Newest member of the Knight’s Watch…

I can’t say that I know the provenance of this watch, but what I do know is Coach Knight would have likely said “you know shit (nothing), Jon Snow!” as commander of the Knight’s Watch.

I hope to learn more about this watch in the future, but I’m sure I’ll never know who it was presented to at the 1987 NCAA tourney. I’m also not certain how these presentation watches have been distributed to players/coaches annually at the tournament — if they were presented to all participants, Four Four teams, or as exclusive as those in the national championship game. If you can shed some light on this, please message me — I’d love to hear from you! At a minimum, what I do know is every player on IU’s championship team (and possibly the coaching staff) would have received an identical watch.

Forever my favorite Indiana team of all-time, one could debate the ‘87 season was one of Knight’s finest coaching moments during his tenure at IU. The relentless preparation that led up to this season, including a well-documented trip overseas, forged this team’s path to greatness. Perhaps the least talented of his title teams and even some others that fell just short hanging a banner, this team played as smart and hard as any that came before or after. In the dawn of the three-point era, the execution of Knight’s motion offense helped exploit the team’s greatest strength — the perimeter shooting of marksman Steve Alford (107 threes at a 53% clip!). Against the widely perceived tournament favorite — UNLV — Knight’s masterpiece chess move took many by surprise when the Hoosiers came out running and gunning, pushing the uptempo style the Runnin’ Rebels were known for and uncharacteristic of his team’s normal style of play. In the national title game, only four players managed to score, yet this team still found a way to win by virtue of one of the greatest moments in NCAA history.

Fast forward…at 36 years and counting, this timepiece is truly a gem! The watch face is fantastic. Condition-wise, it doesn’t appear to have been worn and comes with the original alligator band.

For now, as with the 73’ watch I wrote about recently here, I’ll just pretend this is the Knight’s watch.