Knight Probe May Expand to Check Other Misconduct

Indiana University trustees investigating Coach Bob Knight are recommending the probe be expanded to include new claims of misconduct that could lead to his dismissal, according to a broadcast report.

Indianapolis television station WRTV, quoting unidentified sources, reported Tuesday that trustees heard new accusations against the controversial basketball coach at a closed meeting last week. The report did not specify what those accusations were, but quoted one unidentified trustee as saying they were “pretty ugly stuff.”

John Walda, the president of the board of trustees, and Frederick Eichhorn, a trustee and former president of the Indiana State Bar Assn., were appointed by Indiana President Myles Brand in March to investigate a claim by former player Neil Reed. Reed, who transferred from Indiana in 1997, claimed Knight grabbed him by the throat and choked him during one practice.

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Freshman Michigan guard Jamal Crawford and freshman Florida forward Donnell Harvey announced they will make themselves eligible for the NBA draft. . . . Alabama assistant men’s basketball coach Robert Scott died of cancer Tuesday. He was 42. . . . Geno Auriemma, who led Connecticut to the NCAA women’s basketball championship this season, has been chosen coach of the USA Basketball women’s junior world championship qualifying team.

Olympics

Greece heeded warnings that it was in danger of losing the 2004 Olympics, replacing the head of its troubled organizing committee with the charismatic woman who led Athens’ successful bid.

In the wake of harsh criticism from the head of the International Olympic Committee about problems in planning for the Games, Greece selected Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki to take over the committee.

After a nearly three-hour Cabinet meeting Tuesday, Premier Costas Simitis said Angelopoulos-Daskalaki would replace Panagiotis Thomopoulos, becoming the first woman to head an Olympic organizing committee.

IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, who publicly scolded Athens last month for its planning, praised the shake-up as a “turning point” that will put the Games back on track.

Olympic protesters at Sydney, Australia, were dragged off Bondi Beach by police but promised to disrupt construction of the beach volleyball site for the Sydney Games. . . . Salt Lake City bid executive Tom Welch will not accept any plea bargain in the criminal investigation of the Olympic bribery scandal, his lawyer said.

Jurisprudence

Police used “improper and suggestive” techniques when questioning Rae Carruth’s co-defendants, and their statements against the former Carolina Panther player should be tossed out, his lawyer said at Charlotte, N.C.

Police obtained statements from Carruth’s co-defendants that suggest Carruth masterminded the Nov. 16 shooting of Cherica Adams, Carruth’s pregnant girlfriend.

Defense attorney David Rudolf says police questioned Carruth on Nov. 24, before they interviewed co-defendants Van Brett Watkins or Michael Eugene Kennedy.

Irritated by discrepancies in police notes, a judge at Atlanta ruled that lawyers for Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis and his co-defendants could interview prosecution witnesses before the murder trial begins next week.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Alice Bonner also said she was troubled that Atlanta police lead investigator Ken Allen destroyed the handwritten notes he took at the scene of the killing.

Nebraska linebacker Mark Vedral, accused of having sex with a woman while she slept in his roommate’s bed, was charged with sexual assault and suspended from the team.

Tennis

Martina Hingis eased to her 11th consecutive victory, beating Swiss compatriot Emmanuelle Gagliardi, 6-2, 6-2, in the German Open at Berlin.

In other action, 10th-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa beat Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus, 6-1, 6-0, and No. 15 Chanda Rubin defeated Barbara Rittner of Germany, 6-1, 6-4.

Gustavo Kuerten played without pain for the first time in three months in winning his first-round match in the Italian Open at Rome. Putting his back problems behind him, the Brazilian looked fit as he ousted Jerome Golmard of France, 6-4, 6-1.

No. 11 Marcelo Rios, No. 12 Patrick Rafter and No. 13 Greg Rusedski became the first seeded players to fall and Michael Chang downed Wayne Ferreira, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Miscellany

Former Nebraska football Coach Tom Osborne won his first election, handily defeating two Republican challengers in the 3rd Congressional District primary.

San Francisco running back Garrison Hearst’s surgery on his injured ankle went well, the team doctor said, but the 49ers are making no predictions on when he might play again.