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Less bloody Sunday? On eve of critical meeting, Knight discusses temper
Posted: Saturday May 13, 2000 10:35 PM
INDIANAPOLIS (CNNSI.com) -- With Indiana University trustees set to meet Sunday to decide the fate of their fiery basketball coach, Bob Knight issued a public statement Saturday discussing his temper problem and what he is doing to deal with it. In the six-paragraph statement, Knight does not address any specific incident brought up in recent media reports but does apologize for his confrontational style."There are times when my passion for basketball led me into confrontations that I could have handled a lot better," said Knight. "I've always been too confrontational, especially when I know I'm right. I know as well as anybody does: I have to develop a more diplomatic approach. "I'm not very good at just forgetting something and going on, and I'm truly sorry about that." Knight's statement comes on the heels of charges of physical intimidation of players, staff and school officials, some going back more than 20 years, surfacing after a videotape of an Indiana practice was leaked to the media in March. Former player Neil Reed claimed he was choked by Knight. In his statement, Knight indirectly referenced the Reed incident, saying his temper was "something that was not a factor in the investigated incident."The trustees will meet Sunday amid growing speculation they will consider asking Knight to resign rather than force a showdown that could lead to his dismissal. Several Indiana players have said they would leave the team if Knight was forced out. A report Saturday claiming university president Myles Brand had summoned Knight back from vacation early for a meeting could not be confirmed. IU vice president Christopher Simpson, a spokesman for Brand, said there was no meeting scheduled Saturday between Knight and Brand. "I know that for a fact," Simpson said.Todd Starowitz, a spokesman for IU's basketball program, said Knight was expected to return Saturday evening from his Caribbean vacation. He declined comment on whether Knight would meet with Brand. Simpson said he did not expect a major announcement after Sunday's meeting. Although trustees might meet privately to discuss personnel matters, they can take official action only in public meetings, which require 48 hours notice, excluding weekends. "It is incorrect to suggest that Indiana University has reached a decision in its review of allegations concerning basketball coach Bob Knight," said Simpson, a spokesman for university president Myles Brand. "It is also incorrect to suggest that the scope of the review has been expanded. No decisions can be reached until that review is complete." In another twist, two of the trustees are close friends of Knight and may have to remove themselves from the investigation, ESPN.com reported.
Since the investigation began in March, there have been reports of fights involving Knight and a former assistant coach, the Indiana athletic director and the university's sports information director. A secretary in the athletic department this week also said an enraged Knight once threw a vase in her direction and more recently stormed into a waiting area, swore at her and came toward her in anger before athletic director Clarence Doninger restrained him. Indianapolis television station WRTV reported Thursday that Knight attacked sports information director Kit Klingelhoffer more than 20 years ago during a confrontation over a news release. Klingelhoffer was knocked out, the station reported. Klingelhoffer would not comment when contacted Thursday by The Associated Press, but a former athletic department secretary said Friday she saw Knight attack Klingelhoffer and then storm out. "We just sat there for awhile and then we all just went back to work, and nobody ever said a thing about it," Terry Cagle told WRTV by phone from Searsport, Maine. Butch Carter, a former player and now the Toronto Raptors' coach, said Knight told a black player in 1980 that he would end up like "all the rest of the niggers in Chicago." Other players there at the time have said they never heard Knight use the racial slur. Ron Felling, the former assistant coach fired in December just days after the reported altercation with Knight, would not confirm speculation he was the source of the tape showing Knight grabbing Reed by the throat. Earlier, IU associate athletic director Steve Downing, a former player for Knight, said Felling told him he kept the tape since 1997 for possible use as his "trump card." Felling said he was not interviewed by the two trustees appointed by Brand to lead the investigation. "If I've got anything to say, it should probably be said to the proper people. I guess it would be the investigative committee, if they're going to talk to me. I don't know when they are or not," he told The Associated Press on Friday. Felling also would not say whether he is considering a lawsuit against the university or Knight or whether anyone representing the university tried to contact him since the investigation began. Later Friday, Felling's attorney, Bill Potter, denied reports that Felling also abused Indiana players. Senior Tom Geyer told Indianapolis television station WTHR that Felling once slapped Luke Recker across the face and later pushed Geyer and Kirk Haston to the floor during a workout. Indianapolis television station WRTV reported Thursday night that four of nine members on the university's board of trustees already are prepared to recommend Knight be fired. Three support the coach, and two are undecided, WRTV said. John Walda, president of the trustees and one of the two leading the investigation, refuted a story in which a source told the AP the board already is considering asking Knight to resign. Walda called that "pure speculation." "There are only a few people involved in the decision-making process, and obviously this unnamed source is not one of them," he told The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. "Whoever that source is has no way of saying that accurately." Indianapolis radio station WIBC reported Knight planned to meet with Brand on Sunday. However, Simpson, who has spoken for Brand throughout the investigation, told the AP, "If there were a meeting scheduled I would think I'd be aware of it. I'm not aware any such meeting has been scheduled." Brand gave the trustees 90 days to complete the investigation, and Simpson said it is expected to be finished well before the June 20 deadline. Athletic department spokesman Todd Starowitz said the team and others in the department were told by the university to keep quiet about the investigation, but several players felt they had to speak out. "Our players became very upset and told me they were tired of being quiet," Starowitz said. "They don't want to see things tried in the media. To a man, everyone supports coach Knight. Dane Fife went so far as saying if coach Knight isn't here, that he won't be either." A message seeking comment was left at Fife's home in Clarkston, Mich., on Friday. Other players interviewed by television station WTHR supported Knight. "There's not a single guy that steps on this floor that doesn't want coach Knight here," Jarrad Odle said. "The fact they've gone to other people and asked them what they thought and they haven't consulted us, what our opinions were and what our feelings were, it's kind of strange considering we're the ones that deal with the man every day," Tom Geyer said. Also supporting Knight is Indiana's top high school recruit, Jared Jeffries, who is threatening to leave the program if Knight is forced out. Jeffries' mother, Cecelia Jeffries, told The Associated Press that her son was frustrated that no one connected to the investigation asked his opinion."He wishes they'd come to him," Cecelia Jeffries said. "If coach Knight left, he [Jared] would look at his options and then possibly just stay there for a year and then move on." She said Knight was one of the main reasons her son chose Indiana. "He wanted the strictness and the discipline," she said. "We are quite fond of coach Knight. He's a good man. I'll always believe that." About 10 Knight supporters gathered Saturday in the parking lot of the Hoosiers' home venue, Assembly Hall. A larger rally had been proposed on an Internet forum, but it didn't come together. Gary Reed, one of the organizers of a larger pro-Knight rally held shortly after the choking allegations surfaced, said he was encouraged by Knight's statement. "He does want everyone to know he's trying," Reed said. "He wants to stay a coach. He's got some good kids coming in, and he wants to win a championship." Debbie Dyson, an avid Knight fan from Indianapolis, said she's confident Knight will continue coaching. "He should have taken temper-control classes 30 years ago," she said, sighing. "But 30 years ago, they probably didn't have them." The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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