Mocks Cruz as 'not knowing too much about basketball' after rim-ring mishap

Cruz doesn't need to bother with a VP because he 'can't win,' Trump says

He even touts Mike Tyson endorsement – though prize fighter did time for Indiana rape

Trump says 'All the tough guys endorse me' as Knight rips Hillary Clinton on Benghazi

Legendary coach says Trump will go down as one of the best presidents in history

Donald Trump got a marquis endorsement when legendary Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight, who predicted Trump go down in history among the country's best presidents.

'All the tough guys endorse me,' crowed Trump, who then went on to tout an endorsement from boxer Mike Tyson, who served time for rape.

Trump fired up thousands of supporters in Indianapolis by bringing out Knight, who Trump said called him a year ago to offer his support.

'You folks are taking a look at the most prepared man in history to step in as president of the United States,' Knight told a crowd familiar with his reputation for recruiting, preparation, and victory – as well as occasional on-court antics.

'They talk in a negative way when they want to about Donald,' Knight continued, by saying, 'He isn’t presidential. I don’t know what the hell that means!'

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump shakes hands with former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight during a campaign rally at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum

Former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight stumps for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally

U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump embraces legendary basketball coach Bobby Knight at a campaign event in Indianapolis

Trump gets 'tough guy' endorsement from coaching legend Bobby Knight

Trump and Knight appeared on Greta Van Susteren's show on FOX

'To me, I think of Harry Truman. They said Harry Truman wasn’t presidential,' said Knight. 'And damn he went on to be one of the three best presidents in United States history. And [Trump] will at some point be one of those also,' said Knight, who got a big response from the crowd.

'Under his administration, there will never be another thing like what happened in Benghazi. That will never happen in a Trump administration.' Knight said Hoosiers voting for Trump would throw him 'over the top.'

Trump touted Knight's winning record, which included an undefeated season, and compared it to his own mantra of winning.

'This guy is terrific. This is a winner. He’s a champ. He’s been so great for Indiana. He loves Indiana. To have his endorsement is just an honor,' said Trump.

'I owe you a big big debt of gratitude. Because nowhere in the world is a sporting group followed better than this state follows basketball,' Trump said.

Trump ran through a series of other tough talking endorsers, including Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Arizona – then said he was proud to get the support of Tyson 'because we need toughness." Tyson was convicted of rape in Indianapolis in 1992. In 1996, he infamously bit Evander Holyfield's ear during a bout.

Trump may have bit off more than he could chew when he touted Tyson endorsement

Moving closer to wrapping up the delegates to secure the Republican Party nomination, Trump tore into Texas Senator Ted Cruz for announcing he'll pick Carly Fiorina as his running mate even though Cruz trails Trump by hundreds of delegates.

Trump brought up the surprising new Cruz-Fiorina alliance at the tail end of a long speech where he got a full-throated endorsement from legendary University of Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight.

'A new relationship they’ve started – Cruz and Carly,' Trump said, just hours after the Texas senator announced he'd pick the ex-Hewlett Packard exec as his running mate, months before the Republican Convention even as he trails Trump.

'Cruz can’t win – What’s he doing picking vice presidents?' Trump riffed.

'On television, they say he has no path to victory. 'He’s got no path to victory. he’s mathematically eliminated.'

'He has a set a record, though,' Trump quipped. 'He is the first presidential candidate in the history of this country who’s mathematically eliminated from becoming president who chose a vice presidential [running mate]. It’s a record!'

Cruz made the Fiorina announcement in a last-ditch effort to shake up the race, after Trump swept five states Tuesday and even raked in 'unbound' delegates in Pennsylvania. Cruz is campaigning constantly in Indiana, his best remaining chance to hold Trump under the requisite 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination on the first ballot.

'I’m not playing games with Indiana. You are gonna get so tired of me,' Trump told thousands. 'You are gonna say oh wow I can’t watch it any more turn off the news.

In Knight, Trump a figure who shares a similar reputation for great talent, fiery speeches, and occasionally boorish behavior.

Knight hauled in championships as the legendary coach at the University of Indiana, but he eventually met his downfall there after he infamously threw a folding chair onto the basketball court during a 1985 game against the Purdue Boilermakers.

Trump continued to tear into Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich, calling them 'two stragglers,' but say's they're both 'done'



A day after delivering a big foreign policy speech in DC, Trump quipped: 'I’m a little afraid to be too presidential because maybe we’ll stop winning.'

Turning back to basketball, Trump mocked Cruz, who on Wednesday tried to make light of an election night flub where he referred to a basketball 'ring' rather than 'rim' inside the legendary Hoosiers Gym.

'And of course last night he called the rim the ring, so he doesn’t know too much about the basketball,' Trump said. Cruz said Wednesday his old high school coach would have made him run laps for such a mistake.

Trump continued hammering a pact between Cruz an Kasich that got Kasich to pull out of Indiana. 'It shows total weakness. They’re admitting that they’re done. By the way, neither of them have a path to victory. There’s no path,' he said.