Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden is about as deified a figure as there ever has been in college basketball, but former colleague Bob Knight doesn't necessarily buy it.
"I don't mind saying it, I don't respect Wooden," Knight told Joe Buck on Audience's Undeniable. "I've never been a Wooden fan."
Despite Wooden's place in sports history, Knight says the longtime Bruins coach allowed a booster named Sam Gilbert to repeatedly violate NCAA rules in recruiting players.
Wooden coached UCLA from 1948-75, winning a record 10 NCAA basketball championships. During that time, players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton passed through Westwood on their way to the Hall of Fame.
"I have a lot of respect for Wooden as a coach, how he coached," Knight added. "One time he told me, he said, 'I just didn't know how to deal with Sam Gilbert.' And I'm saying to myself, 'I damn sure could have dealt with him.'"
Wooden passed away in 2010 at the age of 99. Knight retired from coaching at Texas Tech in 2008, eight years after being forced out of Indiana for abusive behavior toward a student.
