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IU to investigate Knight President appoints 2 trustees to examine Reed case
Posted: Friday March 24, 2000 02:06 AM
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Indiana president Myles Brand on Thursday appointed two of the university's trustees to investigate basketball coach Bob Knight's latest controversy and to report their findings to him within 90 days. Brand's action followed a recommendation Wednesday night by an athletics advisory committee that he review the allegations by former player Neil Reed, who said in a recent television interview Knight choked him during a basketball practice in 1997. Knight has denied the allegation. "Anytime a student-athlete raises questions of physical abuse by a coach, it is a serious matter," Brand said. "Once charges of this nature have been raised, we are obligated to review the matter. "The objective is to get to the truth of the matter while being fair to all parties involved," Brand said. The IU president appointed John D. Walda, the president of the board of trustees, and Frederick F. Eichhorn, a trustee and former president of the Indiana State Bar Association, to investigate the matter. At a news conference, Walda said his objective would be "to get to the truth. We want to be fair to all parties. The integrity of Indiana University is at stake." "I want to emphasize one thing: There are no sacred cows at Indiana University. That includes the basketball program," Walda said. Brand said he spoke to Knight, who was on a hunting trip, about the investigation. "His response was, 'I welcome it. I will do whatever is in the interest of the university,'" Brand said. The 13-member committee, composed of faculty, students and alumni, voted unanimously during its regular monthly meeting Wednesday night to ask for the investigation. Knight did not attend. Indiana athletic director Clarence Doninger spoke to the committee, but the group did not view a videotape or review the transcript of a CNN/Sports Illustrated report in which Reed described the alleged attack by Knight. Brand said Doninger interviewed the entire coaching staff and all team members, including Reed, in 1997. None of those interviewed, including Reed, made any specific allegations of abuse, Brand said. "Mr. Reed has now come forward with specific allegations which have received widespread media coverage. This review will explore the allegations and, at its conclusion, present an honest and fair account," Brand said. He said the university would have no further statements on the investigation until it has been completed. The recommendation for an investigation was sent to Brand Thursday morning by Bruce Jaffee, a business professor and chairman of the Indiana University Bloomington Athletics Committee, which advises Brand but has no power to discipline Knight itself. "The press has thought that there is some basis for a review, and we're urging the president to take care of that," he said. Jaffee said Wednesday's recommendation was the first the committee has made concerning Knight. He would not answer direct questions about the allegations against Knight or say what action committee members thought Brand should take. "We believe [Knight] ought to be treated fairly. If it's found
there's no substance to it, so be it," Jaffee said.
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