Legendary and controversial Indiana head coach Bob Knight passed away Wednesday night, according to a post on bobknight.com by Knight’s family. He was 83.

His career defined an era of college basketball as one of its most dominant, recognizable and temperamental coaches. He coached at Indiana from 1971 until 2000.

His paths crossed with Auburn’s head coach Bruce Pearl. Asked about his memories of Knight after Auburn beat Auburn-Mongtomery 102-66 in an exhibition, Pearl shared a story of his time as an assistant coach at Stanford, where he worked from 1982-1986. Pearl then made his way closer to Knight’s world as an assistant coach at Iowa and then the head coach just down the road from Bloomington at Southern Indiana.

“I knew Coach Knight pretty well. His son Tim was a manager for us at Stanford when I was 22 years old. Tim was obviously 18 at Stanford. I knew Coach Knight through his son.

After four years at Stanford, in ‘86, we got into the Big Ten. At the time, he was, in ‘86, they were rolling. It was Iowa, Indiana, Purdue, (Gene) Keady, Michigan, Illinois. Those were your top four, five. If you look back in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, Big Ten was dominating.

The interesting thing about leagues is leagues take on the personality of the best coaches in the league. The Big Ten took on the personality of Gene Keady and Bobby Knight. They were two of the more dominant programs.

Whether it be the motion offense or the physical defense, just how they play, Bob Knight set the tone. That tone is still the way the Big Ten plays. Physical, fundamental. Truly, truly one of the all-time great, legendary coaches. A man’s man.”

Knight leaves behind a legacy that is as successful as it is complicated. He is remembered for his three national championships and his at-the-time record of 902 wins. He too is remembered for his tumultuous firing at Indiana prompted by a video of him reaching for a player’s neck in practice, for throwing a chair across the court in anger, for headbutting his own player and bringing a whip to practice once and calling it one of the best “motivational” devices he’s ever had.

His firing at Indiana prompted a near-20-year standoff where he refused to return to IU. He wished to see those in the IU athletics department dead. For many, he lived to see that come true.

Knight returned to Bloomington in 2019 and to Assembly Hall in 2020. He returned to Bloomington to spend time around his friends and the community that loved him as his health deteriorated and he lived out his final years.

He was celebrated at Assembly Hall in February 2020, for an Indiana game against Purdue. He walked across the court slowly and carefully. He hugged ESPN commentator Dick Vitale who was calling that game and led a chant of “Defense!” to the student section. Dozens of Knight’s former players were there that day to welcome The General back home.

Knight would occasionally stop by Assembly Hall after that day — and especially after Indiana hired Mike Woodson, one of Knight’s former players — as the team’s head coach.

But that celebration against Purdue wound up being one of his momentous moments on the court where he’d won so much — as well as his large-scale final salute to the fans who viewed him like a God.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]