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March on Bloomington Students express love for Knight, anger for Brand
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- Thousands of Bob Knight supporters marched Sunday from Assembly Hall to the home of Indiana University's president, linking the arena where the Hall of Fame coach's career peaked to the home where, by phone, it ended. The news Sunday that Myles Brand had fired Knight brought students and other fans of the volatile coach outside the arena where banners celebrating his three national championships hang. They cursed Brand and then, thousands strong, marched about a half mile to the president's home at the heart of campus while police in riot gear stood watch. "Hey, hey, ho, ho! Myles Brand has got to go!" some students chanted. Others burned an effigy of Kent Harvey, the freshman whose Thursday run-in with Knight at Assembly Hall triggered a weekend of news conferences, investigations and meetings that ended with the coach's dismissal. Within an hour of Brand's announcement, car horns blared and chants of "We love Bobby" echoed off the limestone walls of the campus. Students carried signs -- many made of unfolded, greasy pizza boxes - bearing messages like: "Who Wants Season Tickets?" and "Mr. Knight Is A Legend." As the crowd outside Assembly Hall grew, James Turner, a 21-year-old senior from Fort Wayne, grabbed a bullhorn and shouted: "I was born in the state of Indiana, I've lived here all my life, and I don't ever want to be anywhere else. But today I'm ashamed to call myself a Hoosier." Andrea Osman held up a red IU flag on which she scrawled the epithet: "The spineless political institution of the year." "I believe Indiana University as an institution caved in to pressure from the outside world, specifically the media, instead of doing what's best for the IU community," she said. Moments earlier, someone had ignited a pile of red and white Indiana apparel in the arena's parking lot. A police officer moved in with a fire extinguisher. Security guards videotaped the action. Matt Schildkret, 18, could not contain his frustration. "All the freshmen, we came here to see Bobby. Now we can't see him. It's ridiculous," Schildkret said. At the Memorial Student Union, students had watched Brand's news conference on television. Shilin Chiu, a 20-year-old senior, recalled a recent trip to San Francisco where she was asked about the man who, for many people, has come to represent Indiana University. Things will change now that Knight's gone, she said. "I believe the university will gain more recognition," Chiu said. Knight's players had left campus to drive to Indianapolis to watch Brand's news conference and ponder whether to finish out their college careers wearing Indiana's cream and crimson uniforms. "We realize that IU is a great university, but we came here to play for coach Knight," junior forward Tom Geyer said. "Right now, you just have to consider what all your options are." Before the news conference, Brand informed Gov. Frank O'Bannon of his decision to fire Knight. "I have known Bob Knight for many years and am personally saddened by this outcome and the chain of events that led to it," O'Bannon said. "Nonetheless, I am confident that IU's action today is in the best interest of the university, and I fully support its decision." Steve Alford, the star of Knight's 1987 championship team and now the coach at big Ten Conference rival Iowa, said Bloomington would not be the same for him. "I have always seen Indiana University and coach Knight as one in the same," Alford said. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo acknowledged Knight could have conducted himself better. "But the great things he's done and the wonderful things he's accomplished far outweigh the bad," Izzo said.
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