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The other side Simpson, Doninger dispute Knight's claims
In the final analysis, the only thing Bob Knight and the University hierarchy agree on is that there was a fundamental disagreement on the key issues that led to the coach's dismissal. John Giannone spoke with university counsel Christopher Simpson before Knight gave his interview. By John Giannone, CNNSI.com BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- On May 15, Bob Knight signed a 94-word open letter vowing he would abide by the zero-tolerance policy that threatened his regime at Indiana. As it turns out, Knight says he couldn't even define the phrase. "I asked the vice president of the university as recently as last Thursday, can you explain zero tolerance to me?" Knight said in his nationally televised interview Tuesday night. "He looked me right in the eye and said 'No, I can't.' So zero tolerance to me, then, when I'm left on my own to interpret it." To Simpson, it's a curious statement, considering Knight agreed to the policy more than four months ago."It is difficult to define zero tolerance as nebulous when we've simply put it in writing and put it down and the coach has agreed to it," University spokesman Christopher Simpson said. "I don't know what is nebulous about that. "I know what Bob Knight told Myles Brand. I know what Bob Knight has told many people in the senior staff of the university and the board of trustees is, 'Do you think I can live within the guidelines? Of course I can.' So I don't know that there's any dispute here."
Knight disputed many of the claims the university used in explaining the dismissal. Tops among them is the alleged verbal confrontation in late July with the school's legal counsel. "I did not scream at her, I did not yell at her," Knight said of the alleged confrontation. "I did not use profanity, I did not talk in a voice any higher than I'm talking to you now. If that's interpreted by anyone as abuse, that's their interpretation." Simpson, however, has a different opinion of the conversation. "The conversation denegrated to the point where she described it to me as being initially unnerving, later intimidating and then borderline threatening," Simpson said. "The coach was rude and she said he was profane. At the end of that conversation she said to the coach, 'This is not productive. There's no need to continue.' And the coach said, 'Then I think you should leave.' " Another point of contention was president Myles Brand's belief that Knight was insubordinate in refusing to re-establish a professional relationship with his superior, athletic director Clarence Doninger. "All I know is that we were able to conduct basketball since May 13 or whatever the date was without the necessity for doing anything with the athletic director during that time," Knight said. "Nor at any time since May 13 has the athletic director ever asked me to sit down, to talk." Doninger said that wasn't because he wasn't willing to talk with Knight. In fact, Doninger says it was to the contrary. "I indicated I would be glad to meet with Bob and perhaps it would not be where we would be the best of friends," Doninger said. "But for the benefit of this program, let's go forward. "And at least was advised through intermediaries that Bob wasn't quite ready to do that." As for the last-straw incident last Thursday in which Knight grabbed and scolded a 19-year-old freshman student, Knight remains defiant and unapologetic. "What I did with that student was simply tried to teach him something about manners," Knight said. "And I said I'd do it tomorrow and I'd do it the next day." But Simpson said it was exactly that kind of conduct -- or more specifically, contact -- that was spelled out for Knight in the zero-tolerance policy. "The fact of the matter is, inappropriate physical contact is something that specifically was forbidden under the guidelines," Simpson said. "And there was inappropriate physical contact, in our opinion." Knight insisted he has no desire to break Dean Smith's record for career victories but that he fully intends to coach again. He ultimately blamed his departure on the deterioration of a relationship with Brand, who has been at Indiana for six years, and with Doninger, a co-worker for nearly 10 years and a friend since the 1970s.
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