Referees Demand Apology From Knight

Bob Knight has never made a secret of the fact he has a lot of problems with officiating. Now, the head of college basketball’s referees has a problem with Knight.

Hank Nichols, the national coordinator for men’s basketball officials, wants an apology or an explanation from Knight, after the Indiana coach said last month in a nationally televised interview that that some officials may be influenced by gambling interests.

“He either needs to come forward with specific names and games, or he needs to retract his comments. This is outrageous,” Nichols told the Indianapolis Star in a story published Thursday.

In a comment to ESPN analyst and former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps, Knight said: “You and I have always thought . . . the most susceptible guy in any gambling scheme is an official, without any question. I mean, if we only knew the truth about games that were controlled by officials having gambling interests, I think it would be amazing.”

The NCAA, Big Ten conference and Indiana said they are not investigating the remarks.

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The NCAA has notified officials for the new Mountain West Conference that it will be eligible for an automatic bid in the men’s NCAA tournament for the 1999-2000 season. The NCAA requires a league have six of its members together for five years to qualify. In the case of the MWC, which begins operating in July, seven members have been together since Air Force joined the Western Athletic Conference in 1980. Other members of the MWC are Utah, Brigham Young, Colorado State, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nevada Las Vegas, and San Diego State.