Brand, Wife Are Targets of Threats

Indiana University President Myles Brand and his wife have been living in fear, driven from their campus home since the firing of basketball coach Bob Knight.

Peg Brand, wife of Myles Brand and a philosophy professor at the school, asked for an end to the threats against her family and others linked to Knight’s firing.

“I have been forced to teach my class with a policeman at my side,” she said. “This is not right.”

The Brands have received threatening e-mails, campus police Lt. Jerry Minger said.

Minger did not discuss the investigations but said they were being handled “very seriously.”

Police said no one has been arrested in connection with any of the threats.

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Reacting to the behavior that cost Knight his job, Indiana’s trustees unanimously adopted a code of conduct requiring coaches and athletes to treat others with dignity and respect.

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High school standout Sean Kline of Huntington, Ind., and Kei Madison of Iowa Western Community College, the only two students who orally committed to attend Indiana next year, are reconsidering after the school’s decision to fire Knight.

“The door is definitely open right now,” said John Kline, the father of the 6-foot-7 forward. “He was very interested in playing for coach Knight and very disappointed about what transpired.”

Kline said his son hasn’t heard from interim Coach Mike Davis and wants to see if he’s eventually hired on a full-time basis before making a decision.

Kline is able to consider other schools because he only gave an oral commitment, which is nonbinding. Players can sign a national letter of intent in November, which then obligates them to that school.

Madison, a 6-8 forward from Columbiana, Ala., signed a letter of intent in 1999 to play at Indiana, then failed to qualify academically. He enrolled at Iowa Western with the hope of rejoining the Hoosiers in two years.

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Knight, meanwhile, visited with St. Louis Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa on Friday before watching the Cardinals’ game against the Chicago Cubs at St. Louis.