INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A basketball coach with the last name of “Knight” will coach inside Indiana University’s Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Friday night.

Pat Knight, the son of legendary IU head coach Bob Knight, will lead his Marian University men’s basketball team against the No. 17-ranked Hoosiers in an exhibition matchup.

“Being back where I played, where I grew up,” Knight said. “I didn’t play at home. I played around at Assembly Hall, so, just really going back home.”

Knight was introduced as Marian men’s basketball head coach back in May.

“He’s super intense, which I love,” Marian senior guard Gus Etchison said. “Every practice, we’re getting after it. So, he’s been really good for us.”

It’s Knight’s first college basketball head coaching gig since the 2013-14 season, when it was his final year as head coach of the Lamar University men’s basketball program.

“Honest to God, I wouldn’t have taken a job anywhere else except this state (Indiana),” Knight said. “That was my one criteria. To get back in it (coaching), I had to be back in this state.”

Knight knows the state well having grown up in Indiana. In fact, he played under his dad at IU during the early 1990s. That’s another reason why Knight said Friday will be a special night.

“Mike Woodson on the sideline is one of my dad’s favorites,” Knight said. “Calbert Cheaney’s on the staff. It’s just going to be great. I got a bunch of teammates, friends, family that will be at the game and it’s just going to be overall, just a great experience.”

Even Knight’s current players at Marian understand the significance of Friday’s exhibition game for their new head coach.

“Kind of a homecoming for him in a way,” Marian redshirt junior guard / forward Gavin Foe said. “And we’re really just excited to have that opportunity to share that moment with him, and go out there and give it our best and have a lot of fun.”

Knight’s father, legendary IU head coach Bob Knight, passed away on Nov. 1, 2023. He won three national championships with the Hoosiers over the course of his 29 seasons as IU head coach.

Following Knight’s passing, there was an outpouring of thoughts and prayers from the basketball community, which showed the impact he had on the sport, the players and the IU program.

In fact, Pat Knight was recently in Springfield, Mass. for a bench dedication for his father at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Of course, even though plenty of eyes will be on Pat Knight this Friday, the one-year anniversary of his father’s passing, he is keeping the experience in perspective, hoping the exhibition helps his team grow ahead of the regular season.

“This will be the biggest crowd they play against the whole year,” Knight said. “One of the best teams in the country.”

Tip-off on Friday between the Knights and Hoosiers is set for 7 p.m. EDT.