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When considering some of the greatest programs of all time at the college basketball level, a select few names and universities come to mind. Traditions of continued success, triumph at the highest levels, and a constant flow of talented impact makers both on the court and sidelines often define these teams, and in some cases it can be the entire identity for an athletic department.

In particular though, perhaps no more polarizing figure ever roamed the sidelines bigger than Indiana's Bob Knight, one of the game's greatest and brightest minds to ever grace the court. Ask any number of his former players, many of them would back that sentiment.

Bob Knight wasn't just the head of Indiana basketball though. In reality, he was the epitome of Indiana basketball. In fact, at the peak of his success and three national titles that he brought to the hallowed Assembly Hall, he was the largest figure in the state. He was Indiana University, Indiana, and college basketball all in one.

His personality was unmatched, his passion and process uncanny to any other, and his outbursts were unrivaled. With Knight, you took the bad with the good, and only later in his career in Bloomington did it become apparent that sometimes, even winning couldn't cure everything about Knight. That's a story for a different day though.

However, Knight's success and history allowed him to go about things in a manner unique to anyone else, including recruiting. So, when it came time to bring quite possibly the best point guard that's ever laced up for the Hoosiers to his program, his approach was unsurprisingly straightforward and true. It's all Bobby knew how to be.

Just ask Isiah Thomas.

"I remember him sitting there saying, 'You know Mrs. Thomas, I'm only going to offer your son three things,'" the Hoosier legend told NBA veteran Channing Frye in an interview. "'A, he's gonna get a good education, B, I'm gonna teach him everything I know about the game of basketball, and C, he'll be a gentleman.'"

Thomas' backstory is an inspiring one, making his way as the youngest of nine children in a rough neighborhood on the west side of Chicago. At just three years old, his mother was left to raise Thomas and his eight siblings on her own. Amidst all of his surrounding obstacles Thomas worked his way to becoming a 1979 McDonald's All-American. In turn, Thomas was a highly coveted player at the next level, and Knight was one of multiple coaches who took an in-home visit to see Thomas and his family.

"We were poorer than poor, and we had been offered a lot of things to go to different colleges. You know, money and cars and homes," Thomas said. "One college coach came to our house, opened up a briefcase and said, 'Hey, there's $50,000 in here. If your son comes to this college, you get $50,000.'"

Aside from the obvious breaking of rules (not that it's stopped programs in the past), it became apparent that Thomas had an opportunity to make the type of difference for his family that they'd never experienced before.

"We had never seen $50,000 before in our lives," Thomas said. "As far as we know, it could have only been $1,000 in that briefcase."

So, with Knight's approach of only offering opportunity and saving the gratification of earnings for later in his career, you could probably excuse Thomas for being a bit taken aback.

"I remember my brothers looking at me and me looking at them like, 'Okay well, we're not going to Indiana,'" Thomas cracked. "'This ain't gonna work.'"

Unfazed, Knight and Thomas' mother Mary continued to chat. As the conversation progressed, the topics gradually became heavier. With an active chapter of the KKK just 20 minutes or so north of Bloomington in Martinsville, Thomas' mom was concerned the same way any loving mother would be for her son's safety, especially considering with him being a young black man in a country that still deals with racism and segregation to this day.

"She asked, 'If my son gets into any type of issues, who's going to protect him?'" Thomas said. In response, Knight cracked and said "Well, if we're winning Mrs. Thomas, the Klan will protect him."

Knights' joking manner was not taken well from Thomas' brothers, who were all of a sudden very fired up with the Hoosier coaching giant. In protection of their younger brother and their family's future, Thomas' brothers were ready to fight.

"Now, I look over to my brother and he's lit," Thomas continued. "He said, 'Well, if you want to do something now, we can take this outside.'"

Known as one to never back down from a challenge, Knight didn't shake at the proposal. In fact, he even encouraged it.

"I'll never forget, Coach Knight got up, took his jacket off, rolled up his sleeves, and said 'Yeah, we can go outside.'"

However, as things looked ready as ever to kick off between the Thomas family and Indiana's head man, it was Thomas' mother who ultimately came out the most impressed, nodding along in approval. It was in that moment where Thomas got the first taste of what his future would ultimately be, even if it wasn't what he himself had envisioned.

"I'm looking over to her for her reaction, and she's sitting there (gesturing her head in thought and approval)," Thomas continued, "and I'm like, 'Oh no, she likes him.'"

As the old cliche goes, the rest was history.

Thomas would go on to be the 1980 USA Male Basketball Athlete of the Year and a 1981 NCAA Champion, along with being named the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player and a consensus First-Team All-American en route to the title. Thomas was drafted by Detroit, where he was the 1982 All-Rookie First-Team, a 12x NBA All-Star, 3x All-NBA First Team member, two-time NBA Champion, and a NBA Finals MVP among a host of other awards.

There's no way to ever know if Thomas would have ever reached those heights without his time with Knight, but it's safe to assume that the two's time together helped each other reach some of the highest peaks of their respective careers.

So, if anything, let this be a lesson. The old adage is almost always right: Mother knows best.

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