red Raider with the longer hair, said there is a “little” more leniency under Pat Knight and that he feels more of a personal relationship with his former coach’s son.

John Roberson, Tech’s leading scorer at 15 points per game, illustrated the difference by starting the season with a low-key mohawk.

“Pat is always open for new things,” Voskuil said. Often “he’ll come and ask us what we think needs to be changed.”

That’s not to say he disliked playing under his former coach. Bob Knight finished 21-13 in his last full season, and he took the Red Raiders to the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 in 2005.

“I still think Bob Knight’s way works just as well as it did back in the old days,” Voskuil said. “You don’t really need to change what’s not broken.”

Pat Knight knows he will forever be compared to his father. He welcomes that.

“I’m more like him than I’m not,” he said. “If somebody comes up to me and says, ’It reminds me of your dad,’ that’s the greatest compliment I can get. If they say, ’Hey, that’s a little different,’ that’s also a great compliment because you have to be your own person.”

Knight is OK with his dad still having an office (mostly unused) at the arena. He’s happy his dad still lives in Lubbock, although Bob Knight travels a lot as an analyst for ESPN. He’s even comfortable enough to say he’s not sure how great a coach he’ll be.

Though Knight doesn’t bother comparing himself to his dad, he’ll never tire of questions about him.

“It’s not like my dad was Joe Schmoe,” he said. “My dad’s one of the greatest coaches ever in all of sports. So I hope people keep asking me about him.”

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