Appeals Court Supports Northwestern

A federal appeals court in Chicago reversed a lower court and ruled Friday that Northwestern has the right to bar Nicholas Knapp, a 6-5 sophomore guard from Peoria, Ill., from playing because of a heart condition.

A three-judge panel wrote, “We wish to make it clear that we are not saying Northwestern’s decision necessarily is the right decision. We say only that it is not an illegal one.”

Knapp, who has not practiced or played with Northwestern, collapsed when his heart stopped during a pickup game on Sept. 19, 1994, when he was in high school. Northwestern had already offered Knapp a scholarship, but the school decided to bar him from playing.

Knapp sued the school, claiming it had violated his rights under the U.S. Rehabilitation Act.

Athletic Director Rick Taylor said the school will honor Knapp’s scholarship if he stays at Northwestern.

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A lawsuit by former California coach Lou Campanelli over comments made by university officials when they fired him in 1993 was reinstated by a federal appeals court in San Francisco. The claims in the suit, if proven, could establish that Campanelli was falsely accused of psychologically abusing his players.

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Guard Chauncey Billups, co-freshman of the year in the Big Eight last season, will sit out Colorado’s first three games as part of an NCAA suspension for misuse of university long-distance access codes, Coach Ricardo Patton said. Teammate Howard Frier, a junior guard, will miss the fourth, fifth and sixth games.