Bob Knight says UGA hasn’t contacted him

Bobby Knight said on Monday that no one from Georgia has contacted him about coaching its men’s basketball team.

Knight, the winningest Division I men’s college basketball coach ever, told ESPN radio that even though he resigned from Texas Tech abruptly a year ago, he would return to coaching if the situation was right for him and for the school. He said this would be the situation:

“We would have the where-with-all to recruit and be able to compete with anybody,” said Knight, who has a 902-371 record and three national championships in 42 seasons as a coach at Army, Indiana and Texas Tech. Knight also has a history of arguing with management and others, which led to his firing at Indiana in September of 2000.

Georgia is looking for a coach because athletics director Damon Evans fired Dennis Felton last Thursday, after Georgia sustained its fifth consecutive loss to open SEC play.

Knight surprisingly surfaced as a candidate at Georgia after a friend of his told AJC columnist Furman Bisher that Knight would accept the job if offered.

University President Michael Adams told the AJC on Saturday that he wouldn’t speculate on Knight, or any other candidate. Evans said on Monday that he also wouldn’t speculate on any candidates.

Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson played for Knight at Indiana. He said Evans should strongly consider hiring his former coach.

“I think it’s a great idea for Georgia to hire Bobby Knight,” said Woodson, who said he talks to Knight frequently. “I think he’s the greatest college coach to ever coach the game.

“The bottom line is they’re going to sell out. He’s going to get quality student athletes to come in there and play and get a great education while also winning at a high level. And at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.

ESPN analyst Dick Vitale echoed Woodson’s opinion.

“I don’t even know if he would take a job but I know Georgia has a lot of positives going for it in the scenario there and I think he’d be interested, I really do, but I can’t speak for Bob Knight,” Vitale, who works with Knight as an ESPN college basketball analyst, said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press.

“To me it’s no contest, if Bobby Knight is interested in Georgia basketball it’s no contest,” Vitale said. “He’s so good I’d come with him as an assistant. I’d be his chauffeur.”

— AJC reporter Sekou Smith and the Associated Press contributed to this report.