BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) – Lamar hired former Texas Tech coach Pat Knight on Tuesday, giving the son of Hall of Famer Bob Knight another Division I chance after three disappointing seasons with the Red Raiders.
Knight, 40, replaces Steve Roccaforte, who was fired after going 76-78 in five years. The Cardinals finished 13-17 and 7-9 in the Southland Conference to tie for ninth place last season.
Texas Tech fired Knight last month after he went 50-61 in three full seasons. Knight became a Division I head coach for the first time in February 2008, when he took over the Red Raiders midseason from his father, the all-time winningest coach in Division I history.
Now Pat Knight starts over at a new school.
“It’s an opportunity to build my own program and hopefully establish my own legacy in college basketball,” he said.
Knight couldn’t guide Texas Tech to the NCAA tournament. The Red Raiders went 19-16 in 2009-10 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT.
The Red Raiders made four trips to the NCAA tournament under Bob Knight, including a run to the regional semifinals in 2005.
Knight played for his father at Indiana from 1991-1995 and later worked as a scout for the Phoenix Suns. He was an assistant for the CBA’s Connecticut Pride and was a coach in both the International Basketball Association and the U.S. Basketball League. He joined his father’s staff at Texas Tech in 2001.
Bob Knight had 902 victories in a career that spanned 42 seasons. The younger Knight said in February that he’s never shied away from the pressure that comes with his pedigree.
“I’d have been smart if I’d just played baseball and never got into coaching,” he said. “The two things I’m most proud of that I’ve done: I went to Indiana and played at Indiana, for my dad. And I took over for him here. So people can write and say whatever they want about me, but the one thing they can’t say is that I ever took the safe or easy way out.”
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