Industry gossip has him interested in the Ohio State job if Jim O'Brien leaves

TheGeneral+ · Jun 9, 2004

Bob Knight agrees to three-year contract extension with Texas Tech

Updated at 14:15 on June 9, 2004, EST.

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Bob Knight agreed to a three-year contract extension that will keep the basketball coach at Texas Tech until 2009.

Athletic director Gerald Myers told The Associated Press on Wednesday the agreement probably will be signed next week.

Knight's contract pays him $250,000 US a year and runs through May 2006.

Knight needs 48 victories to overtake Dean Smith (879) as the winningest coach in Division I. He has led Texas Tech to three consecutive seasons of at least 20 wins and taken the Red Raiders to post-season play each year.

"I'm pleased with the direction our program," Myers said. "He's done a great job turning everything around. I think the future really looks good for us."

Knight is on vacation in Canada and was unavailable to comment Wednesday.

"I look forward to doing this a long time," he said in Wednesday's Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. "This is the best possible situation for me as long as I coach."

He will begin his fourth season at Tech - his 39th overall - with 832 wins. He is the victory leader among active coaches following the retirement of Jimmy Phelan of Mount St. Mary's in 2003.

Knight was hired by Texas Tech in 2001, six months after he was fired by Indiana for what then-school president Myles Brand called his "pattern of unacceptable behaviour."

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FairWarning · Jun 9, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by The General:
Bob Knight agrees to three-year contract extension with Texas Tech

Updated at 14:15 on June 9, 2004, EST.

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) - Bob Knight agreed to a three-year contract extension that will keep the basketball coach at Texas Tech until 2009.

_Athletic director Gerald Myers told The Associated Press on Wednesday the agreement probably will be signed next week._

Knight's contract pays him $250,000 US a year and runs through May 2006.

Knight needs 48 victories to overtake Dean Smith (879) as the winningest coach in Division I. He has led Texas Tech to three consecutive seasons of at least 20 wins and taken the Red Raiders to post-season play each year.

"I'm pleased with the direction our program," Myers said. "He's done a great job turning everything around. I think the future really looks good for us."

Knight is on vacation in Canada and was unavailable to comment Wednesday.

"I look forward to doing this a long time," he said in Wednesday's Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. "This is the best possible situation for me as long as I coach."

He will begin his fourth season at Tech - his 39th overall - with 832 wins. He is the victory leader among active coaches following the retirement of Jimmy Phelan of Mount St. Mary's in 2003.

Knight was hired by Texas Tech in 2001, six months after he was fired by Indiana for what then-school president Myles Brand called his "pattern of unacceptable behaviour."

http://www3.cjad.com/content/cp_article.asp?id=/global_feeds/canadianpress/sportsnews/s060956A.htm<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Pretty good timing of TT's part to lock him up.

TheGeneral+ · Jun 11, 2004

Yes FairWarning. Very good & interesting timing.

ThrillOfGambling · Jun 11, 2004

means nothing. He has an out clause, and if he is offered the OSU Job, he will take it.

This only gaurantees him more money if he stays at Tech and is eventually dismissed.

TheGeneral+ · Jun 11, 2004

Hopefully he lands in Ohio

TheGeneral+ · Jul 9, 2004

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- This time Thad Matta can come into Value City Arena through the front door.

Two days after sneaking in a rear door near a dock to avoid reporters before he interviewed for the job, the former Xavier coach was to be introduced today as Ohio State's 13th head coach.

He takes over a team shaken by the sudden firing of coach Jim O'Brien for giving money to a recruit and a program under investigation by the NCAA for allegations of improper payments, contact with agents and academic fraud by players.

Matta will be formally presented by Ohio State athletic director Andy Geiger, 31 days after he fired O'Brien. Ohio State President Karen Holbrook was also expected to attend the news conference in the practice gym at Ohio State's 19,000-seat arena.

Ohio State went 14-16 a year ago and finished ninth in the Big Ten with a 6-10 record, missing the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row. Geiger said that O'Brien told him on April 24 that he had given $6,000 to recruit Aleksandar Radojevic in 1999. Six weeks later, Geiger dismissed O'Brien, touching off a nationwide search.

Joining Matta as finalists for the job were Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings -- who was beaten out by O'Brien the last time the job was available in 1997 -- along with Rice coach Willis Wilson. Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons, a former Ohio State standout, also interviewed, as did Penn coach Fran Dunphy.

Geiger received permission to talk to Matta more than two weeks ago. Matta told a reporter last week that he had no interest in the job. He returned to Columbus early Wednesday morning to meet with the informal search committee, Geiger and Holbrook, and was offered the job early that evening.

Matta, who turns 37 on Sunday, is a Hoopeston, Ill., native who is 102-31 in four years as a head coach. He went 24-8 in 2000-2001 at his alma mater, Butler, before jumping to Xavier where his teams went 26-6, 26-6 and 26-11. The Musketeers advanced to the NCAA regional finals in March -- the school's best NCAA showing ever. All four of Matta's teams have played in the NCAA tournament.

Matta will receive a base salary his first year of $760,000, with a $300,000 signing bonus. The seven-year contract also pays him $2 million in deferred compensation. Supplemental contracts for TV and radio shows, summer camps and his cut of Ohio State's Nike contract -- which will likely add hundreds of thousand more dollars to the package -- have not been signed and are not included yet.

Matta is expected to bring Xavier assistant coaches John Groce and Alan Major to Ohio State.

Stuck with a 10-9 record late last season, Matta and the Musketeers won 16 of their next 18 games. Along the way, they won an unprecedented four games in as many days in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament, blowing away No. 1-ranked Saint Joseph's by 20 points. It was the largest margin of defeat ever for a No. 1-ranked team against an unranked opponent.

In Matta's three years, Xavier was 47-10 in conference games including 39-9 during the regular season. O'Brien's last two Ohio State teams were a combined 13-19 in Big Ten play.

Matta served as an assistant coach at Indiana State, Butler, Miami (Ohio) and Western Carolina before taking over as head coach at Butler in 2000 when head coach Barry Collier left to become the head coach at Nebraska.

Matta and his wife, Barbara, have two daughters, Ali and Emily.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/2/161163-3342-106.html