Knight rejects $75K check from IU alumni

Former IU men’s basketball coach Bob Knight released a statement Tuesday saying he will return a $75,000 check sent to his lawyer by IU alumni to settle a debt owed to him by the University.

The donation was announced Friday by the Associated Press. A group of anonymous donors sent the check in an effort to settle any expenses lingering from a 2002 court case.

“In all the years I coached at Indiana and elsewhere, I never accepted a thing from alumni, and I don’t intend to start now,” Knight said in a statement released by ESPN. “This issue is with the University, not with the alumni.”

The dispute adds yet another snag to IU’s quest to get the former coach to come back to Bloomington for its Nov. 6 ceremony, where he is set to be inducted into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame.  

Knight has not yet said whether he will attend. Former IU player Steve Downing, who played for Knight, will also be inducted at the event.

The issue stems from a 2002 lawsuit Knight filed against the University to recover legal costs from a civil court case between himself and former assistant coach Ron Felling.

Knight settled with Felling for $25,000 after being sued for a 1999 altercation in which he admittedly shoved Felling in anger after he overheard the former assistant criticize him.