Coach Bob Knight’s first IU recruiting class hits red carpet for ‘First Five’ documentary

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The late Bob Knight’s first-ever recruiting class as Indiana basketball’s head coach hit the red carpet for the “First Five” World Premiere at the Heartland Film Festival.

The documentary tells the story of five Midwestern young men from modest backgrounds who made up Coach Knight’s first IU team and laid the foundation for one of the most dominant dynasties in college basketball history.

The 1971-1975 class of Steve Ahlfeld, Doug Allen, Steve Green, John Kamstra, and John Laskowski were at the Scottish Rite Cathedral on Wednesday for a first look at the documentary.

“We were playing for Coach Knight, we were winning a lot of games, and we thought that was the end of the game,” Laskowski said. “Your last game’s over, you’re done playing ball, and you go on with life. 50 years go by, and people say, ‘wait a minute, we think there’s a story there; you’re one of the first five guys he brought to Indiana to start his great run… and tell us more about the story’, and that’s exactly what we did. Not knowing it would be as popular as it was going to be. But we’re grateful that we had the chance to do it.”

Steve Ahlfeld, a member of three consecutive Big Ten Championship teams and the team’s orthopedic surgeon for nearly four decades, described what fans should expect from the documentary.

“It’s a true, honest look at what it was like to be one of the first five recruits in Coach Knight’s first class,” Ahlfeld said. “We tell it realistically, and I think it’s going to be something that Indiana fans and people in general will really enjoy, and they’ll hear some things they’ve never heard before.”

“Brings back great memories of Big Ten Championships, playing for national championships, number one rankings, and just great memories,” Ahlfeld added. “So much excitement for the great Indiana fans, it was such an enjoyable period of time and a lot of respect to be part of something bigger than yourself.”

Grant Gruffin, the “First Five” director, added how proud he is to tell the story of Coach Knight’s first recruiting class.

“These guys came to Indiana University not knowing who Bob Knight was or really what he was about. For them, it was taking a leap of faith to come and to let him shape them into the young men that they became and to build the basketball program that he envisioned from the start. It’s an amazing story about how these guys really went through a lot. They grew, they came together and developed a brotherhood that stands 50 years later.”

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