Texas Tech called for cancellation

The decision to cancel the men's basketball game in December of 2002 against former coach Bob Knight and Texas Tech at Assembly Hall was initiated by Texas Tech and was agreed upon by IU administrators, said Jeff Fanter, IU Athletics media relations director. \nThe cancellation was originally announced through a press release Oct. 13.\nFanter said Texas Tech did not specify why it wanted to cancel the game and IU did not ask for a reason. Whenever a school looks to alter a schedule, Fanter said the matter is handled quickly.\n"We're going to accommodate people with scheduling problems," Fanter said. "It's hard (to change a schedule)."\nKnight's first visit back to Assembly Hall, where he won three national championships with the Hoosiers in 29 seasons, would have come in his second season with the Red Raiders. Instead, the contract between the two schools will be scrapped with no future plans to create a new series as of now. \nThe Hoosiers opened Texas Tech's United Spirit Arena in 1999 with a season-opening 68-60 win in Lubbock, Texas.\nFanter said the contract between the two schools was one page long and called for Texas Tech to receive a $30,000 payout if the game were to have been played in 2002. The contract was agreed upon by Red Raiders athletics director Gerald Myers and former IU Athletics Director Clarence Doninger.\n"Our policy in the past has always been to accommodate scheduling matters and under (IU Athletics Director) Michael McNeely our policy is the same," Fanter said.\nAlthough this was an athletic matter, Fanter said the decision to accommodate the wishes of Texas Tech didn't get to that point. The choice to comply to Texas Tech's wishes was made by school officials outside of the athletics department.\n"This was a deal done by the administrators of both schools," he said.\nEarlier this week, IU athletes who have played for Knight expressed both disappointment and relief about not facing their former coach.\n"I was a little sad that we're not going to play, because I would have liked the opportunity to play against him," junior guard Kyle Hornsby said. "On the other hand, I would not have liked to lose and I know he would not have liked to lose either, so it's a little bit of a relief."\nFanter said that scheduling conflicts are not out of the ordinary. Louisville had called about possibly rescheduling the Feb. 9 game at Assembly Hall. As of now, that game is still unaltered.\nSeveral messages left with the Texas Tech media relations department were unreturned Thursday.