Knighty Knight Time!

Indiana’s 1973 season made a statement to the basketball world — Knight transitions to the dawn of a new day. That transition underway was the rebirth of national prominence for IU’s storied program that would soon lead to the pinnacle of achievement in the college game — the last perfect season and an NCAA title. In only his second season, Knight led the Hoosiers to his first of five final four appearances during his tenure, shifting the tides from the west coast, perennial dominance of Wooden’s UCLA juggernaut to the midwest where basketball was born and will always be king. The Hoosiers would finish the ‘73 season 22-6, take first place in the Big Ten with an 11-3 record, and a 3rd place finish in the tournament after destroying Providence in the consolation game. The recruiting class Knight built upon in year two, highlighted by his first signee, Steve Green, created the foundation for arguably the greatest “team” in basketball history…a team that would only lose once over the course of two seasons in spanning 1975 and 1976.

I can’t begin to describe my excitement and how fortunate I was to add this amazing and rare piece of memorabilia to my collection. These ceremonious gifts don’t often leave the hands of those who earned them. Now….I couldn’t tell you which player or coach received this watch during the NCAA Final Four, and personally I don’t care, but I can tell you that every player and coach on the Indiana Hoosier staff and roster would have received a watch exactly like this. The watch, made by Bulova, has a bezel made of heavy gold electroplate and a back made of 10k rolled gold plate. It’s obviously been worn, but is still in good shape. It doesn’t have the original band, but the completist in me will find a period accurate band for either the Accutron model itself or another comparable Bulova watch. For now, I’ll just pretend that somehow I’ve ended up with Coach Knight’s or Steve Downing’s watch.