It was 30 years ago Monday that Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight made headlines throwing a chair across the court in a Big Ten game against Purdue.
But there was a basketball moment that Knight admired just as much that happened a decade ago at a Washington State-Washington basketball game.
The local moment happened Jan. 23, 2005 when the Cougs faced the Huskies at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Rowdy Husky fans were chanting against Wazzu’s slow-down offense in the first half. That bothered head coach Dick Bennett.
So he gave them the finger.
And the Cougs lost to the 10th-ranked Huskies, 66-48.
Bennett’s bird was followed with an expected tail-between-the-legs apology the following Monday.
“I mistakenly made a gesture to the Washington student section,” it read. “I apologized to the students going to and coming from the locker room at halftime. I wish I hadn't done it and I am sorry for it."
Washington State’s athletic director said Bennett was very apologetic, but also noted sportsmanship needed to be addressed “so class gentlemen like Dick Bennett are not pushed to the point of reaction.”
Bennett had previously coached in Wisconsin since the early 1960s and was a longtime buddy of Bobby Knight. After Bennett’s middle finger grabbed headlines, he received a handwritten card with the logo of Texas Tech, where Knight was then the coach.
"I've always admired and respected you as a coach," Bennett’s son, Tony, once recalled the note from Knight saying.
“Now after doing what you did, you're the best!"
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