Hogs head coach Eric Musselman was in the arena the day his father and Bobby Knight both made their Big Ten head coaching debuts. It was Jan 8, 1972, and Eric, then age 7, watched Bill Musselman coach his Minnesota Gophers team to a 52-51 win over Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers.
Knight, who died on Wednesday at the age of 83, didn’t do too much losing after that. He led Indiana basketball to an undefeated season just four years later and won three national titles in all. Arkansas basketball assistant Keith Smart, one of Knight’s Hoosiers, clinched the last of those in 1987 with a game-winning shot.