| | Associated Press
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana headed off a possible player
revolt over Bob Knight's dismissal by hiring assistant Mike Davis
on Tuesday as interim basketball coach.
|  | | Mike Davis called his appointment a bittersweet experience. |
"There was no way I could turn this job down," said Davis,
surrounded by the team at a news conference. "I'm sad by the way
it happened. ... Everyone knows coach Knight is the reason I'm here
and why the players are here."
But, he added, "Indiana basketball is bigger than anyone."
John Treloar, another Knight assistant backed by the players,
was appointed interim associate coach.
"We're so pleased they're willing to go forward with us,"
athletics director Clarence Doninger said. "We are presenting a
unified front today. We're looking forward to the future. We know
this team has great potential."
The announcement came two days after Indiana fired Knight for
repeated misconduct and a day after players told Doninger that
Davis or Treloar had to be hired as interim coach or players would
defect en masse.
Davis will be the head coach through at least this season, but
the school has said it will also look at other candidates for the
following year.
"I'm a quiet guy, but I love to compete," said the 39-year-old
Davis, who played at Alabama, was a second-round pick by Milwaukee
in the 1983 NBA draft and then played in Europe and in the CBA.
He returned to Alabama as an assistant coach in 1995 and came to
Indiana two years later.
"We have a wonderful group of young men over here. We know this
has been a very difficult time for them," Doninger said, motioning to the team members.
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Knight to address students
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Bob Knight plans to speak with Indiana students Wednesday in a forum sponsored by the campus newspaper.
The forum for the controversial former Hoosiers coach will be at 7 p.m. ET at Woodlawn Field on campus.
The Indiana Daily Student said Tuesday that Knight promised to keep the discussion upbeat and will work to prevent any violence from occurring.
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Pat Knight, the son of the Hall of Fame coach and an assistant,
considers himself fired as well.
"I'm out of here," he said Monday. "I wouldn't stay in this
place after the way they treated my father."
The storied basketball program has been in disarray since the
firing of the coach who brought three NCAA titles to the school.
Dane Fife said Monday he had decided to transfer, but when told
Davis had been hired, the junior guard said he was reconsidering
his plans.
"I've spoken with my teammates, and I was at a club last night
and somebody came on stage and said, 'Dane, you've got to stay.'
And the place just erupted in loud cheers," Fife said. "It really
made me appreciate what Indiana basketball is all about.
"We definitely have something to prove, that we've been through
a lot and we have to come out and beat people. We owe it to him,"
Fife said of Knight on Tuesday. "This is his team. We're ready to go."
Davis acknowledged his debt to Knight and said the Indiana
tradition expects -- demands -- success.
"I look forward to the season. We're one or two players away
from being national contenders," Davis said. "But there's no
pressure on me from that standpoint. All I can do is recruit the
way I've recruited before and coach the best way I can and let the
chips fall where they may."
Highly recruited freshman swingman A.J. Moye, who also
threatened to leave, said he would stay if Davis and Treloar
remained.
"The first couple of days, I was reacting with emotion. I was
frustrated, I felt cheated and I felt totally undermined," he
said. "I said some things out of frustration."
Unlike Knight, Davis said he would open practices to the media.
Another difference, center Kirk Haston said, laughing, was "the
language."
"Coach (Knight) talked a lot more, but we'll find out how that
compares," Haston said. "I was really thrilled when I came in this morning and talked
with coach Davis and he said everybody was aboard. That's the
happiest I've been in a few days."
Despite Knight's rigid discipline, uncompromising demand for
perfection and infamous temper, he was the main reason players have
come to Indiana to play basketball the past 29 years.
"There's no question they came to Indiana University to play
for coach Bob Knight," Doninger said in an earlier interview.
"We'd like to think they came to Indiana University because of
Indiana University, too. But I know the facts of life here, and
they came to play for coach Knight."
Knight was fired by university president Myles Brand for
violating a "zero-tolerance" behavior policy imposed in May.
It's not known what Knight's next move will be, but Indiana
Pacers coach Isiah Thomas, who led Knight's 1981 team to a national
title, said he would welcome Knight as an assistant.
"I would love for him to sit on the bench with me and more or
less mentor me," Thomas told Detroit radio station WDFN. "I don't
think there's a basketball player in the world who wouldn't crave
his insight. That's what, hopefully, he'll be able to give me."
The Mavericks' owner, Indiana graduate Mark Cuban, told the Fort
Worth Star-Telegram he'd be happy to have Knight work for him.
"As a huge fan, Bobby has a standing offer to join the Mavs as
a consultant," Cuban was quoted as saying in Tuesday's newspaper.
"I would offer him a job in a heartbeat." | |
ALSO SEE
Mike Davis bio
Davis says he'll leave Knight's office alone
Davis understands interim season is his audition
Following a legend never easy
Knight's accuser might leave IU after receiving threats
Iowa's Alford says future plans don't include Indiana
Ousted General: Knight fired for unacceptable behavior
Hoosier alum Cuban wants Knight on Mavs' payroll
Indiana players issue ultimatum: Hire who we want
Thomas restates desire to team up with Knight
Ratto: One story, two losers
Forde: Knight was so gifted, so flawed
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Mike Davis is named the interim head coach of the Hoosiers.
RealVideo: 28.8
Mike Davis talks with ESPN's Ed Werder about being named head coach at Indiana University.
RealVideo: 28.8
Dane Fife joins ESPN's Ed Werder about Mark Davis taking over as head coach at Indiana University.
RealVideo: 28.8
 Mike Davis says he would not have returned to Indiana as an assistant.
wav: 246 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Mark Davis says there is no way he could turn down the position as head coach at Indiana University.
wav: 343 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Dean Smith says he is disappointed that Bob Knight's coaching career is over at Indiana University.
wav: 155 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Mike Davis says he could not walk away from the Indiana players.
wav: 267 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Iowa head coach Steve Alford doesn't want to coach at Indiana University.
wav: 269 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Kirk Haston is glad that Mark Davis was named head coach at Indiana University.
wav: 113 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
A.J. Moye says Bob Knight will be a mentor to Indiana University basketball program.
wav: 140 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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