“Luke,” the man said, “this is Coach Knight.”His voice had grown fainter, but the intimidating tenor of Bobby Knight, the former basketball coach, was still there. Epplin had sent Knight a copy of his book, “Our Team,” after learning that he was a huge fan of the Cleveland baseball team, now called the Guardians. So he tracked down Knight’s address, sent him a copy of the book and included his contact information. Epplin, who grew up in a household with strong ties to the University of Illinois, a sworn enemy of Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers, was surprised to hear from Knight. He was also slightly concerned about which way the conversation would go: Knight sounded frail, but he was known as a chair-throwing, unrepentant, volcanic personality on the basketball court.

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Persons: Luke Epplin, Luke, Knight, ”, Bobby Knight, Epplin Organizations: Cleveland baseball, University of Illinois, Knight’s Indiana Hoosiers Locations: Indiana