(12-13-21) The Hoosier Gym lost Bob Garner who recently passed away from COVID. Garner was thought by many to be the heart and the soul of the gym and his love for the movie Hoosiers. His formal title was Events Coordinator…but he was much more that to anyone who knew him or visited the gym.

Garner has a history with gym, that preceded ‘Hoosiers’, as a member of the 1966 Knightstown Panthers basketball team, the last year that they played their games at the Hoosier Gym.

Garner’s love for the Hoosier Gym was a key in the past promotions over the years since he entered the picture. The recent announcement that a director’s cut of the movie, including deleted scenes, was something Garner was proud of being a part of. In late November he sat in the gym with a full house to view the movie with those scenes inserted into the original film.

The 1966 Panthers went 9-12 on the season, but they were able to get a share of the Tri-Eastern Conference championship. During that season he was one of the Panthers to play a Knightstown basketball game before moving to a newer and bigger facility.

Did you know…

Bob Garner wore the #14, the same # as Buddy for the Huskers

Garner was a top runner in both track and cross country during 1966-

Back where they started

Knightstown was one of the original members of the Tri-Eastern Conference in 1962, the Panthers left the conference in 1968. Knightstown would then would join the Big Blue River Conference and would leave in 1989. The Panthers then joined the White River Conference from 1995 to 2010, followed by joining the Mid Hoosier Conference in 2013… leaving after the 2015-16 school year. In 2016 Knightstown re-entered the Tri-Eastern Conference.

Knightstown HS current Gym

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