Knight part of lawsuit

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — One of the Indiana University basketball fans suing the school over the firing of Bob Knight says the college has tried to have the coach persuade them to drop the lawsuit. University administrators have sought Knight's assistance as a condition of a financial settlement in his lawsuit over his September 2000 dismissal, said Robert Nemanich, a 1984 IU graduate from Racine, Wis. "They wanted Knight to convince us to dismiss our lawsuit," Nemanich told The Indianapolis Star for a story Tuesday. "They put a condition on the settlement. It looked to me like a form of extortion." University spokeswoman Jane Jankowski, however, said Nemanich's comments were "an inaccurate characterization of the negotiations that are ongoing with Knight's attorney." She said IU would not publicly discuss the talks with Knight any further. Knight declined to comment on the suit Tuesday. Knight and IU officials have been negotiating since early September, attempting to settle Knight's claim that he suffered $7 million in damages related to his firing by IU President Myles Brand. Knight is now the coach at Texas Tech. But Nemanich said Knight's claim has no bearing on the lawsuit filed by about 45 fans in April 2001. Their lawsuit claims Brand and university trustees violated the state's Open Door Law by holding two secret meetings the day before Knight was dismissed.

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