Pat Knight, son of 3-time national championship-winning coach, resigns as coach at NAIA Marian

By Canadian Press on February 4, 2026.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Pat Knight, the son of the late Bob Knight, has resigned as coach of the Marian Knights men’s basketball team after refusing to comply with an administrator’s demand he fire someone on his staff.

Knight did not name the staff member but told The Indianapolis Star he did not intend to fire the person, so he quit.

Knight was ejected in what turned out to be his final game with Marian — Saturday’s 75-74 loss to another NAIA school from Indiana. With the victory, Goshen snapped a 19-game losing streak to Marian and also ended a 54-game skid in conference play.

Marian athletic director Steve Downing hired Knight in 2024, and he went 16-34 at the school located in Indianapolis. Downing played on Knight’s earliest teams at Indiana but was not part of any of the elder Knight’s three title-winning squads.

Knight also succeeded his father at Texas Tech during the 2007-08 seasons and spent four seasons with the Red Raiders. He landed later at another Texas school, Lamar. In seven seasons as a Division I coach, Knight went 79-123 before making the jump to the NBA where he served in several capacities, including as a scout, for 10 seasons with the Indiana Pacers. He told The Star he would like to return to that job.

Bob Knight retired with the most victories in the history of Division I men’s college basketball, 973, a mark later surpassed by one of his former players, Mike Krzyzewski. This season also marks the 50th anniversary of the elder Knight’s first title team, which happens to be the last men’s undefeated national champion.

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The Associated Press

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