Former Indiana basketball coach Bob Knight says in an interview to be aired Wednesday night that Hall of Fame coach John Wooden built his historic UCLA program by taking advantage of recruiting that broke NCAA rules.
Knight prefaces his remarks in the interview on "Undeniable with Joe Buck" (8 p.m. ET, Audience Network) with, "Y'know, I've never been a Wooden fan."
When Buck responds, "That's like almost heresy," Knight says, "Not to me it isn't."
Knight goes on the say that UCLA's historic dynasty of the 1960s and '70s, during which the Bruins won 10 NCAA titles in Wooden's last 12 seasons before he retired in 1975, was built by allowing booster Sam Gilbert to break NCAA rules while recruiting top players to the school.
"Personally, I liked John, as a person, but it isn't just John, it's a whole UCLA approach to recruiting," Knight says. "I think John was called in and told he didn't have to worry about recruiting, that they had people that would take care of that for him."
"I have a lot of respect for Wooden as a coach, how he coached. He was a good coach," says Knight, who won three NCAA titles as Indiana's coach. "But from then on, and I don't mind saying it, I don't respect Wooden, because he allowed Sam Gilbert to do whatever it took to recruit kids.
"And one time (Wooden) told me, he said, 'I just didn't know how to deal with Sam Gilbert.' And I'm saying to myself, 'I damn sure could have dealt with him.'"
The NCAA vacated UCLA's 1980 national championship game appearance and banned UCLA from the postseason in 1981 over Gilbert's actions, none of which, according to the NCAA, happened under Wooden.
Although Knight personally ran afoul of Indiana administrators for his behavior, the Hoosiers program under him never was punished for NCAA violations.
