Knight faces 'serious allegation'

Assistant basketball coach Mike Davis said allegations that coach Bob Knight cursed and forcefully grabbed freshman Kent Harvey Thursday afternoon in Assembly Hall are false.\nVice President for Public Affairs Christopher Simpson said the allegations surfaced before noon today and the IU Police Department was investigating the incident. \nESPN.com reported five students were buying football tickets when Harvey saw Knight and yelled, "Hey, what's up, Knight?" Harvey's stepfather, Mark Shaw, told ESPN that Knight grabbed the 19-year-old's right arm and verbally reprimanded Harvey for disrespecting him. Shaw said marks were still visible a day later. \nDavis, who was present for the incident, told an IDS reporter Knight never touched Harvey or raised his voice. Davis later told ESPN that Knight touched him, but not enough to leave a mark.\n"I was walking with coach and the (students) were going out and I heard coach tell the guys, 'My name is not Knight. It's Coach Knight. I don't go around calling you by your last name,'" Davis said. "And that was it. Coach walked in and I made sure everything was okay. The guys were laughing about it and everything. It's unbelievable."\nKnight was visibly upset as he walked out of his office Friday afternoon. He declined to comment. Knight's son and assistant coach, Pat Knight, said his father was shocked when he first heard the report.\n"I just feel bad my dad has to go through this," Pat Knight said. "He can't believe something like this is going to be made into a big deal. \n"I think it's bullshit. I'm ready to leave...because I'm tired of this stuff."\nThe incident occurred before the University announced the specific guidelines of the "zero-tolerance" policy. The policy was a result of an IU Board of Trustees investigation into a CNN-SI report that Knight assaulted former basketball player Neil Reed, among other allegations. May 15, the Trustees suspended Knight for three games and fined him $30,000. \nThe IU Board of Trustees is expected to approve the "zero-tolerance" policy at its Sept. 15 meeting.\nSimpson said the lack of specific guidelines does not give Knight any added leeway in this investigation.\n"If you go back to the press conference in May, President (Myles) Brand was very clear that he will no longer tolerate any improper physical conduct," Simpson said. "These guidelines certainly exist today. We are taking this extraordinarily seriously."\nThe police investigation began at the time of the allegation and is headed by Richard Seifers. IU Police Department spokesman Lt. Jerry Minger said there was no time frame in mind.\n"It's arbitrary on how long the investigation will take," he said, "depending on the length of interviews and so forth. It could take days."\nSimpson said the university was contacted about the incident in the last 48 hours, but said he could not comment or speculate on the investigation. \nBut Trustee Ray Richardson was able to share more information about the case.\n"The administration will be in charge of getting the facts, and will rely in part on the police report," Richardson said. "Nobody should jump to any conclusions until the facts are in."\nAssistant coach John Treloar said the allegation has disrupted the team's schedule, which included a 3:30 p.m. workout. "We were going to get together and talk about what we're going to do today in individual workouts," Treloar said.\nAssociate athletics director Steve Downing said the University advised him not to discuss the alleged incident with the press, but that when he talked with Knight today, the coach was in a good mood.\n"We were talking about other issues, things that are happening during the season," Downing said. "I knew something like this would've happened. Knight was generally surprised to hear of any altercation."\nShaw and Harvey could not be reached for comment.\nPeter Newmann and Brooke Ruivivar contributed to this report.