There's a new emphasis in college basketball this year on encouraging coaches to treat officials with respect, and is it any surprise that one of the first coaches to get his wrist slapped is Bob Knight of Texas Tech?
The Big 12 has reprimanded Knight for saying "I thought it was a horrendous call" when asked what he thought of the officials' ruling that New Mexico freshman Dairese Gary released his shot just before the halftime buzzer in New Mexico's 80-63 victory over Texas Tech on Dec. 15. Knight thought the ball left Gary's hand after the buzzer.
The Big 12's sportsmanship code prohibits criticizing the officials publicly, but a mere reprimand is unlikely to get Knight to follow that code. Knight has criticized officials for as long as he's been a coach, and if Big 12 officials think reprimanding him will change anything, they're fooling themselves.
