FERD LEWIS

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Not for the first time does Bob Knight have an opportunity to shock and amaze us with one of his deeds.

And this time he doesn't even have to pick up a chair. No player's neck need be put in harm's way, either.

Imagine the refreshing surprise it would be if Knight were to stand up and publicly congratulate Indiana University and its basketball team for a job well done on their successful run to the NCAA Final Four.

What if he actually gave a heartfelt and well-deserved verbal pat on the back to head coach Mike Davis and the players he left behind?

The high road is Knight's for the taking, if only he'd choose to avail himself of the opportunity.

So far his public silence has been deafening — and disappointing. Mum has been the word from a coach not usually noted for either his economy of speech or avoidance of spotlight.

I suppose you can understand his difficulty in embracing the IU administration and president Myles Brand, the man who invoked the "zero tolerance" policy that finally catapulted Knight out of Bloomington, Ind., 18 months ago.

If he wants to put Brand's picture on a dart board and take the school's trustees off his Christmas card list, that's one thing. But neither Davis, his former assistant, nor his former players, who form the foundation of the 24-11 team that plays Oklahoma on Saturday, did anything to show Knight the door.

What provoked Knight's dismissal after 29 years and three national championships, the coach amply brought upon himself.

In fact, the players were among the real victims in the final act of the Knight soap opera. They were merely bystanders caught in all the crossfire and then left to suffer the taunts of curious IU "fans" who sported Texas Tech hats and shirts and dissed the Hoosiers on call-in radio and Internet sites.

Despite this, the players have performed beyond expectations and handled themselves admirably. They expressed delight in Knight's landing back in coaching at Texas Tech. They found reason to salute what he has accomplished there in what soon could be recognized as a coach-of-the-year performance.

As for Davis, Knight's protracted coolness and pettiness has been unwarranted. What Knight apparently views as disloyalty was Davis' understandable decision to stay with the players he had helped recruit to Indiana and assume what began as an interim head coaching job. To Knight's way of thinking, anybody who didn't march out the door with him and swear a pox on the Hoosiers had to be a traitor.

Over the years Knight has too often shown in public the profile of a boor and bully. It is one that, through repetition, has come to be taken for granted.

Here, then, is an opportunity for Knight to really surprise by showing the "other" side.