Bob Knight Turns Down New Mexico : Indiana Coach Says He’s Not Sure He’s Up to New Challenge

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Bob Knight said Monday he would remain at Indiana University because, after 23 years as a college basketball coach, he wasn’t convinced he could approach a new job with the necessary energy or enthusiasm.

Knight turned down the vacant coaching job at the University of New Mexico, he said, even though said he was attracted to its basketball program and to that area of the country.

“I had a strong attraction going based on things I like--living conditions, fishing, hunting, the weather,” the 47-year-old Knight told the Associated Press.

But he added:

“It comes down to the job itself. There’s a certain energy level to every job. We have developed a situation here where we can do it effectively with ‘X’ energy. If I go to New Mexico, then it’s ‘X’ plus quite a bit. I’m not sure I’m at a point I can put the energy in the situation to do the best job possible.”

Dave Bliss of Southern Methodist said he would to fly to Albuquerque to talk over the vacant New Mexico job. Bliss, a former Knight assistant, was considered the Lobos’ No. 2 choice after Knight to succeed the Gary Colson, who resigned.

For the past week, Knight had basketball fans in two states following his every move.

Would he desert Indiana, where he had won three national championships, for the relatively low-profile job at New Mexico. Or would he jump, in part because of a rift with Thomas Ehrlich, who took over as IU’s president a year ago?

Knight issued a statement through the IU news bureau on Monday denying any problems with Ehrlich, who twice chastised Knight publicly in the past year--once for pulling his team off the floor during a game with the Soviet national team and again after the coach said in an NBC special on stress that if rape is inevitable, “sit back and enjoy it.”

Knight said of the rape remark that he only meant it as an analogy.

IU Athletic Director Ralph Floyd said the week had been a “wear and tear” on Knight.

Asked why Knight refused interviews that might have cleared the situation, Floyd replied that it wasn’t unusual for Knight to avoid the media.

Reports that Knight might be leaving drew several thousand letters to his office. Secretaries were still opening the mail on Monday. Floyd said his office received about 350 telephone calls of support on Thursday and Friday alone.

“Every one was in support for Bob Knight,” Floyd said.

In a statement released Monday, Ehrlich said he assured Knight during a meeting Sunday night of his “personal support and the university’s full support in his work to maintain the highest academic and athletic standards for IU’s basketball program.”

Floyd added: “This is where we believe Bob Knight belongs. This is his home. He is Indiana basketball to thousands of IU fans because of the values and integrity that he demands of himself, his players and everyone associated with IU basketball.”