Kurtz’s Korner 12/3/13
ORRVILLE DEDICATES NEW GYMASIUM IN HONOR OF BOB KNIGHT
Everyone in attendance at Orrville High School on November 30th was treated to something special in between games of a varsitybasketball doubleheader. Orrville officials dedicated their new gymnasium in honor of legendary coach Bob Knight, an Orrville native who is now an ESPN college basketball analyst. ” Bob Knight Gymnasium” is proudly written above the scoreboard and at the entrance to the facility– the floor itself is named Steve Smith Court, in honor of the late coach who guided Orrville to three state titles.
After a stellar career at Orrville, Knight went on to play at Ohio State. Under the direction of coach Fred Taylor, Knight was instumental in helping the Buckeyes capture the 1960 National Championship during a stretch of three consecutive final four appearances.
After one season as an assistant at Cuyahoga Falls, Knight had head coaching stints at Army (1965-71), Indiana (1971-2000) and Texas Tech (2001-2008). He posted a career record of 902-371, and his win total is third all time behind Mike Krzyzewski of Duke and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse. Knight led Indiana to National Championships in 1976, 1981 and 1987. Knight won 11 Big Ten titles and was named the conference’s coach of the year eight times. In addition to being named national coach of the year on four occasions, Knight is one of only three coaches to win an NCAA title, an NIT title and an Olympic gold medal.
“The fact that I get to share this with Steve Smith and that it comes from my home town is obviously a tremendous honor for me,” an emotional Knight told the capacity crowd. “I’ve always been very proud of having gone to school here, having played here and being an Orvillite. I hope that some of the tings that I’ve done over the years are a reflection on my having been brought up in one of the greatest towns in the United States. For that I say thank you to you, I say thank you to your parents, and I say thank you to my Mom and Dad for having chosen Orrville as the place where I was going to grow up. Nobody that’s ever been a citizen of this town has been prouder of being that citizen than I have.”
Knight’s rousing reception didn’t phase former OHSAA commissioner Clair Muscaro, one of many close friends who was present for the occasion.
“My wife and I put it on our calendar when we hear about it, and we said we we going to be here,” Muscaro said. “I’m not surprised that they love him, because if you know him as a real person you have to. He’d give you the shirt off his back, and I know he loves this community. He’s absolutely genuine, and I was just proud to be a part of it.”
ORRVILLE GIRLS WIN BIG
Fresh off a 24-3 season that ended with a loss to eventual state champion Anna in the 2013 Division III Final Four, the Orrville girls improved to 2-0 on the young season with a convincing 70-31 triumph over Northwest.
“I think we are an entirely different team than we were last year,” veteran coach Mark Alberts said. “Last year we were pretty much guard oriented, and we shot the ball really well from the perimeter. I really believe this year’s team is going to be more inside oriented. We’re going to score inside. We’ve got more size than we had last year, and I think we rebound and defend a little bit better inside. When it’s all said and done, I think we can be a good basketball team. Can we duplicate last year? At this point I think it’s too early to say, but we’re going to try. A of these girls played last year, and they want to establish their own identity. I really like where we are right now, and hopefully we’ll continue to get better.”
RED RIDER BOYS LOSE HEARTBREAKER
Cold shooting plagued Orrville’s boys squad in their season opener against Coventry. The Red Riders nearly climbed out of an 11 point second half hole to claim a win, but a missed shot as time expired saddled Orrville with a gut wrenching 41-40 loss.
“If we shoot as well as I think we should be able to shoot, I think (the result) is a little different,” coach Sly Slaughter said. “That’s a credit to (Coventry). They did a good job of switching up defenses and kept us off balance a little bit, and I think that affected us shooting wise. I think we’re going to be ok. We’ve got a lot of guys that have the capability of knocking down some shots. I think as time goes on and they get their legs underneath them and they’re feeling a little bit more confident, I think it’ll be better.”
