College Career
Thomas was recruited to play college basketball for Bob Knight and the Indiana University Hoosiers. Although he received mail saying Knight tied up his players and beat them, he did not believe the rumors. When Knight visited the Thomas home, one of Isiah's brothers, who wanted him to attend DePaul, embarrassed him by insulting the Indiana coach and engaging him in a shouting match. Nevertheless, Thomas chose Knight and Indiana because he felt that getting away to Bloomington would be good for him, as would be Knight's discipline.
Thomas quickly had to adjust to Knight's disciplinarian style. At the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico Knight got so mad at Thomas he threatened to put him on a plane home. Knight recalled yelling at the freshman-to-be, "You ought to go to DePaul, Isiah, because you sure as hell aren't going to be an Indiana player playing like that." Prior to the start of his freshman year, the 1979-80 season, Knight became so upset with Thomas that he kicked him out of a practice. According to Thomas, Knight was making a point that no player, no "matter how talented, is bigger than Knight's philosophy."
However, Thomas quickly proved his skills as a player and became a favorite with both Knight and Indiana fans. Fans would display bed sheets with quotations from the Book of Isaiah ("And a little child shall lead them") and nicknamed him "Mr. Wonderful." Because of his relatively short stature (6'1" tall) Coach Knight would call Thomas "Pee Wee". Thomas was so superior to any of the other Indiana players that Knight had to adjust his coaching style. He and Mike Woodson led the Hoosiers to the Big Ten championship and advanced to the 1980 Sweet Sixteen.
The following year, the 1980-81 season, Knight made Thomas the captain and told him to run the show on the floor. Thomas responded so positively that, as the season unfolded, Knight and Thomas grew as friends. When a Purdue player took a cheap shot at Isiah in a game at Bloomington, Knight called a press conference to defend his star. And 19 days later, when Thomas hit an Iowa player and was ejected from a game, Knight refused to criticize Thomas.
That year Thomas and the Hoosiers once again won a conference title and won the 1981 NCAA tournament, the school's fourth national title. He earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. Following his sophomore season and the Hoosiers' national championship, Thomas made himself eligible for the NBA Draft.
Read more about this topic: Isiah Thomas
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