Knight Takes Indiana to Court

Bob Knight is suing Indiana University, alleging he lost more than $2 million in income since being fired by the school two years ago.

Knight contends he was fired without cause, without a proper meeting of university trustees and without a chance to defend himself.

The lawsuit was filed in the Monroe County Circuit Court on Friday after talks between his lawyers and the school collapsed. Under state law, the former Hoosier men’s basketball coach had until Tuesday to take legal action.

Knight was fired Sept. 10, 2000, by university President Myles Brand, and gave Indiana notice in early 2001 that he might sue.

The school denied Knight’s allegations.

“The university has fulfilled all of its obligations under the contract it had with Mr. Knight. Indiana University will defend its interests vigorously,” the university said.

Attorney have said a key issue in the talks is whether Indiana should pay Knight for lost income -- and how much.

Russell Yates, Knight’s attorney, said Knight filed the lawsuit because he believes the university breached the contract by firing him and costing him compensation.

The university paid Knight under the conditions of his contract, but the coach lost income that was directly dependent on the agreement, including money derived from television and radio programs, a basketball camp, a shoe contract and other endorsements, the lawsuit said.

“Coach Knight would not have gone into litigation for fun,” Yates said. “He would not like this distraction, but we feel very clearly that he is owed money under the contract.”

Knight spent 29 seasons at Indiana and won three national titles. He became men’s coach at Texas Tech six months after being fired from Indiana.

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Arizona teammates Luke Walton and Jason Gardner were among the five seniors selected to the Associated Press preseason All-America team.

David West of Xavier was the leading vote-getter on the team and he was joined by Kirk Hinrich of Kansas and Erwin Dudley of Alabama.

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Drew Nicholas scored 32 points and Tahj Holden had 22, and No. 13 Maryland never trailed in a 97-79 exhibition victory over the Harlem Globetrotters at College Park, Md.

The Globetrotters made a name for themselves with their madcap antics against hand-picked opponents, but over the last three years have played serious basketball in exhibition games against college teams. They are 13-4 in those games.

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UCLA’s Matt McKinney, a freshman forward from Santa Ynez High, will redshirt this season.... Minnesota backup guard Kris Collins was dismissed from the team for failing to meet academic standards.

Tennis

After winning four Grand Slam events and once holding the No. 1 ranking, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario has retired.

“The time has come for me to think about myself,” she said. “It hasn’t been an easy decision but I believe the moment has arrived for me to dedicate my time to my personal life.”

Sanchez-Vicario, 30, turned pro in 1985 and won 29 singles titles. Among her victories were French Open championships in 1989, 1994 and 1998, and a U.S. Open title in 1994.

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Lleyton Hewitt struggled past Albert Costa, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, in the Masters Cup at Shanghai.

In the opening match of the weeklong tournament, Carlos Moya upset Marat Safin, 6-4, 7-5. Roger Federer completed the day’s play with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Miscellany

Oracle of San Francisco and Alinghi of Switzerland won close races as the America’s Cup challenger quarterfinals began at Auckland, New Zealand.

Alinghi beat Prada of Italy by one minute, 18 seconds, after leading by only eight seconds at the final mark. Oracle beat OneWorld by 12 seconds.

Britain’s GBR Challenge sailed past New York’s Stars & Stripes to win by one minute. Stars & Stripes led around all five marks by up to 55 seconds but carried a penalty throughout the race. The British yacht’s margin was inflated when the New York team completed that penalty at the finish.

Sweden’s Victory Challenge beat Le Defi of France by 2:03 in the day’s only one-sided race.

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Angela Nikodinov of San Pedro has withdrawn from the NHK Trophy figure skating competition, citing a lack of training time that resulted from a shoulder injury.

The U.S. Figure Skating Assn. said she will get a medical bye into next year’s national championships, Jan. 12-19 at Dallas.

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USA Swimming national team director Dennis Pursley announced his resignation to become head coach at the Phoenix Swim Club. A replacement has not been selected.