Knight tells Texas Tech he doesn't want salary

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Bob Knight told Texas Tech he wouldn't accept his $250,000 coaching salary this year because his team failed to live up to his expectations -- and so did he.

"He has standards," Texas Tech men's basketball spokesman Randy Farley said Monday. "He just didn't meet his standards, and so he said, 'I don't think I should be paid for that."'

Tech (16-11, 6-10 Big 12) is the No. 7 seed in the Big 12 conference tournament in Dallas and plays Baylor on Thursday night.

"I'm just not at all satisfied with what transpired with our team in terms of our fundamental execution," Knight told The Dallas Morning News for its online edition. "I don't think it's anybody's fault but mine.

"You heard me talk after games all season long about missed opportunities and how we didn't see things. Those are things that have got to be taught. Learning those things is just as much a responsibility of the teacher as the ones learning those things," he was quoted as saying.

Last season, Knight led the team to a 23-9 record and to the NCAA tournament. Before his arrival in March 2001, Tech hadn't had a winning season in four years.

This year could be Knight's first without 20 wins since 1995, when Indiana went 19-12.

Tech will probably need to win the conference tournament to make the NCAA field for the second straight year. Knight has said his team would accept an NIT bid if offered.

In his 29 years at Indiana, Knight won three NCAA national championships and had just seven seasons in which his teams failed to win 20 games.