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From wiki-
In January 1993, Knight mentioned the recruiting of Ivan Renko, a fictitious Yugoslavian player he had created. Knight created Renko in an attempt to expose disreputable basketball recruiting experts. Even though Renko was completely fictitious, several recruiting services started listing him as a prospect with in-depth descriptions of his potential and game style. Some of the more reputable recruiting gurus claimed to have never heard of Renko, whereas some other "experts" even claimed to possess or to see film of him actually playing basketball.[76]
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A lot of people have forgotten Ivan Renko, one of the great Eurasian prospects that did not make it in college basketball or the pros.
In 1993, Ivan Renko was considered a serious prospect for both college and pro ball.
Bob Knight reputedly created Ivan Renko out of his imagination to expose recruiting experts for being something less than their informal titles suggest.
Knight’s wiki page indicated Knight told the media about a new player he was recruiting named Ivan Renko.
Note: Ivan Renko was not supposed to be a relative of one time KU quarterback and basketball backup Steve Renko.
Ivan Renko wash reputely subsequently listed on several recruiting lists of several recruiting experts as a noteworthy prospect…despite not existing.
Ivan Renko did not go onto D1 success.
Renko was also never drafted.
Renko’s potential went completely untapped.
Ivan Renko did not go back to European Ball.
He never married.
He never had children.
Renko never became a big man coach in Euro Ball.
He never returned to Europe at all.
He never returned anywhere.
Ivan Renko remains in the basketball ethers of what never was.
And the greatest irony of all is that we cannot even be absolutely sure that Bob Knight ever even actually made up the fiction about him, since wikipedia is hardly definitive, is it?
In January 1993, Knight mentioned the recruiting of Ivan Renko, a fictitious Yugoslavian player he had created. Knight created Renko in an attempt to expose disreputable basketball recruiting experts. Even though Renko was completely fictitious, several recruiting services started listing him as a prospect with in-depth descriptions of his potential and game style. Some of the more reputable recruiting gurus claimed to have never heard of Renko, whereas some other "experts" even claimed to possess or to see film of him actually playing basketball.[76]
***
A lot of people have forgotten Ivan Renko, one of the great Eurasian prospects that did not make it in college basketball or the pros.
In 1993, Ivan Renko was considered a serious prospect for both college and pro ball.
Bob Knight reputedly created Ivan Renko out of his imagination to expose recruiting experts for being something less than their informal titles suggest.
Knight’s wiki page indicated Knight told the media about a new player he was recruiting named Ivan Renko.
Note: Ivan Renko was not supposed to be a relative of one time KU quarterback and basketball backup Steve Renko.
Ivan Renko wash reputely subsequently listed on several recruiting lists of several recruiting experts as a noteworthy prospect…despite not existing.
Ivan Renko did not go onto D1 success.
Renko was also never drafted.
Renko’s potential went completely untapped.
Ivan Renko did not go back to European Ball.
He never married.
He never had children.
Renko never became a big man coach in Euro Ball.
He never returned to Europe at all.
He never returned anywhere.
Ivan Renko remains in the basketball ethers of what never was.
And the greatest irony of all is that we cannot even be absolutely sure that Bob Knight ever even actually made up the fiction about him, since wikipedia is hardly definitive, is it?
