Dallas — Bob Knight's coaching peers in the Big 12 aren't surprised at what he's done in such a short time at Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders (15-3) cracked the Top 25 for the first time in five years when they were No. 20 in the new Associated Press poll Monday. The team that was last in the Big 12 a year ago beat top 10 teams each of the last two weekends.
"Not only has the team got some renewed hope, which is evident in the way they have played ... in changing teams, Bob has gotten some renewed energy to be able to build," said Baylor coach Dave Bliss. "Bob's a builder. He's not somebody that came sitting on a throne waiting for things to happen."
The past two weekends, Tech beat Oklahoma 92-79 and Oklahoma State 94-70 both teams that were ranked No. 6 at the time. Both of those games were in Lubbock, where the frenzy created by Knight's arrival has only grown with a winning team and an arena now usually full after averaging less than 4,000 a game last season.
"It's not just the team and the coach. The environment and atmosphere raises level of play. I'd like to think those 15,000-plus fans had a little bit to do with it. That fueled them," said Oklahoma coach Kelvin Sampson, whose team had beaten the Red Raiders 98-72 two weeks earlier in Norman, Okla.
But Sampson also gives Knight a lot of the credit for the overall turnaround.
"He's not getting this turned around with smoke and mirrors," Sampson said. "He's got good parts and knows how to put them together."
Said Oklahoma State coach Eddie Sutton: "First of all, they've got a lot better players than they had the last few years. And the fact their crowd is so much more active plays the part of the sixth person. The biggest change is the enthusiasm we now see for basketball at Tech."
There are only four players on the Texas Tech roster that played regularly last season. Knight added four junior college transfers, two freshman and a walk-on when he arrived.
Knight has gotten that new mix of players to buy into his system of a motion offense and a tenacious, hard-nosed defense. The results are obvious.
"What he's done is continue to do what he's done during a great, great career," Kansas coach Roy Williams said. "He has coached his team to play together, play unselfish and play extremely hard, particularly on the defensive end. It's not surprising knowing his ability."
The scorers for the Red Raiders are four-year starter Andy Ellis (18.1 ppg) and sophomore Andre Emmett (17.9) two of the returning players.
Knight didn't take part in the weekly Big 12 coaches teleconference Monday.
Red Raiders assistant coach Bob Beyer, who sat in for Knight's 10-minute segment, said Knight has had a good interaction with the players. And the teaching extends outside of practice, with Knight taking every opportunity during time-outs during games to reinforce what he teaches in practice.
Texas Tech plays its first game as a ranked team Wednesday at Nebraska. The Red Raiders play at home Saturday night against Iowa State, the two-time defending Big 12 champ Iowa State that is in a rebuilding mode.
"Coach Knight came in and brought some players with him, and there were better players left than people thought," said Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy. "Then you get a wave of excitement and enthusiasm in that arena and it makes for what's happening right now.
"It is a combination of a lot of things, starting with Bob Knight, for their resurgence."
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