Micah Shrewsberry speaks on Bob Knight's impact on college basketball in Indiana
Bob Knight is virtually synonymous with basketball in the state of Indiana. The three-time national championship-winning coach at Indiana took the program to new heights as he became one of the greatest to ever patrol the sidelines, and Micah Shrewsberry got a front-row seat.
Shrewsberry was born in Jeffersonville, Indiana and grew up in Indianapolis. Growing up, he saw the impact Knight made on basketball in the state as the game plans started to look similar to what “The General” ran at IU.
Appropriately, Shrewsberry was coaching an exhibition game when he found out about Knight’s death at age 83. He was helping lead Notre Dame to a victory over his alma mater, Hanover, and learned of the Hall of Famer’s passing after the game. Before talking about what the Fighting Irish did Wednesday night, Shrewsberry reflected on the last impact of Knight on himself and the state of Indiana.
“Just want to send my thoughts and prayers to the Indiana basketball family, but really, a lot of people in the state of Indiana,” Shrewsberry said. “I grew up a kid from Jeffersonville, Indiana — Indianapolis, Indiana. Every high school in this state was playing man-to-man defense and running motion offense because of Coach Knight. My high school coach played for him at Army. My college coach was an Ohio State grad, so knew him from then.
“A lot of the upbringing, a lot of the things that I think about as a coach, a lot of us coaches, all goes back to him. I know there’s a lot of people hurting right now because of that. Just want to [let] everybody at Indiana University know that the Notre Dame basketball family’s thinking about you.”
Micah Shrewsberry recalls first time coaching against Bob Knight
Shrewsberry spent a majority of his coaching career in Indiana. He got his start at D-III Wabash and Depauw before getting his first head coach job at NAIA IU-South Bend. But his first Division I opportunity came in 2007 when Brad Stevens brought him aboard at Butler, and that brought him face to face with Knight in one of his first games.
Butler was playing Texas Tech in what turned out to be Knight’s final season. Well, one thing about Stevens’ staff was most of the assistants had Indiana ties. That made it even more special when the legendary coach came out of the locker room and took time to talk with each assistant.
It’s a moment that Shrewsberry will remember for a long time.
“The best thing I ever experienced, our first year at Butler, we played in the Great Alaska Shootout, and [Knight] was at Texas Tech at the time,” Shrewsberry recalled. “Our whole staff was Indiana guys. Brad Stevens, myself, Matthew Graves, Terry Johnson were all Indiana kids. Darnell Archey on that bench. He came out of the locker room and walked by us and stopped and said hi to each and every one of us, and knew our names.
“That meant the world to us as guys from Indiana. That’s always going to stick with me is that game, that moment. That was the first time I’d ever been part of playing against one of his teams.”
Bob Knight’s impact on the game stretches beyond the Indiana borders. But even after his death, his legacy is especially prominent in a state that takes great pride in its basketball talent.