Big 12 coaches go casual
College basketball Was Bob Knight’s biggest impact on the league sartorial?

Knight, just like he does for every Tech game, broke his profession’s standard, if unwritten, dress code. Knight and his staff wore red polo shirts, while in front of the other bench, Kansas’ Bill Self stood nattily-attired in sportcoat and tie.

"If guys want to wear suits, fine,” Knight said. "But I don’t see the reason for it. We’re coaches. I’m not a model.”

No other Big 12 coach goes as casual as Knight, but the league seems to be getting less button-down by the day. Among the coaches who have gone sans necktie so far in the Big 12 Tournament are Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel, Texas’ Rick Barnes and Iowa State’s Greg McDermott.

"Honestly, I don’t know if I could give you an answer” why, Barnes said. "I did it some last year. I haven’t thought much about it.”

Knight has thought about it and knows he wants no part of coat and tie.

"I pattern myself after football, cause that’s my favorite sport,” Knight said. "And football coaches, you don’t see them with coat and tie on the sideline. It’s a golf shirt or a sweatshirt.”

Knight comes by that attitude honest, too. His dad, legendary coach Bob Knight, migrated from red plaid jackets in the ’70s to red sweaters in the ’80s and never retreated.

"I just like to be comfortable,” Pat Knight said. "If it was up to me ... George Raveling did the greatest thing when he was (coaching) at Iowa. They all wore sweatsuits, matching sweatsuits. His whole thing was, ‘This is what I wear in practice. What I coach in 99 percent of the time, why wouldn’t I wear that in games?’”

Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik went casual much of last season, wearing Nike apparel with Colorado logos. "I’m not sure why,” Bzdelik said. "We just did it. But I went back to wearing shirts and ties and sportcoats. I’m old school. I just didn’t feel right.”

A lot of coaches don’t want to stand out, and the way to blend in is coat and tie.

"I can tell you, a coach’s polo is more comfortable,” said Baylor’s Scott Drew. But "I think the suit and tie will be around for a long time. I think that’s the way most of us have grown up.”

Coaches have times when they can dress down.

The annual Coaches vs. Cancer campaign puts most coaches in sneakers for a game. "That’s so much more comfortable,” Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford said. "I said, ‘I could do this every game.’”

And the neutral-court, holiday tournaments in places like Hawaii and Puerto Rico are known for their casual dress. Coaches in Hawaii typically wear Hawaiian shirts.

"It’s definitely nice for that occasion,” Drew said. "Good thing is, that’s America. You get to decide.”

The coaches who dress up have a distinct advantage. They can dress down during the game, flinging a coat here, a necktie there, usually to send a message to the referees.

"That’s what clipboards are for,” Pat Knight deadpanned.

Said Drew, "I usually take my coat off pretty quick. The Farrell Center crowd has gotten pretty good. Gets warm in there, which I like.”

NBA coaches long have strutted fashionably along their sidelines, despite iconoclasts like Gregg Popovich and Don Nelson. Ex-Hornets coach Byron Scott last year told the New Orleans Times-Picayune he has 82 suits in his closet.

Bzdelik formerly coached the Denver Nuggets but said he didn’t have to change his wardrobe upon returning to the college game.

But Ford said he most definitely dresses differently now than when he was head coach at Eastern Kentucky (2000-05). Now Ford gets his clothes from SJ Haggard and Co. of Nichols Hills. "They take good care of me,” Ford said. "They’re terrific.”

Ford plans to remain smartly-dressed. But he’s fine with coaches who go a little casual.

Said Ford, "At least we don’t wear uniforms like baseball.”

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