When former national champ Steve Alford teared up while recalling his memories with Bob Knight: "He taught all of us how to be better men"

Steve Alford played under Bob Knight for four years at Indiana. They won the national championship together in 1987. On Nov. 2, 2023, a day after Knight's death, Alford recalled some special memories with his former coach on NewsNation.

He got emotional after being shown a picture of himself and Knight after they won the national title.

"I think it was just gratitude," Alford said (1:13), "That's a tough one. That's a tough one to see. I would say that picture, we've just won a national title, so there's nobody else to play. But, I'm guessing what coach was saying was that he was still asking me to get in the defensive stance. Yeah, if I remember.

"But it was just an honor to play for him. He taught his players, he loved his players, he loved his teams. But he taught all of us to be better men, not just better basketball players."

Knight died on Nov. 1, 2023. He was one of the greatest collegiate coaches of all time, having won three national championships at Indiana from 1971 to 2000.

Knight's coaching job at Indiana was sandwiched between stints at Army and Texas Tech. He compiled a 902–371 coaching record at the collegiate level.

Bob Knight developed Steve Alford into a Round 2 NBA draft pick

Steve Alford (L) with Bob Knight- Source: Imagn

During his four years at Indiana, Steve Alford developed into one of the best talents in the country, thanks to Bob Knight. In his college career, Alford played 125 games, averaging 19.5 points, 3.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game.

Alford was thrice named to the First-team All-Big Ten and twice named as a Consensus first-team All-American. Alford declared for the 1987 NBA draft, where the Dallas Mavericks selected him in Round 2, with the No. 26 pick.

Alford played one season with the Mavericks and was traded to the Golden State Warriors in 1988. He spent one year with them before returning to the Mavericks to play two more seasons.

After a four-year NBA career as a player, Alford ventured into coaching.