Report: Knight, AD Argued

First, players and referees felt the wrath of Bob Knight. Now, it's his athletic director.

Indiana AD Clarence Doninger said he was physically threatened by the basketball coach during a recent shouting match and reported it to school administrators, The Indianapolis Star said Thursday.

The disagreement came after the Hoosiers' 82-71 loss to Ohio State Feb. 19 and ended with a mutual friend separating Knight and Doninger, the newspaper said, quoting an anonymous source.

Doninger considered the problem serious enough to report to a university vice president, The Star said. School president Myles Brand reported it to university trustees, but no other action was taken.

A university spokesman downplayed the significance of the shouting match Thursday, but acknowledged that an investigation into a former player's claims that Knight had choked him in practice might expand to examine other matters.

"They had a shouting match," Christopher Simpson, an aide to Brand, said. "It was a painful loss and you have two very competitive officials who raised their voices afterwards."

Last week, Brand appointed two university trustees to investigate Neil Reed's claims that Knight had choked him during practice. Brand ordered the trustees to report back within 90 days.

The full Board of Trustees was holding its regular monthly meeting Thursday and Friday at South Bend but was not expected to discuss Knight.

"What they find will dictate the direction their investigation will take," Simpson said. "At this point they're not ruling out anything, but clearly the review will not ebb and flow based on the latest sensational story of the day about coach Knight."

Knight and Doninger did not answer requests for comment Thursday by The Associated Press.

The Star reported that Knight was pacing in the hallway outside the Hoosiers' locker room in Assembly Hall after an 82-71 loss to Ohio State Feb. 19.

Doninger stopped by to talk with the team and tried to console Knight, saying something like "tough loss," The Star said, quoting Dr. Brad Bomba Sr., a longtime team doctor and friend of both men.

"What would you know about it?" Knight said, according to Bomba. The coach then ordered Doninger to leave. Doninger refused and the two exchanged heated words for about two minutes.

Bomba said he got between Knight and Doninger to defuse the situation. He said he also pushed away Knight's son, assistant coach Pat Knight, when the younger Knight tried to step into the conflict.

Bomba said Bob Knight was concerned afterward.

"He said, `Well, did I do anything that was threatening?' I said, `No, you argued with him,' " Bomba said. "And he said, `Well, they're trying to make the fact up that I hit him or I tried to push him, or I did something of that nature.' "

Bomba said he didn't know details of any disagreement between Knight and Doninger, but Knight has been critical of the low pay received by some of his staff.

The latest report follows claims recently by two former players that Knight assaulted his players during practices.

Reed said Knight choked him during a 1997 practice and also ordered Brand, the university president, to leave a practice. Knight and Brand have denied the claims.

In another report, former player Ricky Calloway said Knight punched Steve Alford and slapped Darryl Thomas. Both former players say that never happened.

Meanwhile, the student newspaper on the Bloomington campus called this week for an independent investigation into Knight.

"An independent investigator's findings would be more readily accepted by the public and the media," the Indiana Daily Student wrote in an editorial published Monday. "There would be no agenda, nothing at stake. An investigation free of implications is best for all involved."

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