Reed Unhappy to See Knight Go

Neil Reed, whose accusations played a part in Bob Knight’s firing, takes no pleasure in the downfall of his former coach.

“Believe it or not, I’m not happy that Indiana fired Coach Knight,” Reed told ESPN the Magazine. “I don’t have any feelings about it, mostly because I’ve had to stand alone for so long.

“In a way, I’ve been proven right, but that doesn’t make my life any easier.”

Reed, who transferred from Indiana in 1997, said Knight grabbed him by the throat during a practice. That accusation and others that followed led to a “zero-tolerance” policy imposed on Knight by the university in May. After a student two weeks ago said Knight grabbed and berated him, Indiana President Myles Brand fired the Hall of Fame coach.

“It doesn’t surprise me that he grabbed that kid’s arm,” Reed said. “Coach Knight is always going to be Coach Knight. But did I want to see him screw up? Did I want to see Indiana basketball struggle? No way.

“I knew he would eventually do something like this to himself, but I didn’t want to see Indiana suffer. I don’t like to see anyone suffer, and I guess that includes Coach Knight.”

Reed is now a graduate student in mass communications at Louisiana State.

*

Myles Brand, the president of Indiana University, would like to see less attention focused on athletics and more on academics.

“Some of our faculty members are world famous, but they don’t get that kind of attention,” he told the Herald-Times of Bloomington, Ind. “They are doing much more important things than winning basketball games.”

Brand, in a separate interview with the Indianapolis Star, said Knight’s persona and the basketball team’s high profile generated a false impression that the school was obsessed with sports.

“Because we were forced into making this decision [to fire Knight], it does give us an opportunity to say that athletics is important but certainly not the central role of the university,” Brand said. “It helps change that perception.”

More than a week after Knight’s dismissal, Brand said the threatening e-mails and letters against him have subsided, and he feels safer walking on campus.

Pro basketball

Ruben Patterson of the Seattle SuperSonics was charged with assault after being accused of breaking a man’s jaw outside a Cleveland nightclub. Kevin Lewis told police that Patterson, a 6-foot-5 forward from Cleveland and a former Laker, was among a group of men who attacked him June 11 in the city’s entertainment district. Lewis said the men thought he scratched Patterson’s car. . . . The Chicago Bulls released guard Matt Maloney and center Chris Anstey.

Hockey

A throat injury that nearly cost Montreal Canadien right wing Trent McCleary his life has ended his NHL career.

McCleary, who suffered a fractured larynx and collapsed lung when he was struck in the throat by a slap shot off the stick of Philadelphia’s Chris Therien eight months ago, has announced his retirement.

Names in the News

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus have agreed to play in the Shark Shootout Nov. 17-19 at Doral outside Miami, tournament host Greg Norman said. The Shark Shootout will be played on Norman’s newly designed Great White Course at Doral after spending its first 11 years at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

Qualifying medalist Karen Malbi, 51, of Palos Verdes Estates was beaten, 4 and 3, by Patricia Ehret of McDonough, Ga., in the first round of the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at St. Simons Island, Ga. Defending champion Semple Thompson, 51, of Sewickley, Pa., beat Laurayne Conway of Land O’Lakes, Wis., 5 and 4.

The Detroit Shock promoted Greg Williams to head coach, three weeks after the WNBA team declined to renew former coach Nancy Lieberman-Cline’s contract. Williams, 53, who assisted Lieberman-Cline the last three seasons, signed a multiyear contract as coach and director of player personnel.