Knight, IU resolving suits

One of the 45 plaintiffs suing IU over the firing of Bob Knight revealed Monday that the University asked the former men's basketball coach to persuade the fans to drop their lawsuit. \nIn exchange, IU would settle with Knight out of court. \n"They wanted Knight to convince us to dismiss our lawsuit," plaintiff Robert Nemanich said. "They put a condition on the settlement. It looked to me like a form of extortion."\nIU spokesperson Jane Jankowski said she had no comment.\nKnight 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 in September 2000. \nNemanich said Knight's beef with IU has no bearing on the lawsuit he and others filed in April 2001. They contend that Brand and University trustees violated the state's Open Door Law by holding two secret meetings the day before Knight was dismissed.\nIU attorneys have argued the meetings were legal because at no time were a majority of the trustees together.\nNo court date has been set. Depositions are scheduled for Nov. 7.\nNemanich said he spoke with Knight Friday, the day after the coach's attorney informed Nemanich of IU's offer. He said Knight rejected the offer, and the fans agreed it was unacceptable.\nGojko Kasich, the lead Bloomington lawyer representing the fans, said his clients would not be swayed by Knight.\n"They must think Bob Knight controls us," Kasich said. "Him settling his case has nothing to do with the issue that IU trustees violated the Open Door Law. If they thought we were going to cave in because Bob Knight said so, that's not something my clients will do."\nKasich, who has been in contact with Knight's lawyer Russell Yates, said the IU proposal would give Knight "basically what he is asking."\nIn a separate offer, Kasich said his clients would consider dropping their lawsuit provided IU agrees to never hold that type of meeting again. \n"We are contemplating a settlement with IU where they wouldn't be forced to admit that what they did was wrong," Kasich said. "Our lawsuit was filed to prevent the serial meetings from happening in future. If they agree to submit attorney fees to the court and agree to never do this again, my clients would accept that kind of solution."\nYates could not be reached for comment Tuesday.