LUBBOCK, Texas For the first time in more than 30 years,
Bob Knight will watch the NCAA Tournament as a coach without a
team.
How long will that last? Knight isn't saying.
He was coy about his future Monday during a conference call
promoting a Web site that is paying him to provide his picks for
the NCAA Tournament.
But Knight, fired in September after 29 years at Indiana, has
confirmed he plans to visit Texas Tech later this week for a
meeting about the school's coaching vacancy.
Texas Tech will hold a news conference with Bob Knight on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Knight will make a statement at the news conference, but will not answer questions. Athletics director Gerald Myers is not scheduled to attend the news conference.
In a separate interview broadcast Monday, Knight said Texas Tech
has impressed him a lot over the years. He noted his friendship
with Myers and said he once visited Tech when Bill Parcells was an
assistant there.
"It's a situation I find very appealing, and they're interested
in talking about it and I am, too. We'll just see what happens,"
Knight said.
Knight, in a story posted on The Dallas Morning News Web site
Sunday, said his visit to Lubbock will last three days.
When asked if he was optimistic a deal could be reached, Knight replied, "Oh, yes."
Texas Tech officials could offer Knight the job when he visits Thursday. But a school spokeswoman said Tuesday they have no plans to bend a university policy requiring that the job remain open for 10 working days, a period that ends March 23 at 5 p.m.
"There are provisions where you could get around it, but we are
not going to get around it," spokeswoman Cindy Rugeley said.
"There's no good reason to get around it. We've never done it and
we're not going to do it in this instance."
Meanwhile Tuesday, Myers
said he developed a list of about 10 potential candidates, though
Knight is the only one who has been invited to the campus. Regent
Carin M. Barth of Houston said much depends on the visit,
regardless of a perception that Knight will get the job if he wants
it.
"I think it's absolutely an incorrect feeling," she told
Houston television station KRIV. "Coach Knight has got to come on
campus, see the school, and we get the opportunity to see him on
campus."
Contrary to previous news reports, Texas state law does not
require that the position stay open for 10 working days, said Gerry
Hill, general counsel for the Texas Workforce Commission.
State law merely requires universities to notify the commission
of a vacancy, and then the commission must post it on a circulated
list for 10 working days unless the opening is filled sooner, Hill
said.
But under Texas Tech University System rules, all positions must
be posted for 10 business days before a job can be offered, Rugeley
said.
The job became available Friday when Tech fired 10-year coach
James Dickey, who went 9-19 this year.
Also Thursday, March Madness begins without Knight, and he joked
that it won't seem all that different than in recent years. His
Hoosiers failed to get past the second round in the last six NCAA
tournaments.
"The last couple of years I've done more watching than
coaching," he said. "You never want to get used to that."
During the conference call, Knight avoided talking about the
Texas Tech opening and instead promoted the Web site that has
posted his picks.
His chart which has Stanford winning it all and Indiana losing
in the regional semifinals is on Sandbox.com, which reportedly
paid Knight about $50,000.
The Reston, Va.-based Web site runs a variety of fantasy sports
leagues and casino, arcade and trivia games. It's free to play, but
users must be registered and prizes are awarded.
NCAA spokesman Wally Renfro said Knight's participation doesn't
appear to violate any NCAA rules. Even if Knight were hired to
coach again, it would be up to the university to approve any
continuing involvement with Sandbox.
"We've had our folks look at it and it doesn't appear to be a
gambling site," Renfro said.
Knight, who led Indiana to three national championships before
he was fired for misconduct, plans to keep close tabs on his former
colleagues and players.
"No matter how far we went, the times we went all the way to
finals or got beat early in the tournament, it's always been
something I've enjoyed watching and I will this year," he said.
"There's a lot of people I like and care about that are
competing in the tournament, and I'll follow them very closely."
Meanwhile, Knight's attorney Russell Yates would prefer an
out-of-court settlement with Indiana rather than
proceeding with a lawsuit.
Last week, the university received a letter from Yates notifying
them of Knight's intention to sue the university over wrongful
termination. Yates accused Indiana President Myles Brand of slander, libel,
inflicting emotional distress and interfering in Knight's
subsequent job search.
There's one item Yates wants deleted from any
agreement the "noncompetitive" clause that prevents Knight from
taking a Division I job in Kentucky, Indiana or in the Big Ten for
eight years.
"My thing is you're firing a guy, but he can't go anywhere else
in the Big Ten," Yates said Monday from his Denver law office. "I
don't think that's enforceable. I want that out of there, I want it
gone and that's not negotiable.
"I think putting in this clause is an attempt to keep coaches
from moving," Yates said.
If Knight does not abide by the clause, he would forfeit deferred compensation owed to him
by the university. Yates said the total is about $4.5 million.
Yates said Monday that Knight has received the first installment about $450,000 of his deferred payments, which is to be paid
out over 10 years.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories
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AUDIO VIDEO
Bob Knight would hope that the Texas Tech faculty would reserve judgment of him until they meet him. (courtesy HBO Sports) wav: 120 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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