Posted on 08/05/2005 3:37:44 PM PDT by Ranald S. MacKenzie
© 2005 - The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
BY JEFF WALKER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Texas Tech students will have the opportunity to go to night school.
In this case, though, they'll be going to Knight School.
ESPN is expected to announce today that 16 Tech students will be chosen to compete in a reality show called "Knight School" that will be filmed in Lubbock, Tech officials said.
The winner, chosen by Tech head coach Bob Knight and his coaching staff, will have an opportunity to join the Red Raiders as a walk-on for the 2006-07 season.
Knight said the concept has been talked about for the last year and a half and the final details were ironed out last week in Lubbock. Tech officials are working with the Big 12 Conference to determine which students will be eligible to participate.
"From a public relations standpoint, this couldn't be any better for Texas Tech," Knight said. "All the workouts will be at Tech, they will film campus shots and the kids going to class and what they do as students. This is the greatest kind of publicity for Texas Tech."
The show will be filmed in late September, with the first episode scheduled to air at 9 p.m. on Feb. 19. The show will consist of six one-hour segments.
RIVR Media, a production company based in Knoxville, Tenn., and WealthEffectMedia, based in Huntington, N.Y., have teamed with ESPN to handle the production of the show.
Robert Lundgren, the chief operating officer of RIVR and one of the executive producers of the show, made two trips to Lubbock to finalize the deal.
"What a gorgeous campus," he said. "I had no idea how great a campus Tech had. The people are so friendly, the university and athletic department personnel have been so supportive of this. This is a great concept and Coach Knight is a great man. I expect this to do well."
If the first season is a success, Knight and Lundgren said they'd like to do it annually.
Dan Stone, the CEO of WealthEffectMedia and an executive producer of "Knight School," developed the idea for the show. He said the goal is to make the show different from the mainstream reality shows that have flooded the television airwaves.
"I feel very strongly that we will present a great look at a fascinating topic," he said. "This is something everyone is familiar with, it's about the American Dream."
The NCAA rules also will apply to the show's participants. Knight said once the players are whittled down, he will sometimes let them work out with this year's team. According to NCAA rules, coaches can work out with players a maximum of two hours per week once the fall semester begins prior to the official start of the preseason practices.
Lundgren said the show won't be solely about basketball. The competitors will have different contests that "show the audience their different personalities," he said.
Like most other reality shows, the contestants will have to sign a confidentiality agreement to maintain the suspense for future episodes.
Stone said an e-mail will go out within a week to Tech students explaining the show and soliciting competitors. A web site also will launch giving details of the show and criteria for interested competitors.
Paul Gordon has been hired as the casting director. He previously served as the casting director for the first season of "The Apprentice" and the third season of "Survivor." He will be responsible for helping select the final 16 competitors, but Knight said part of the screening process will include calling the students' high school coaches and guidance counselors to give background information on each participant as an athlete and a student.
"One of the first times I met Coach Knight was (about) 10 years ago," Stone said. "I (came away thinking) whatever he's doing, he's doing right ... that's another part of the show: If you work hard, you work smart, you can do anything. It's about giving a kid a chance, and Coach Knight epitomizes all of that."
During last year's season, Knight let Tech tight end Joey Hawkins walk on during the middle of the season. Knight was impressed that Hawkins came to his office from the airport after the Red Raiders' football team defeated California in the Holiday Bowl. Hawkins was given several workouts before officially joining the team. He played in Tech's final 15 games and started one.
You're a Red Raider, yes?
Nobody is a bigger fan of Coach Knight than me, but I am just iffy on this whole concept.
I imagine that whoever wins this spot can look forward to a lot of bench time.
You just *know* they can't resist making out Lubbock as sexist, homophobic bumpkins on the plains. You can expect at least one gay participant and perhaps one with some form of disability. They'll have cameras at the ready the first time they think Knight is going to go for a player's throat.
This is the same network (ABC/Disney) that made all sorts of promises to an Austin neighborhood that agreed to be in a reality series only to find that the whole point was to make the neighborhood look like a bunch of bigoted kooks.
Yeah, Lubbock, it sounds great now but just wait until you see the finished product.
I love Knight but ESPN should just concentrate on broadcasting sports and sports news.
Awesome concept. I bet this is a great show.
TTU '91
Oh gag! I am NOT a BK fan. Good coach, but he is an awful person.
More pathetic attempts for attention by a Big 12 school.
Their best gets trounced by the Trojans...then rest look for tv time.
He's no angel by any means but he's been a very positive force in the lives of far more people than most coaches will ever be. As far as the negatives, nobody has been scrutinized like Knight has been.....I've always found it interesting that Knight's every word is analyzed by the MSM but nary a word is written about John Chaney, head coach of Temple that is far more vulgar and demonstrative than Knight........wouldn't be a double standard at work here since he's black.....nah, never happen.
"Bear Our Banners Far and Wide" PING
Other than a salad-bar altercation with our penny-loafer-wearing, smoke-ban-and-cat-leash-use-her-maiden-name-wife-marrying, cotton-from-the-school-seal-removing, liberal chancellor of the university, I've seen nothing but good from him since he's been here. He even returned one year's worth of salary to the school when he didn't have a good season on year.
I'll take his conservative, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstrap, disciplinarian ways over the chancellor any day.
I like Bob Knight. He makes no pretense of who he is, and he is darn funny. Plus, he still is one of the all-time great basketball coaches, and he does do a lot for the kids on his team.
IU basketball hs suffered since he left. It just isn't the same, without The General.
Contestant challenges to include Most Accurate Vase Toss, Distance Chair Throw, Strongest Chokehold, Most Accurate Kick of a Moving Player, and Most Obscene Verbal Abuse of PR Spokesperson.
Agreed! I saw an interview of Isiah Thomas (Ret. Piston and future hall of famer) and his words perfectly described his respect for Coach Knight. I'm surprised this thread has lasted this long without the Knight bashers invading........
Yep, Knight has been the most closely scrutinized coach in college sports but anyone who has ever played for the guy has nothing but praise. He demanded excellence and turned high school boys into men........
I wish that Knight were the Chancellor instead of the do-nothing doofus who currently occupies the office. Knight wouldn't waste university time and money prattling over the design of the Seal.
I love your tag line. I used to love going there to see Joe Ely or Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Stubbs was a true Texas and American classic.
Yeah! I found someone who uses hyphenated adjectives like me!!!
What is your take on replacing the Buddy Holly Festival with the Lubbock Music Festival? I worked at the BHC and have a little inside scoop on the change.
You've got good taste in music. The original sign that says what my tag line says is now up in the Austin restaurant, and those same guys go and play there.
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