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| | Thursday, March 16 | |||||
| BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana coach Bob Knight doesn't recall
choking former player Neil Reed, although he might have grabbed him
around the neck for motivational reasons.
Knight on Wednesday also denied Reed's claim that he ordered the
university's president out of a basketball practice.
Reed, who transferred from Indiana at the end of the 1996-97
season, accused Knight of choking him during practice and contended
he was physically and mentally abused by Knight.
An interview with CNN/Sports Illustrated in which Reed repeated
his charges was broadcast Tuesday night, and a longer version was
part of a CNN program Wednesday night.
"Maybe I grabbed Neil Reed by the shoulder, maybe I took him by
the back of the neck, I don't know. I don't remember everything
I've done in practice," Knight told Indianapolis television
station WTHR on Wednesday.
The university investigated and rejected Reed's claims three
years ago, but school officials said Wednesday that they would look
into the new claims.
"Whenever something like this comes up, obviously the
university is under an obligation to check things out," athletic director Clarence Doninger said.
An Indianapolis Star editorial Thursday called for the university to investigate Reed's allegations.
The editorial stated: "The university has long suffered from the reputation that it will tolerate abhorrent behavior from Knight because his teams have won three national titles and continue to make the NCAA Tournament each year. If Knight choked Reed, he should be severely disciplined. If the incident has been exaggerated, then Knight deserves to be publicly exonerated."
Knight told WTHR he treated Reed no differently than other
players.
"I have used a lot of different things for motivational
purposes. I've always tried to act that part of my coaching is to
move you where you're supposed to be," Knight said.
"We're not learning to play bridge. We're learning to play
basketball."
Reed was an underachiever who was unanimously voted off the team
by his teammates, Knight said. "Who's heard about Neil Reed in the
past three years?"
Knight called Reed's claim that Indiana president Myles Brand
was dismissed from a practice by Knight "the most absurd comment
of all. ... That absolutely, positively in totality never
happened."
Several Indiana players also denied Reed's charges during a news
conference Tuesday night. Basketball media relations director Todd
Starowitz read a statement from former assistant coach Dan Dakich.
"Anyone who has seen coach at practice knows that he will
physically move a player by the waist or shoulders from one spot on
the floor to another to make a coaching point, but for Reed to say
that I ever had to separate him from Coach is false," Dakich said.
"I did see Coach take a kid by the shoulder or elbow and say 'Get
over here,' but choking a player? No. Never, ever."
Doninger, who investigated Reed's charges after he left the team
in 1997, complaining that he had faced "physical assaults" at
Knight's hands, said Reed wouldn't elaborate.
"He said something to the effect that he wasn't going to talk
about his allegations on the advice of counsel. So I respected
that," he said.
Within days of that conversation, Doninger said he spoke to all
of the Indiana players and every coach except Knight, to whom he
had already spoken.
"Basically, nobody had anything to say," he said.
Bruce Jaffee, associate dean for academics at the Kelley School
of Business and chairman of IU's athletics committee, said the
CNN/SI report would be on the committee's agenda for its meeting
next week.
John Walda, president of the IU board of trustees, said it would
be up to the athletic department and Brand to determine if further
consideration is warranted. Brand was out of town Wednesday and
unavailable for comment.
"I'm sure the president will talk to coach Knight about the
report and that there will be an opportunity for anybody involved
to express their view," Walda said.
A.J. Guyton, the team's scoring leader and first-team
All-American, said he was disappointed to come to practice Tuesday
and hear about comments he called "outrageous."
The Hoosiers (20-8), seeded sixth in the NCAA East, planned to
leave Thursday for Buffalo, N.Y., where they will face 11th-seeded
Pepperdine (24-8) on Friday. It's the first appearance in the
tournament for Pepperdine since 1994, while the Hoosiers are in for
the 15th straight year.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
| AUDIO/VIDEO   Coach Knight answers questions concerning choking incident.wav: 295 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Neil Reed says that Bobby Knight choked him. (Courtesy:CNN/SI)wav: 123 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Charlie Miller believes Knight went too far. (Courtesy:CNN/SI)wav: 71 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 A.J. Guyton believes Reed needs to mature. (Courtesy:CNN/SI)wav: 167 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |||||