Op/Ed: What happened the day IU legend Bob Knight spoke to CIA senior officers

It is hard to find anyone neutral about Bob Knight, the incredibly successful basketball coach who passed away in Bloomington on Nov. 1 at the age of 83. 

Love him or hate him it is impossible to argue that he was not one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time. While some in the public knew him as a patriot and lover of history, particularly military history, only a few knew he was also an ardent admirer of the CIA. I am one of those people.

While in graduate school at Indiana, I met and got to know Knight through my thesis advisor, and we had stayed in touch for years.  A few years later, in spring 1982, after joining the agency and while serving on my first domestic tour in the CIA, my boss at the time learned of my connection, and strongly encouraged me to invite Knight to address a group of newly-minted Senior Intelligence Service officers who were going to be visiting our city as part of a week-long training  program. The officers were there to meet local government officials and CEOs of some of the largest corporations in the country, in part, to study leadership and management best practices. 

My CIA Station Chief was a sports fanatic and thought it brilliant to invite Knight to address the visiting senior officers. While it made sense to us, the plan didn’t go over well with headquarters management who wondered why and how a basketball coach could add anything to the training and education of a group of senior intelligence officials.  Despite objections from Washington, I made the call to Knight.  Fortunately for me, CIA headquarters was wrong on this one.

When I reached out to Knight, he welcomed the opportunity and, frankly, was excited at the prospects of assisting the CIA.  I told him we could pay for his airfare, but nothing else.

He responded sarcastically by asking if I could buy him lunch at Denny’s after his presentation, something I promised and later sprang for myself.

In the weeks prior to his presentation, I became increasingly impressed with the seriousness in which he took on his task.  Knight prepared thoroughly. 

He called me several times with questions as he crafted talking points which focused on his ideas of how best to motivate people, the critical need for preparation, the importance of discipline, and the willingness to take calculated risks when necessary. The more we talked, the more I realized that what he espoused and demanded of his players on the basketball court was inextricably linked to the values and principles embraced by the CIA. 

When the coach finally delivered his talk to the assembled group, many of whom were initially skeptical and some, I suspect, had no idea who he was, he was spectacular. Preparation, he said, was critical to the analytical process, and unwavering discipline essential for operational tradecraft. After all, he stressed, this was no game, our national security was at stake.  He talked at length about the need for agency managers to learn the art of motivation, and to find the key that would unlock the untapped potential of every CIA officer. 

During the presentation, I sat in the back of the room and watched how Knight captivated his audience. They were not only engaged, they were spellbound, many on the edge of their seats. I breathed a sigh of relief when my Station Chief looked over at me and nodded. Knight was a slam dunk.

The most dramatic moment of the presentation, however, was reserved for the end. As the audience rose to give Knight a standing ovation, he slammed his hand down hard on the lectern and demanded everyone to… “SIT!” 

The stunned group of senior agency officers quickly and dutifully complied. The room suddenly became awkwardly silent … and one could hear the proverbial pin drop.  What happened next was truly inspiring. 

Knight paused, looked sternly at his bewildered silent audience and said: “If it were not for people like you, people like me would never have a chance.” 

Knight then stood away from the podium and … applauded his audience.

Joseph Augustyn is a 28-year veteran of the CIA’s Clandestine Service.