Bob King

Who was Bob King?

Bob King was a college basketball coach. He was head coach at the University of New Mexico from 1962 to 1972, and at Indiana State University from 1975 to 1978. The court at New Mexico's arena, The Pit, is named after King. King died on December 10, 2004. King is ranked third all-time among Indiana State coaches in terms of win percentage and eighth in number of games won. His stand-out players included:

Ira Harge, New Mexico, 1964

Mel Daniels, New Mexico, 1967

Willie Long, New Mexico, 1971

Larry Bird, Indiana State, 1979

Carl Nicks, Indiana State, 1980

He also served as Assistant Athletics Director at University of New Mexico and the Athletics Director at Indiana State University.

He suffered a stroke before the start of the 1978-79 basketball season and was forced to step down as the Head Basketball coach, Bill Hodges was named the interim coach and led the Sycamores to the NCAA Championship game. King would not return to coaching due to health reasons.

He was inducted into Albuquerque Sports Hall of Fame and the UNM Athletic Hall of Honor. In a formal ceremony on December 1, 1992, the basketball court at University Arena, "The Pit," was dedicated and named Bob King Court in honor of the man who built the program and made The Pit possible.